Xenophon Strategies

Was the Gilbert Letter a Good Idea?

Blake Rhodes

How many people had ever heard of Dan Gilbert before last night? Probably not many people outside of the Cleveland area or NBA owner’s circles, but the Cleveland Cavaliers owner became a trending topic on Twitter as the result of his letter to Cavs fans following LeBron James’ defection to the Miami Heat.

Gilbert certainly engendered a lot of goodwill amongst sports fans in his letter that ripped his former cash cow for “betraying” his hometown team for a chance to win a championship in Miami. However, he certainly put himself in the cross hairs for future ridicule.  You better believe that the media along with Cavs fans and season ticket holders are going to hold him accountable for this missive: “"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER 'KING' WINS ONE." Yes, Gilbert used all caps in his letter.

I know from experience that there is always fall out when your team’s star player or popular coach leave, having experienced it with both Barry Bonds and Dusty Baker when I was with the San Francisco Giants. That fallout is intensified when the owner lets his emotions run wild with an open letter to the world. 

From a communications standpoint, how do you try to temper what Gilbert said and soften his stance in the coming days?  You can’t.  It’s like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube.  For the sake of the Cavaliers and Gilbert, I hope that “King James” doesn’t win the NBA Championship before the Cavs do, because it will be very uncomfortable around team headquarters.

What’s the lesson here?  It doesn’t matter if you’re a public figure making a worldwide pronouncement or Joe Citizen writing an e-mail to a friend who upset you, think long and hard before you hit the send button.  I once received a very good piece of advice: if you’re mad as hell when you write a terse or explosive email, take a walk and cool off before you hit send.  That advice has served me well.  I have always cooled off and either softened the language or deleted the e-mail all together.

Since Gilbert either never received that advice or ignored it, he has put a bull’s-eye on himself and increased the pressure on everyone in the organization to win a championship, especially rookie general manager Chris Grant and new head coach Byron Scott. Dan Gilbert has every right to share his displeasure with James’ decision and the process, but he chose a personal vindictive attack that has damaged his image and the brand of the Cavaliers. Ideally, he could have expressed his displeasure in a more measured approach without getting personal.

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