MIAMI -- LeBron James delivered his message loud and clear, without actually saying a word.
Adriano Jersey . Hes willing to leave Miami, if thats what it will take to win more championships. And what happens next will
likely be up to not just the Heat, but Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh as well.
Through his agent, James informed the Heat on Tuesday that he has decided to opt
out of the final two years of his contract, a move that means he becomes a free
agent on July 1. He will be able to sign with any team, including Miami, and
Heat President Pat Riley said he "fully expected" James to take advantage of his
early termination option. "We look forward to sitting down with LeBron and his
representatives and talking about our future together," Riley said. The Heat
have been preparing for this for some time. James, Wade and Bosh all got
six-year contracts when they teamed up in Miami in July 2010, the last time free
agency was accompanied by the sort of frenzy that will envelop the league over
the next few weeks. But each of those deals came with options to leave either
this summer or in 2015, in part to allow both the players and the team to have
financial flexibility. James -- who averaged 27.1 points this past season -- was
owed $42.7 million for the next two seasons, though that seems irrelevant in the
sense that hell be getting plenty of money from the Heat or someone else for
years to come. If he stays with Miami, he could sign a deal that would give the
team room to manoeuvr within the structures of the salary cap and luxury-tax
threshold. So could Wade and Bosh, if they choose to opt out as well -- and if
both do, Miami would potentially have plenty of cash to spend on roster
upgrades. Neither has announced their plans, though both have previously said
they want to remain in Miami. "No news here yet," Wade said Tuesday. James
stayed silent as well, with agent Rich Paul being the one who informed the Heat
of the four-time NBA MVPs plan. But last week, while still dealing with the
sting of losing the NBA Finals to San Antonio, James expressed how enticing the
idea of flexibility is to him. "Being able to have flexibility as a
professional, anyone, thats what we all would like," James said last week.
"Thats in any sport, for a football player, a baseball player, a basketball
player, to have flexibility and be able to control your future or your present.
I have a position to be able to do that. ... Theres a lot of times that youre
not in control of your future as a professional." Hes in control now. He turns
30 next season. He might just be entering his prime. James said last week that
he, Wade and Bosh owed it to one another to have a conversation before deciding
where to play going forward. It is unclear if those discussions have taken
place. And while James opting out was largely expected, the ripple effect of the
move was seen all over the sports world. The NFL, on its Twitter account, posted
a photo of James dunking a football over the crossbar at the stadium his beloved
Dallas Cowboys call home, light-heartedly asking him if he wanted to pass some
time in a training camp while making his decision. And U.S. Soccer, also in a
tweet, said it has a new team for him -- then attached a photo of mens national
team jersey bearing James name and No. 6. Even hockey got into the act. "You
know, youd be 6-10 on skates," someone posted to the Carolina Hurricanes Twitter
account, in a message to James. For now, all that seems certain is James
sticking to basketball. What team, thats now up for debate. Hes been with the
Heat four seasons, been to the NBA Finals in each of those years, winning two
championships and winning more games than any other team over that span. He
seems to have largely recovered from the hit his image took when he left
Cleveland for Miami in 2010, often saying hes much happier now as a person than
he was then. Plus, his life has changed. He married longtime girlfriend Savannah
Brinson last year, and the couple is expecting their third child. "Players have
a right to free agency and when they have these opportunities, the right to
explore their options," Riley said. "The last four seasons have been historic
and LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Erik Spoelstra have led the Miami
Heat to one of the most unprecedented runs in the history of the NBA."
Marc Bartra Jersey .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday.
Jordi Alba Jersey . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous
opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into
rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short.One of the best seconds in
womens curling is getting her game back. Jill Officer, a four-time national
champion with Jennifer Jones, had a very late start to her season because of
Camryn, her daughter born in December. Officers first competition wasnt until
January, when the Jones team won the Manitoba provincial championship and a
berth in the Canadian championship starting Saturday in Red Deer, Alta. Officer
started throwing stones again just 10 days prior to the provincial championship.
"Thank god for muscle memory," Officer says. "That makes a big difference,
especially when it comes to your feel for the game." Officer, 36, is considered
among the best in the game at her position. A powerful sweeper and an accurate
shotmaker, Officer has four times been a first-team all-star at the Canadian
championship. She and Jones have been teammates for about two decades, winning a
Canadian junior championship in 1994. Lead Dawn Askin, in 2007, and third
Kaitlyn Lawes, in 2010, joined the team more recently. Jones employed Joelle
Sabourin and Jennifer Clark-Rouire as Officers substitutes for both domestic and
international World Curling Tour events this winter. The skip says she wasnt
concerned about messing with team chemistry or about her seconds ability to
perform upon Officers return. "Obviously its been a different year with Jill not
really starting to play until January," Jones said. "The decision was always up
to Jill whether she felt good to play. She didnt really know until she got on
the ice. "She felt comfortable. She had a plan in place. Shed been working out
and feeling great. It was a matter of how she felt when she got on the ice. "The
adjustment was easier than we thought and to have Jill come back obviously was
no real adjustment at all." The St. Vital Curling Club team out of Winnipeg is
again one of the pre-tournament favourites heading into this years Scotties
Tournament of Hearts, along with former champion Kelly Scott of B.C., and
defending champion Amber Holland from Saskatchewan. Quebecs Marie-France
Larouche, Albertas Heather Nedohin, Ontarios Tracy Horgan, Nova Scotias
Heather-Smith Dacey, New Brunswicks Andrea Kelly, Kim Dolan of Prince Edward
Island, Heather Strong of Newfoundland and Labrador and Kerry Galusha of
Yukon/Northwest Territories round out the field. The first draw is Saturday at
Westerner Park. The winners crowned Feb. 26 represent Canada at the world womens
curling championship March 17-25 in Lethbridge, Alta., and get a return trip to
the 2013 Scotties Kingston, Ont. Jones has been the most consistent winner in
womens curling in recent years. In addition to four naational titles and the
world championship Jones won in 2008, her team is perennially among the top
money earners on the World Curling Tour.
Barcelona Jersey. . Jones, Lawes, Officer and Askin took the hard road to the Scotties, however. Facing elimination, they won five straight games in just over
24 hours, including their final round-robin game and a tiebreaker, to take the
Manitoba title. The upside of that marathon is Officer feels more battle-ready
for Red Deer. "Any time you have that experience, it helps you prepare for what
comes next," she said. "At provincials, I just had to rely on what I knew from
our experiences in the past. From a mental and emotional standpoint, I had to
prepare maybe more so in that way because I couldnt prepare in the same way
physically. That was really important. "Its certainly nice to have those games
under my belt now going into a major event like the Scotties." The Jones rink
was the first womens team to qualify for the 2013 Olympic Curling trials, Dec.
1-8, in Winnipeg. Jones earned the berth by winning Decembers Canada Cup, with
Sabourin playing second. More female athletes are having children and returning
to competition. Canadian hurdler Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, for example, intends
to compete in the Summer Olympics less than a year after having a daughter. But
curling is unique in that women can curl at an elite level right through their
pregnancy. Its not uncommon for a competitor or two at the Scotties to curl
while theyre expecting. "Theres a little more danger in hurdling," Officer
points out. "Theres probably more threat of falling and stuff like that, not
that you cant fall on the curling ice I guess." Kelly Scotts teammate Sasha
Carter was over seven months pregnant at last years Scotties in Charlottetown.
Carter had to adjust to her changing centre of gravity over the course her
pregnancy to do so. Officer says it was difficult adapting to her changing body
the few times she threw stones during her pregnancy, but it also wasnt urgent
that she do so. Even though Camryn was late arriving -- due Dec. 2 and born Dec.
12 -- Officer knew shed deliver her daughter long before delivering stones at
the Scotties. "Because I wasnt able to adjust to balance changes throughout my
pregnancy on the ice . . . it didnt make sense for me to work too hard at any
technical things because it was going to likely change again," she said. Officer
will have Camryn with her in Red Deer with Officers mom Leslie and husband
Devlin Hinchey handling childcare duties while she is on the ice. "My husband is
pretty excited to show Camryn off," Officer says.
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