Boozer defends his decision to leave

Sometimes, a simple thing like $68 million can come between friends in the NBA.

A month ago, Carlos Boozer was a favorite in Cleveland and little known elsewhere. He was preparing for the Olympics, and those close to him were excited about the Games being his basketball coming-out party.

Boozer is now known nationally and tarnished in Cleveland, where some think he is just another greedy athlete.

The Cavaliers had the option to extend his contract by one more season at less than $700,000. Instead, they let him become a free agent, believing he had promised to re-sign for six years at $41 million, the most they could offer him because they were over the league's salary cap.

During the free agency period, Boozer agreed to a six-year, $68 million contract with the Utah Jazz. Boozer says he took the best offer possible. The Cavs say he abused their trust.

Boozer, a movie fanatic, would understand Michael Corleone telling his brother, "It's not personal Sonny, it's strictly business."

The problem was Boozer saw it as business, the Cavs as personal.

"The Cavs did what they had to do for whatever reason," Boozer said Tuesday in Jacksonville, where he is practicing with the U.S. Olympic team. "There was no commitment, no handshake — which would have been illegal under the collective bargaining agreement anyway — but there was none. I'm a man of my word, and the only commitment I gave was to Utah, and I kept that commitment."

Cavaliers management stands by the statement owner Gordon Gund sent to fans July 14.

"Up until (early July) when the trust was broken, I believed in Carlos Boozer, the player, and Carlos Boozer, the person. That is why I tried to do what he said he wanted. We tried to do right by him, by the team and by you in trusting in his repeated insistence that if we showed him respect, he would show respect to us."

Before July, the first word most, including Cavs management, used in describing Boozer was reliability.

"It disappoints me the way some people have reacted to the situation, because I pride myself on my integrity and my honor," Boozer said. "I want people to perceive me as a man of my word and a man of great integrity. People who know me — my family, friends, teammates and fans — know what kind of man I am, so I'm not worried about it. They know I'm not a man who gives my word and then goes across my word for more money."