Stern advice for James, Gilbert and Jesse

Basketball Betting Lines

07/13/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took the death of a true sports legend, Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner, to finally knock LeBron James and the NBA from the top of every sportscast across the country.

Conventional wisdom says David Stern was thrilled the LeBron sweepstakes kept people talking about his league during the first two weeks of July, but the commish made it clear Monday that he wasn't on board with the way his biggest star dissed the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Stern had no problem with James' change of address to Miami but wasn't thrilled with the two-time MVP's public announcement during the made-for- television special called "The Decision."

"The advice that he received on this was poor," Stern said after NBA owners meeting in Las Vegas. "The performance was fine. His honesty and his integrity, I think, shined through. But this decision was ill-conceived."

Stern was much harder on Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, fining him $100,000 for a tirade that the commissioner called "a little bit extreme."

After being spurned on national television, Gilbert released a visceral statement calling James' behavior during the special "narcissistic" and "cowardly." He followed that by telling The Associated Press in a phone interview that James quit on the Cavs during the playoffs.

It's hard to argue with narcissistic but Gilbert certainly went over the line when he called James' behavior cowardly and his decision to leave Cleveland as disloyal, charges that didn't go unnoticed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Jackson, perhaps the country's leading civil rights activist, responded to Gilbert's ill-advised remarks by upping the ante with even more explosive and ill-conceived rhetoric.

Jackson said the Cavs owner sees James as a "runaway slave" and spoke as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, perhaps the silliest comment of all-time since I don't know many slave owners that paid their property over $62 million dollars.

"However well-meaning Jesse may be in the premise on this one, he is, as he rarely is, mistaken," Stern said. "And I would have told him so had he called me before he issued his statement. But he is a good friend of the NBA and our players. Has worked arduously on many good causes and we work together in many matters."

The James-Gilbert-Jackson fiasco may have been the front page fodder but when it comes to basketball the real story coming from all of this was possible collusion -- not from the owners but the players.

When James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all decided to play together in South Beach after communicating with each other during the free-agent process. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban cried foul and wanted the league to examine the process.

Most feel the plan by the three to join forces on a so-called "Super Team" had dated all the way back to 2006 when the trio each signed shorter-than- available contracts with an eye on free agency in 2010.

"The three players are totally, as our system has evolved, within their rights to talk to each other," Stern said. "That is not tampering or collusion that is prohibited. That's our rule, right now."

According to Stern, Cuban was a lone voice and no formal complaints were levied at the Board of Governors meeting on Monday.

"Our players, having negotiated for the right to be free agents at some point in their career, are totally within their rights to seek employment with any other team," Stern said. "That's something we agreed to. That's something we embrace. That's our system."

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!

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