Sports Thread #2 For 7/12/10: The Royal Fraud That Is Dan Gilbert

As Jesse Jackson's "runaway slave" comments get all the attention, it should not lead those who can't stand Jackson for his coutless controversial statements and actions to let Dan Gilbert get off the hook for his insane letter last Thursday once "LeHour Special" left his team.

Even worse than Gilbert's immaterial diatribe on paper is the perspective that Gilbert creates to those who don't know anything else about him other than being the Cavaliers owner. He acts like he speaks for the city of Cleveland, and his letter was certainly supported by one sect of people: the people of Cleveland.

But sadly, Gilbert has done way worse to the city he is now the proclaimed voice of instead of its now departed (Akron) son.

As the man and the legend that is Dave Zirin wrote on Friday, Gilbert's main company has caused more damage to the 216 than LeBron could ever do.

Dan Gilbert needs to spare us the moral outrage. Forget about the fact that this is an utterly graceless, classless move given how much coin James has put in Gilbert's pocket.

Gilbert is the man known as "Subprime Dan," the who made his millions as CEO of Quicken Loans, offering 0%, no money down mortgages to potential home buyers over the Internet.

This kind of legalized loan sharking of course wrecked the US economy. But it didn't wreck Gilbert. As foreclosures reached record highs in Cleveland, Quicken Loans reported that 2009-2010 has been their most profitable period in the company's history. Now as people throughout the state of Ohio have lost their homes and livelihoods at the altar of Quicken Loans, Gilbert has announced that he will be opening four casinos throughout the state. He also funded the state referendums that secured his right to legalize gambling in the state. Anyone who has been to a casino in Detroit can predict what their Ohio variant will look like: working class families—black, brown, and white—dragging their kids to the bingo parlor and the penny slots hoping against hope they can raise enough to keep the bank from taking their home—perhaps even thanks to a subprime mortgage courtesy of Quicken Loans. The point here is a basic one. If anyone has stabbed the people of Ohio in the back, it's not Lebron James: it's Dan Gilbert. And if we didn't understand why Lebron would want to leave his home town in Cleveland yesterday, we certainly get it now. Talk about a bad sport.

Instead of people putting LeBron James near Art Modell territory, fans need to look at the bigger picture and put Dan Gilbert there instead.