Henry Abbott of TrueHoop writes that there is a ‘non-trivial benefit’ to Dan Gilbert’s LeBron manifesto.
That letter, though … while it did a lot of bad things for Gilbert, it completely inoculated him from anyone ever saying that he traded away LeBron James. He cemented his place as the betrayed, which gave him carte blanche to take part in a sign-and-trade, because everyone knows without a shred of doubt that Gilbert didn’t ship James would leave town. That this was Gilbert’s idea is officially crazy talk, now.
Abbott is a sharp guy, and I usually agree with what he has to say, but I don’t think there is any chance that — without this manifesto — Dan Gilbert would be blamed for trading LeBron away. Almost 10 million people tuned into LeBachelor and everyone knows that it was LeBron’s choice and his alone. Had Gilbert stayed quiet and worked out a trade that netted his team a couple of first round draft picks (like they eventually did), no one would have ever said that he traded LeBron James away. And he might be able to sign a big-name free agent someday. I’m not so sure that’s the case now.
Gilbert’s letter did far more harm than good.
