Calling Chicago’s hiring of Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau as their new head coach, “a downpayment on LeBron James, Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski offers a scathing critique of meddlesome Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, calling the Quicken Loans magnate, “the biggest enabler of James and his inner circle, and that only promises to get worse.”
Danny Ferry never loved the players™ pregame skits, the hiring of James™ buddies, the associates™ riding on the team plane, but Gilbert (above) seldom said no to anything. He behaved like the permissive parent who believed his kid would love him more if he spoiled him rotten. And it got the Cavs a superstar, James, who never respected anyone and a cast of associates who had the run of the place. Had James wanted Ferry to still be the GM, Gilbert would™ve backed down and Ferry would have a new contract.
œDanny™s been miserable for the past two years, a friend of his told Yahoo! Sports. œEven if they kept LeBron, do you still lose for winning there anyway?
Ferry fought to retain Mike Brown, but Gilbert, a staunch Michigan State man, is determined to hire away Tom Izzo. Unless James tells him he wants John Calipari, and then they™ll hire John Calipari. As much as anything, the Cavaliers are giving the franchise completely over to James and his inner circle now. Whatever he wants to stay, he™ll get. Now, Ferry isn™t there to play the wet blanket anymore. He never feared fighting Gilbert on issues because he had stature, money and, truth be told, he didn™t need the job.