Michael Jordan on LeBron James' decision to play for the Miami Heat

I have read from wsj.com that Cleveland could have paid him the most.
I'm not sure how much he would have gotten out of the contracts. You have to remember that it isn't how much you get on the contracts. Endorsements are factors too. It is how much you get after taxes. A lousy lousy lousy example is rush limbaugh. He signed a 400 million dollar contract and moved straight here to avoid the taxes that new york is notorious for giving. Illinois has bigger taxes than florida as well. Take a good look at where the rich live. A good amount of them are in florida. We have no state income tax. Jordan only made that comment because he is bias for that city. Miami is a very well known city and is an international city as well. It may not be as well known as chicago but it isn't a hick town.

I know Heat isn't most well known name but you can be known for building a team. I don't think the bulls were very well known after Jordan built it. Lebron can now build a team with wade. Wade had shaq and won very quickly. I still think Lebron left for the money and to be with friends. When you look at the taxes, you start to see Florida as a very nice place to live.

This is a different era of basketball players. Many have so many rules that Jordan and magic could not survive in. I have seen how kobe plays. While I am not a fan of his, I see he has adjusted to how the game goes. You get called on the littlest things. That is one of the reasons why kobe is a good player. He thinks on how to get you to foul. I am not sure(but believe) that Jordan would not be able to survive in this era due to so many rules. He tried and it didn't work out well in his last return. I also don't think Kobe could beat jordan in jordan's era. The reason is of how they grew up in each era.

 

Amen to the bolded!

I'm waiting to see who goes where. I'm really excited about the upcoming season....

 

LeBron and Wade won't win a ring right away, but eventually they will dominate the league.

 

I don't know reggie brought up a good point. They tried to do that with the 04 lakers and that plan failed. If everyone can just play their role and not worry about stardom maybe. Superstar stacking might make the league really boring because if it stops with Miami its gonna be lame.

 

Your point about taxes in Florida is ridiculous. New york has far more wealthy people than florida. I have noticed a mass migration to florida from new york. I will say you get more bang for your buck real estate wise everywhere in florida except miami. The miami real estate market is only second to parts of Cali in its depreciation value. Besides as far as taxes go (accountant here) its federal that taxes that really fuck you state taxes aren't as harsh. I guess you could argue that Florida has the homestead which prohibits the government from taking your home but that's about it. Just call it what it was, Lebron wanted the easy way to win. Frankly its really only his business but as a sports fan its very disappointing to see the spirit of competition die. Its the same mentality that's making the US economy fall behind.

 

I can't make an argument about this. You point out the mass migration. Come over here and ask the people who move over why they move over here. It is cheaper to live here for tax purposes as well. I have spoken to so many New Yorkers and they all say the same thing. New York cost too much. Yes, there are rich people in New York. Don't get me wrong about not being rich people in New York but it is cheaper in florida than in new york. The most expensive section in florida is not as close as the most expensive place in new york. I will agree with the depreciation in property value which means cheaper houses to buy unlike Manhattan. I also was never arguing that Lebron isn't moving to win either. In fact, I made an argument that more rings translate to more money in the nba. Him wanting to win and getting less taxed are two good reasons to go to miami. Wade being his friend is another.

 

Dude the tax thing is a bad arguement because if it were true every single corporation would be based out of florida instead of california. Washington or new york. There would be no type of economy in new york if the taxes were that bad and florida would be booming which its not btw.

 

yes indeed! i've even been watching a bunch of the summer league games. and the training/tryouts for team USA. pro basketball is finally interesting again. good stuff.

 

Again, I'm not saying there aren't rich people living in other states. It is just cheaper here than New York, Cali(not sure about washington). We can't compete with the population of California or new york. You still need people to work. These are huge corporations that you would be asking to move to florida and they would have to learn how to run in florida over places that they already know and started in. It isn't like James. They would have to hire new people or ship the old ones to florida(assuming they don't notice washington and texas which have low taxes as well). James is only moving a few people. I am just pointing out one reason why lebron came here instead of cali or NY. There are plenty more like the one you mentioned about him wanting to win.

 

2004 lakers are not a good parallel. 2 stars doin it big that were already not enjoying sharing the spotlight (kobe & shaq), and 2 stars past their prime that were begging for a ring. (flop malone & gp) not even close to what miami is building right now... 3 young players (wade would be the "old" man) who have played together to win a major prize (olympic gold) and are in the prime of their careers.