NEW YORK -- It felt like a recruiting trip, the one he never had when he bypassed college for the NBA. Only this process involved the world's most glamorous arena, a 10-story Nike billboard out on Seventh Avenue and a hip-hop mogul like no other, ready to tell LeBron James that New York is a "concrete jungle where dreams are made of ... there's nothing you can't do.'' Every time James plays Madison Square Garden, with rapper homeboy Jay-Z sitting in the front row with other celebrities, the scene transcends sports and becomes an entertainment blowout.
Take Friday night in the big city. With the lingering euphoria of the Yankees' victory parade mixing sweetly with Jay-Z's parochial anthem, "Empire State of Mind,'' the Garden was a LeBron love-in. Over here, Chris Rock. Over there, Spike Lee and John Legend. All over the place, CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira, Joba Chamberlain and A-Rod in his black gangster hat. During introductions, the Knicks trotted out Grandmaster Flash to do a guest DJ gig, and James bobbed his head approvingly as Rihanna and the Jackson Five blasted off his scratchy turntable. Not to knock the good people of Cleveland, but when Drew Carey shows up at Quicken Loans Arena, he doesn't offer quite the same sizzle and vibe.
And the fans? They just stared at James, mesmerized, oohing when he dunked, ahhing when he hit jumpers, exploding when he drained a long three-pointer as the 24-second buzzer sounded, grumbling when he blocked a David Lee shot and was called for goaltending, turning it into a LeBron home game and Knicks away game. Why not try to woo LeBron when the Knicks were so dreadful, falling behind by 20-plus in the first half, losing 100-91 and dropping to 1-5? It was only fitting that James would do his pre-game resin act, firing the white powder into the air. This was his house, and if you didn't believe it, consider the gigantic mural outside of LBJ in a hoodie, not wearing Knicks gear but so close to the Garden that his Nike people obviously were sending a message during his only Garden appearance this season.
"I don't know who made the schedule for the Cleveland Cavaliers to only be here once. I'm kind of disappointed in that," said James, who never has disguised his love for all things New York and a building he describes as "the mecca'' of basketball. "It's our one and only time, so we've got to make it good."
He did, naturally, going for 33 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals in a game that was over before it started.
"The atmosphere was great," James said. "Lot of stars in the building and like I said it's humbling to know that you have guys like the Yankees come out and Jay-Z. It's really, really humbling. You almost feel like you're a performer sitting on the stage and they're watching you perform."
So tell me: Why wouldn't LeBron want to do 41 such Gotham galas a season, rather than one? If they rose and politely gave him a respectful ovation when he hit another three at the first-quarter buzzer, giving him 19 points and five assists in the first 12 minutes, imagine the reverence if he actually played here. RIght, LeBron?
Publicly, anyway, he's not ready to go there.
Yet.
"For me, honerstly, I think this season is going to be really good, and I feel like our team is set to where we can play really deep into the playoffs and possibly contend for the NBA championship," James said diplomatically. "So that's the main thing that I'm focused on now. It's the first time I'll be in this position, being an unrestricted free agent. There's no timetable. I'm not going to rush it, I'm definitely going to stay in shape and stay in the gym next summer like I've always done and we'll see what happens."
This came a night after he expressed similar caution. "July 1 is right around the corner, so it will be exciting,'' he said. "I'm looking forward to winning an NBA championship (in Cleveland). It's going to be a long season, and I can't think about what's going to happen July 1 or after that or what I'm going to do. We'll see what happens. I've never given any indication I'll leave Cleveland or be somewhere else. It doesn't matter where I'll be, I'm good enough to help a team win basketball games."
Oh, location matters. The biggest stars want to thrive on the grandest stages, whether it's U2, Beyonce or LBJ. That is why in 236 days, James should abandon his home territory of northeast Ohio and head to New York for the prime of his epic basketball career. There's a reason why a seeker such as Alex Rodriguez maneuvered his way to Yankee Stadium. Or why David Beckham played for Manchester United and Real Madrid, the traditional megafranchises of soccer. One's grandeur is elevated when playing in the most prestigious venues, particularly if he can transform that team into a champion. He wouldn't make much more money in New York than he would in Cleveland, not when television, Internet and marketing technology allows megastars to achieve global wealth and fame regardless of where they play. As it is, James ranks sixth on Forbes magazine's list of the richest athletes at $40 million in salary and endorsements. As it is, he has hosted "Saturday Night Live'' and starred in too many TV commercials to count. How much bigger and richer can he get? That isn't the point.
At 24, having already achieved everything but an NBA championship, James will be judged with the elite players of all time. Where he plays the next decade will shape his legacy and define whether he'll be the greatest player of all time, surpassing Michael Jordan, or merely in the top eight or 10. Winning a title with the Cavaliers would be a rousing emotional triumph for James, who has suffered with the rest of the region through some of sport's worst futility periods. But it wouldn't bring the highest of highs, the massive historical imprint, the feeling that every home game is a masterpiece event. He must go to New York for that. He would go to resurrect the Knicks, who haven't won an NBA title in 36 years and are so wretched at the moment that they'd have trouble beating five players off a nearby playground. Though he has sent many signals that he's buying into the idea -- including his love of the Yankees, his friendships with Sabathia and Rodriguez and the "NY'' cap that irritated so many back home -- he continues to straddle the fence like the politician he has become. James denied he is playing head games with teams and cities, but what else would you call it?
"I don't tease,'' he said. "I've never teased the New York media by saying I was coming to New York or playing for the Knicks. I say the same thing every time. When July 1 gets here, I'm going to approach it like a businessman and approach it for the best fit for LeBron and his family. I've been a Cav for seven years now and I've never given any indication I was leaving. For me to say I'm not going to be a Knick, I'm going to be a Cav or I'm going to be a Knick, I'm not going to be a Cav, I'm not going to do that. I did the three-year contract for a reason, I'm going to leave my options open."
But when pressed, he clearly understands why the Garden would be a strong option. "You look at history. It is like the Yankees. The big time franchises that have a lot of history, it is hard for the fans to look at what they've been looking at the last few years because they know the history of what has gone into the Garden,'' he said of the Knicks. "So I can understand that as a fan, and I know because I know the history of the game. I think the league is doing just fine, but with the Knicks being good, the Celtics being good, the Lakers being good, it makes the league that much better. I'm talking as a fan now, please understand that."
Get used to the taffy pull. His every utterance the next eight months will be dissected and interpreted in one of four ways -- he's staying in Cleveland, determined to be the one who solves the city's curse of no major championships since 1964; he's going to the Knicks, desperately needing a change of scenery and breath of fresh air after seven years with the Cavs; he's going to New York but signing with the Nets, with whom Jay-Z is a minority partner under the prospective new owner, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov; he's signing in Miami, where Pat Riley dreams of pairing James with Dwyane Wade. To hear LeBron, he has pondered every NBA possibility, though I'm having trouble picturing him in Salt Lake City, Milwaukee and with the Clippers. "I've thought about playing everywhere,'' he said. "At one point in my life, I've thought about playing for every team in the NBA."
Seriously, his biggest goal is to become the wealthiest athlete in the world. That can be accomplished in Cleveland, numerically speaking, but any perception of James' pre-eminence -- whether he can enter Jordan and Tiger Woods territory -- would be fueled by playing in New York. In the end, he will decide where he has the best chance to win titles. The answer, if Cleveland and New York are in the equation, may be none of the above.
To panic about the Cavs' slow start would be silly. But against real competition -- not the Knicks -- it's not too early to ask if Shaquille O'Neal is slowing down LeBron's buzz and pace. Did general manager Danny Ferry consider chemistry when he added Shaq to the mix? And why does coach Mike Brown, whose employment depends on making this work, insist on playing the 7-1, 340-pound, 37-year-old O'Neal together with the 7-3, 270-pound, 34-year-old Zydrunas Ilgauskas? It doesn't help that Delonte West, so important as a scorer and tough-minded presence, is fighting mental demons and might not make it through the season. Suddenly, the Celtics, assuming their aging roster maintains good health, look like the class of the Eastern Conference with their shrewd acqusition of Rasheed Wallace. At least the Cavs have an owner, Dan Gilbert, who has demonstrated a willingness to spend and quench James' championship thirst. But this is his seventh season. Remember all the grief Jordan took over needing so long to win his first NBA title? He did so in his ... seventh season.
Yet signing with the horrendous Knicks may not guarantee him anything but a one-man rock show, at least for a few years. The dangling carrot: they haven't won an NBA title in 36 years, and if James managed to lead them to the promised land, it would be bigger than anything he could do in Cleveland or anywhere else. The league needs the Knicks to be a hot, vibrant franchise, not the controversy-stained corpse it has been for years under misfit owner James Dolan. Problem is, what would be his supporting cast? General manager Donnie Walsh has been slashing bad contracts to create cap room for James, but beyond Lee and Danilo Gallinari, what would he have to entice LeBron? And with the salary cap expected to drop $10 million to $50 million, forget about a double whammy of, say, LeBron and Chris Bosh.
As for the Mike D'Antoni experiment, the fun-and-gunner doesn't have the personnel to run. In a wicked loss to Indiana, the Knicks scored two fast-break points. Thursday, Al Harrington called a players-only meeting, which must be some sort of record after five games. There have been locker-room rumblings about management placing so much hope into the LeBron basket that it doesn't care about the season. So many contracts are expiring with James in mind, it's hard to imagine much effort this season, which rips off fans who pay some of the league's highest ticket prices. D'Antoni is sick of the James questions, maybe because he knows he might not get him and would be stuck with a hopeless mess.
"It doesn't interest me at all. We're fighting for our lives in 2009 and that's what our mission is,'' D'Antoni said. "What stands out is our lack of asserting our will onto the game. We don't have a mental will to win a basketball game right now."
Knicks guard Larry Hughes, James' friend, created a stir when he told the New York Daily News, "If we're on the plane and we have a bad meal someone will say, 'Just wait until LeBron gets here.' Just within the team, we have fun with it. We understand that he's well-deserving of the talk. But all the comments we hear from the media, we exaggerate and have fun with it."
Would LeBron want to be any part of such a farce? It makes much more basketball sense to hook on with the Nets, who have a workable nucleus of Devin Harris and big man Brook Lopez. The only hangup: joining the Nets doesn't have nearly the cachet, locally and nationally, of playing in the Garden. For now, the Nets will be moving to downtown Newark while awaiting a new arena in Brooklyn. Either way, Jay-Z or not, playing in another state and another borough isn't playing on Broadway.
In his dreams, James would embrace a system without a salary cap where he and other megastars -- Wade, Bosh, Amare Stoudemire -- could sign for one year with a team for unlimited bucks. "I can only imagine if you had a big-time owner with a bunch of money, you could get some players,'' he said. "If you had no salary cap, a guy could get a one-year, $75 million. Like what Jordan was doing before he retired."
Alas, the NBA doesn't work that way. Next summer, he will make one of the most awaited decisions in the history of sports. He is the King, and the Garden needs a savior. It's the move his legacy demands.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-07-2009 @ 1:45AM
Joey! said...
I'm torn. I'm a diehard Knicks fan that watch Jordan's Bulls torch us for championship after championship, Hakeem's Rockets outlast us, and Duncan and Robinson's Spurs steamroll us and celebrate on our court. I grew up wondering why my team didn't have *that* guy. We survived and thrived on Pat Ewing and a thrown-together cast that succeeded because of a Hall of Fame coach and a defensive mentality that nobody else had the balls to employ. I never saw a megastar in my starting five.
I want LeBron.
But at the same time, what does it say about the NBA if Cleveland can't hold LeBron? It's not like we're talking about a New York-bred guy wanting to come home and play in font of the same crowd he spent his formative years as a part of. LeBron's already doing that! He's already in front of the hometown crowd playing for his hometown team! Why should anything demand that he leave Cleveland for New York? If LeBron leaves--and the media completely endorses it such as it has--then aren't we saying Cleveland isn't good enough? I mean, if not a franchise player, why should they have a franchise?
Part of me wants him to stay where he is. Part of me wants him to stay like Jordan (sorta) stayed. That same part of me wants my Knicks to build their franchise around their own players and someday BEAT LeBron.
Jordan, Duncan, Reggie Miller...I always wanted to beat those guys. I never wanted them on my team.
I don't know. I'll celebrate like everyone else if/when it happens. But part of me is going to die a little, just thinking about those Cleveland fans who lost their star because their city wasn't big enough.
Reply
11-07-2009 @ 2:38AM
Giles said...
Were even you grandparents able to remember when New York was alleged to be one of the most glamorous cities on Earth, way back before Los Angeles developed? Can`t imagine they could have been that ancient. New York couldn`t even recruit Grant Hill this summer, though his wife is an entertainer who could work Broad Way. Maybe if the Clippers had recruited him he`d have gone. Los Angeles is a sprawling "glamor" city, for anyone who has never been there, and seen it, like New York, is just a grotesquely overgrown small town. Endless Wal-Marts, McDonaldses, and all the rest of the franchises in a million small towns (I like them, guess that shows my poor taste). The press is still headquartered in New York, and are totally out of touch with reality, so they brag on their home town, perhaps fearing no better place would be facetious enough to tolerate them. The Nba needs to send a search team to spiral out of Missouri (Kansas) City, in search of a new HeadQuarters for the Nba, less distant from the population center of the US or the US and Canada. And New York needs to implode any buildings taller than their emergency ladders, without people in them, before more frsutrated, misguided, souls do so with people in the again. Urban sprawl is a cancer on America, not glamorous, whether it is vertical, as in New York, or horizontal, as in Los Angeles, but at least in L A most of the building are accessable to emergency crews. Wall Street should move to a new Wall Way, and Broad Way should move to a new Broad Boulevard, in south Texas, where the winters are warmer, and the nation would be centered nearer to its real center. LeBron`s leagacy demands he play well, and win championships. The editors who areexiled to New York, poor things, demand he flee his home state to be their Goddess/Savioress. It isn`t going to happen. Orlando has Dwight Howard, young all star, Rashard Lewis, all star, Vince Carter, old all star, and Jameer Nelson. Guess where James will probably go if he deserts his family and life long friends. Right. H`d be going to Disney World. Or San Antonio, not as good, Duncan is an old all star, Jefferson an all star, Ginobilli an all star, Parkter an all star. Main tourist trap is the Alamo. Remember that! But they ought to out poll the Lakers, even if Bynum becomes a young all, Gasol an all star, Bryant an old all star, but a cypher at the quick guard spot. Who would James team with in New York, JZ? He`s with the Nets, anyway. The leading Knick scorer, Harrington, would become James` back up, and never get in a game! Curry could rename he David LeBron (he needs a real personal name, folks with esoteric personal names post brilliant but lengthy commentaries on specious Nba articles on the internet) and ask him to touch it Dave, but he`s on the bench injured all the time. He is NO help anymore in basketball. The Knicks are aching to give up their best little guard, because Krypto-Nate is tiny, 5`9, and because he blocked Ming Yao`s shot, so he must be too small to play center in basketball, and they need Yao to be a free agent 7`6 point guard!). Yes, David Lee can play. James is going to choose Lee and Milicic over Howard or Duncan? Get REAL!
Reply
11-07-2009 @ 5:30AM
tyrekyoung said...
I am starting to really think that LeBron will come to NY. He just opened 10 gyms across the tristate so that kids can play basketball in the winteras a gift to the city. Did he do that in San Antonio, LA, Orlando, Houston. The answer is no. Everyone keeps asking why LeBron would want to come to the Knicks because they are not a champioship caliber team and you know what they are right, but if you take LeBron off of Cleveland then they would be worse thatn the knicks. The Knicks have a bunch of role players waiting for a superstar(s)that can get them to the promise land. Cleveland has poured a ton of money into this team in hopes that it will get them a title. If htey don't win a title this year with LeBron what do you think Cleveland is going to do the following year when they will have to max out LeBron to get him to stay. Cleveland will not have the money to spend in order to get another player to play along with LeBron. So what Clevealnd can offer LeBron an extra 30 million, if he comes to NY he will make that back n and then some in endorsements, Jay Z will see to that personally (And his favorite team the Yankees just won the world series and are looking to repeat). The Knicks want and are willing to sign LeBron and another superstar such as WAde, Bosh that is the reasson why they have not resigned Lee or Nate. If the KNicks are a 30 win team, think about how many games they could win if they had Lebron and Wade or Bosh, Boozer, etc...And if Lebron comes to NY and brings a championship to the state after almost 40 yearsa he will be more than a legend.
11-07-2009 @ 7:27AM
sonchopanza said...
I am sick of this "Lebron to New York" crap. It's bad math, the money is not there. The championship is not there. I can see him going to a warm climate to play. The La Clippers have a cetain amount of appeal, the limelight, plenty of cap money, movie stars everywhere and Kobe is right down the street. That scenario would not suprise me
Reply
11-12-2009 @ 12:11AM
GeeKhan5 said...
him going to the clippers wont happen 2 basketball mega stars in the same city wont work even if they playing for different teams
11-07-2009 @ 7:29AM
ybugster said...
Why in the world would Lebron want to go to a team where every player plays for himself. They (the Knicks) are a run and gun team, all selfish players who live and die by the three... Lebron has built something in Cleveland, he has a great supporting cast, one of the best point guards in the league and not to mention he has reached God-like status in Cleveland (his home town)!! Why in the world would he give up playing with a Championship caliber team to go to a weaker team with no chemistry or future! Because it's New York? I think not... Mark my words Mariotti, Lebron will stay in Cleveland!!!!!!!!
Reply
11-07-2009 @ 5:13PM
Leslie said...
I agree with you! And, why would LaBron want to go to play for a team the Cavs beat so soundly? The high earning years will be there for LaBron if he stays in Cleveland...
11-12-2009 @ 12:14AM
GeeKhan5 said...
hell if they all play for themselves ,lebron will fit right in with the rest of the losers that play in Ny and call themselves a pro basketball team ,I know some college teams that can play better then them
11-07-2009 @ 7:32AM
ybugster said...
If it were all about money, Lebron could go to Europe and make 50 Million plus a year in basketball money alone!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply
11-07-2009 @ 7:46AM
gjdagis said...
"There's a reason why a seeker such as Alex Rodriguez maneuvered his way to Yankee Stadium."
There sure is . . . the Red Sox deal fell through! Most of the people signed up because of the money and, perhaps because of the Yankee legacy. Face it, the Knicks are no Yankees! Add to the fact that living in New York City is ls almost like living in the USSR. Everything but your breathing is regulated.
Reply
11-07-2009 @ 8:07AM
blmusa1 said...
JUST SICK OF ALL YOUR TRYING TO TALK HIM INTO LEAVING. WHAT MAKES NEW YORK SO DESERVING?
THEY TO ME ARE JUST ANOTHER CITY IN THIS GREAT COUNTRY. JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER SPORTS THEY WANT TO "BUY" A CHAMPIONSHIP. CLEVELAND DRAFTED HIM AND HAVE DEVELOPED HIM, BUILT THEIR TEAM AROUND HIM AND NOW NEW YORK WANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE. NEW YORK SUCKS.
Reply
11-07-2009 @ 9:31AM
HI CMA MAN said...
Cleveland DIDN'T develope him, he was a great basketball player BEFORE he entred the NBA. And am usch as I do like him, he is a super star. However, he needs some good players whereever he decides to go. Even MJ has Scottie Pippen to help him out.
11-07-2009 @ 9:31AM
wdfisher57 said...
When will this writer, and the rest of them based in NYC gonna quit all the New York hyped commentary. The Nicks are a joke and have been for some time now, no matter how much Spike Joness feeld otherwise. I imagine about the same time the network news talking pretty heads boys stop filling me in on the latest gossip about the Giants, Jets, Bills and Steelers. You'd think these teams were all that what with the amount of ink and coverage tgheyrecieve each year, when in fact, the Giants have been exposed as a house of cards, the Jets have faded once again, the Bills are dead, and even the vaunted Steelers are merely middle of the road this year. If Steinbrenner and the Yankees had not have bought all the superstars from other teams around the league, NYC would not be celebrating this week. Team is a foreign concept in this city. If NYC had a team in the Olympics they'd scoure the globe to by the talent to try and win there too, using the money the taxpayers bailed their sorry asses out with. NYC is culpable for our current economic decline yet were once again given special economic treatment by our government with which to finance their various schemers and scammers, not to mention Steinbrenner. Having the most money at you fingertips is your only real claim to fame in my opinion, its sure not the beauty of your city. F NY!
Reply
11-07-2009 @ 10:23AM
janandrick84 said...
Why would the King want to go to a bunch of losers?
Reply
11-07-2009 @ 11:42AM
Geezer said...
LBJ - future LA Clipper.
Just watch next offseason. The prospect of having LeBron on the roster to counter Kobe's popularity will be enough to make Sterling spend. Plus, Clippers vs. Lakers games will be packed because of LeBron and Kobe playing against each other in the same town, in the same stadium more than three times a year.
Reply
11-07-2009 @ 3:00PM
Sports Fan said...
I'm from the NYC area. I don't think LeBron should come to the Knicks.He can visit all he wants; he's a rock star.
I like the hometown feel about the Cavs. They should have waited for Bosh or Wade to become free agents. Shaq was a colossal mistake.
LeBron should sign with a team with solid ownership and general management.
He can't win with the Knicks. This is what he wants. I'd like to see him win and maybe when he wins elsewhere he'll come to NYC for the glamor. And let there be no mistake, NYC is the place to be someone. He loves his family and I wouldn't want to see his kids being assaulted by TMZ or that like. LA is a bad place to live and play if he wants a somewhat normal life.
Reply
11-07-2009 @ 3:31PM
Giles said...
LeBron can`t make any more in endorsements, he is already endorsed up to his earrings! Even the 50th market in the Nba, Salt Lake City, held Malone and Stockton, the Knicks/Nets could never get either. The main chance of James in the New York City area is if a New York billionaire buys the Cavaliers and moves them to Nassau county or Kings county, which is certainly a possibility, as is the Cavs being bought and moved to Montreal or Cincinnati. But would Nets/Knicks fans cheer James beating them any more in Brooklyn than they would if he were in San Antonio or Orlando? I don`t think so. I can understand the fans wanting Ming, LeBron, Dwayne, Amare, etc., but I don`t think they are going to get them. Maybe a trade of someone like Jeffries for someone like a young version of Larry Hughes would give the Knicks the opportunity to take some time in developing a rookie version of Hughes in the draft next summer, and improve team pressure on the perimeter on both ends of the court this year, but the Nets/Knicks have the salary cap and cold winters, the Yankees have no cap, and fly south for the winter, working in New York in the summer. All 30 teams would love to have the Mvp, but odds are James will stay with the Cavs, even if they move, and will head south for the winter if he goes anywhere. And yes, I think it is make or break for Ohio, not just Cleveland. I think if James leaves, the Cavs will too, and the Cavs may well leave even if he stays with them. Cincinnati has passed Cleveland for 23 in the US, Portland has passed them. If the city rots as much in the next decade as they did in this decade, they`ll be down around 31 in the US. There are only 30 Nba teams, one in Canada, two in New York, two in LA, and may soon be more in New York, Nassau and/or Kings, and in LA, in Riverside, Cal., or Anaheim. teams in the 30 to 50 markets are likely to have a rough time in this economic depression, and teams in maybe 20 to 30 may not fare much better. I think New York is likely to get more teams, not better teams. But we`ll see.
Reply
11-07-2009 @ 4:55PM
Michael gifford said...
It IS all about money...by Lebron's own words, his highest priority, major goal in life is to be the world's first black billionaire. Then comes the championship dialogue but not before. The sooner people listen to what he's really saying the better off people will be.
NY has a few things Cleveland doesn't.
A. A higher profile - it's naive to think this isn't important to Lebron...despite protestations to the contrary
B. More endorsement money - yes he gets national ones now but there will be more when the local market becomes a bigger player...NY TV has higher viewership than Cleveland whether they like it or not and makes for more opportunities for Lebron...(see his first priority for motive)
C. The ring...Unless it works with Shaq this year (and that's a big if given the resurgence of Celtics, the already tough Magic and the Lakers in the background) then despite his 'loyalty' to Cleveland, he may seek a fresh start in NYC where money would not be an issue...they would wheel and deal and go over the cap in a heartbeat to get Lebron and put a ring team around him...something that has yet to be done in Cleveland
D. The Garnett factor...KG spent many years loyally toiling in Minnesota...put his heart and soul into it...challenged management to put a team around him...they never did...even he got fed up and left because the fire inside and the expiration clock became more in proximity than ever before...as Lebron watches his opportunity window closing year by year, he will have his own clock ticking...and with NO ring...he'll bolt, faster than Usain.
E. The non - definitive statement quotient....Lebron has already paved the way with a series of "I'd like to stay here but we'll see" statements....Really Lebron...if you were absolutely committed, no matter what, you'd be saying something different. The mere fact that he hasn't closed the door on speculation, 'leaving his options open' is an indicator that he is of a mind to leave if conditions are right in one arena and bad enough at home....despite his alleged loyalty to Cleveland...if one is truly loyal...they say these words "I"m never leaving this team unless management fires me." And to date, no one has heard those words come out of his mouth...
So...prepare yourselves Cleveland fans, it's ALL contingent on a ring and even then, it may be no guarantee....as Lebron says "We'll see"
and IF you in Cleveland are sooooo certain he will stay...then bet whatever's left of your 401K after the Bush admin. raped it, and your next 6 mortgage payments if you still have the savings, AND the college fund for the kids...I'm sure the bookies would love to take that bet...AND your money...
Reply
11-07-2009 @ 5:06PM
Michael gifford said...
some of the comments rebutting the possibility of Lebron's leaving contain this question regarding Knicks or Clippers "why would Lebron want to go to a bunch of losers"
I actually think that's the wrong question...it should be more like "Why would Lebron want to stay with the bunch of losers he already has?"
After all, besides one NBA Finals appearance, what have they won? zippo... and they got so soundly smoked last year that Lebron was soooo upset he couldn't even shake Howard's hand...
so, it may be a question of wanting to be with different 'losers' although I don't think the knicks would hesitate to put a winning team around him...
Reply
11-07-2009 @ 5:17PM
Geezer said...
If the Knicks wouldn't hesitate to put a winning team around LeBron, why are they hesitating to put a winning team on the court right now? Win now, and the big names will come later.