Prince Lebron James Disses Cleveland in GQ Article

Lebron you just need to shut up. You are the only one talking besides all of the other true nba greats that think you are an idiot. You are making Cleveland look better and better each time you open your mouth, so SHUT UP!

LeBron Prince James Runs his Mouth Again About Cleveland

Since "The Decision" really all we've heard or seen from LeBron is him being heckled or booed at an appearance. He didn't speak during the Nike World Basketball Festival and for the most part, has just kept a low profile.

Finally, we have some fodder. J.R. Moehringer of GQ had the opportunity to spend three weeks with LeBron in the lead-up to the decision and also spoke to James about a number of different things.

In the interview that drops in full Aug. 24, LeBron actually says he could see himself returning to Cleveland one day as well. "If there was an opportunity for me to return," he says, "and those fans welcome me back, that'd be a great story." But then again, he also talks about how as a kid, he hated Cleveland, italics used for added emphasis on hated.

A few of the other highlights:

LeBron on how those close to him view his decision: “They’re happy to see me happy. That’s what they can see in my face. They say: ‘It’s been a while since we’ve seen you look like that.’”

On Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert: “I don’t think he ever cared about LeBron. My mother always told me: ‘You will see the light of people when they hit adversity. You’ll get a good sense of their character.’ Me and my family have seen the character of that man.”
 
On how a kid could from Akron, located only thirty minutes from Cleveland, could grow up rooting for Chicago and Jordan: "It's not far, but it is far. And Clevelanders, because they were the bigger-city kids when we were growing up, looked down on us.… So we didn't actually like Cleveland. We hated Cleveland growing up. There's a lot of people in Cleveland we still hate to this day."

On how growing up helped him learn about facing adversity and staying humble: “That’s what keeps me humble, because I know my background, know what my mother went through. I never get too high on my stardom or what I can do. My mom always says, and my friends say, ‘You’re just a very low-maintenance guy.’"

Moehringer also describes in detail what it was like hanging with LeBron's crew. One of the more interesting points is how LeBron is surrounded at all times. Whether it be with friends, managers, agents or family, LeBron doesn't spend a lot of time by himself. Moehringer writes: "But as with anything, all that comfort comes at a cost, and I think that his fear of being alone keeps him at times from walking through the fire that we all have to walk through. Maybe sitting alone in a room and thinking might have helped him realize that an hour-long special devoted to his decision was ill advised. My suspicion from watching him surrounded by people wherever he goes is that he's not spending a lot of time alone in a room thinking through things."

There's also something in the article talking about how James is potentially trying to re-create his high school experience, something he calls his favorite time of his life, by going and playing with friends in Miami. It's interesting because James spurned his local predominantly African-American high school but instead enrolled at predominantly white St. Vincent-St. Mary to play with friends and build a superteam. He was called a traitor, a cop-out and pretty much all the things he's being called now. And as Moehringer points out, in LeBron's memoir, the chapter talking about his choice to play at the catholic prep school is entitled "The Decision."

I remember Brian Windhorst, who covered LeBron even in high school, tweeting in the build-up to the one-hour announcement special that this new media savvy, image conscious LeBron was not someone he knew. LeBron refers to himself in the third-person constantly, talks about hating Cleveland his entire life and is so enveloped in his own happiness that he surrounds himself with people that only tell him how happy he is. That doesn't sound a whole lot like the guy that was all about winning and teammates a few years ago with the Cavs.

But honestly, after this inside look, maybe LeBron never changed. Maybe he's the exact same guy he's always been.

Cavs to Change Uniforms

-- Austin Carr fondly remembers his glory days playing guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1970s.

Under coach Bill Fitch, they didn't have as much talent as many other teams, but those wine-and-gold expansion Cavs had something special.

 
The Cavs present their new look, which is actually a throwback to their early years in the NBA. (AP)   "We were 12 men deep," Carr said as he helped the Cavs unveil new uniforms for 2010-11. "You knew every night we were going to play 100 percent. Nobody was going to quit."
Realizing he had taken a shot at former Cavaliers' star LeBron James, Carr raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders.

At this point, what else can be said?

Long before James announced he was leaving as a free agent for Miami, the Cavs planned to wear new uniforms next season and Tuesday they presented their "updated" look, a throwback to their early years in the NBA.

The uniforms include a "deeper" wine and "brighter" gold hue than the team's previous uniforms. They also include the word "Cleveland" written in a block-style lettering as opposed to the script of the past.

On Monday, owner Dan Gilbert said jokingly that the new uniforms would include the Comic Sans font. It's the style he used in his infamous letter to Cleveland fans on July 8 after James announced he was leaving Cleveland.

The Cavs insist they are trying to move on, but James was again in the news being quoted in an upcoming GQ interview that he feels Gilbert never cared about him and his hatred for Cleveland dates back to his days as a kid growing up in Akron.

Carr, who was the league's No. 1 overall draft pick in 1971 and Cleveland's first bona fide hoops star, remains disappointed in James' departure. The two-time MVP announced his decision in a prime-time TV special, breaking the hearts of his biggest fans.

"As an ex-player, I might have left myself," said Carr, a color analyst for the team. "So I don't begrudge him for that. But the way he did it was unprofessional and uncalled for."

After James announced his decision, Gilbert fired off his impassioned letter ripping James for being "narcissistic" and predicting the Cavs would win a championship before "the self-titled former king." Later, he told the Associated Press that he felt the superstar quit in this year's playoffs.

Although it seems the Cavs are trying to move on, James' magazine interview has reopened the issue. He's the one who can't seem to let things go.

"That's his problem," said Carr, who cried unashamedly the night the Cavs won the NBA draft lottery and the rights to draft James. "Not ours."

Carr was joined by former teammate Campy Russell at a launch party for the new uniforms. Both players laughed at the length of the shorts compared to the tight-fitting ones they wore.

"We wore Daisy Dukes," Carr said.

Bass Fisherman Caught Cheating - Prince James Thanks Akron

Things Are So Bad That Even Pro-Fishermen Are Cheating
yahoo.com
I thought this was really interesting. I can't believe more bass-pro's haven't been caught, or figured out different ways to cheat. This guy can't be too bright if he thought he could get away with this for awhile.

A professional angler found to have stuffed lead sinkers down the throats of fish he submitted for weigh-ins during a prestigious bass-fishing tournament has been banned for life from that and other competitions in a scandal that has rocked the tight-knit and passionate bass-fishing community.

Mike Hart, a successful Southern California pro whose career earnings total more than $200,000, was accused of cheating in this manner during the recent $100,000 U.S. Open held at sprawling Lake Mead on the Nevada-Arizona border. An official with the Western Outdoor News bass tour said Hart confessed after he was caught virtually red-handed.

WON Bass will not pursue criminal charges against Hart, but the episode has tournament organizers around the country speaking out against cheating and seeking ways to prevent their events from being similarly tarnished.

"On the one hand it was a day of infamy for organized bass fishing in America," said Harvey Naslund, director of the WON circuit. "But on the other hand it was a major victory for all who have long cared for, and taken steps to protect the integrity of bass-fishing tournaments."

Catching a cheat is difficult because tournaments are catch-and-release, so bass are kept in aerated wells on the boats and weighed live at the end of each fishing day, then released.

However, sometimes bass die after being caught and Hart had offered three dead fish during the weigh-in on the second-to-last day of the U.S. Open. They were filleted so the meat could be delivered to a charity, and found to contain weights.

Officials waited until the final day to confront Hart, who turned in a full limit of five bass. All five were found to contain lead sinkers.

In all, nine sinkers were removed from bass turned in by Hart. Naslund said each sinker was torpedo-shaped and weighed two ounces. Each was attached to a short line and tied to a small treble hook, presumably to catch in the throat and hopefully keep the weights from entering the belly and being detected if the bass were cut open.

WON Bass determined that Hart acted alone, even though he had a lower-tier "Triple-A" fishing partner aboard his boat during each of the three days of the U.S. Open.

Naslund explained that the Triple-A partner fishes from the back of the boat while the pro stands at the bow, driving and steering with a foot-powered trolling motor.

On the third day of fishing, Naslund said, Hart was said to have asked his partner -- who had flown in from South Korea -- to change places while he rigged some tackle and checked on the fish in the live-well.

"The same scenario existed on Day 1 and Day 2 of the U.S. Open," Naslund said.

The South Korean angler, who would have shared part of whatever purse Hart had been entitled to after the third and final day, was given a refund for his entry fee.

For what it's worth, the U.S. Open was won by Arizona pro Clifford Pirch, with a total weight of 31.44 pounds. He earned $40,000, plus a new bass boat.




LeBron Thanks Akron, Not Cleveland
LeBron James has taken out a full-page ad in his hometown paper in which he thanks the people of Akron, Ohio, for supporting him -- and doesn't mention the city where he played basketball the last seven years.
The ad, appearing in the Akron Beacon Journal, includes photos of James taking part in community events in Akron, including an annual downtown bike-a-thon he sponsors. That event is scheduled for Saturday, and James plans to appear.
James left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat as a free agent last month, joining Olympic teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
The move set off a storm of negative reaction from Cavaliers fans and team owner Dan Gilbert, who sent off a scathing letter vowing to win a title before James does.
Two days ago, former Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas -- who signed with the Heat July 17 -- took out a full-page ad in The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, thanking fans for their support. Ilgauskas, like James, had played his entire career in Cleveland before signing with Miami.
In James' ad, he thanks Akron residents for their love and support. He calls the city his home and the "central focus" of his life and says he will always come back.
"It was here where I first learned how to play basketball, and where I met the people who would become my lifelong friends and mentors. Their guidance, encouragement and support will always be with me," reads James' ad in the Beacon Journal.
"Akron is my home, and the central focus of my life. It's where I started, and it's where I will always come back to. You can be sure that I will continue to do everything I can for this city, which is so important to my family and me. Thank you for your love and support. You mean everything to me."
About 35 miles to the north in Cleveland, the feelings are not so warm and fuzzy.
In Cleveland sporting goods stores, anti-James T-shirts have become popular, including one that says "We Are All Quitnesses." That's a bitter nod to a gigantic downtown mural -- since taken down -- that featured James with his arms outstretched after tossing powder into the air under the heading: "We Are All Witnesses."
And last week, a baseball fan wearing a Heat jersey with James' name on it was escorted out of a Cleveland Indians game after he was pelted with beer and peanuts by angry spectators.

The Article on Lebron James Wild Night in Vegas that ESPN did not want You to Read

The Article on Lebron James Wild Night in Vegas that ESPN did not want You to Read
LeBron James relishes being the center of attention, especially in
Vegas at his own party.
LeBron James leans against a waist-high stone wall with a 16-foot-tall Buddha hovering over
He's at Tao, a bustling restaurant and nightclub inside the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, and his
arms are crossed as he listens to Lynn Meritt, senior director of Nike Basketball, and Charles
Denson, president of Nike Brand.
James is quiet, occasionally applying Chap Stick on his lips and nodding when he hears
something he likes.
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Five security guards are stationed around him, one at each corner of the table he's about to sit
at and another roving around with him, watching his every move. Anyone who takes two steps
toward James is stopped and must have James' approval to come closer.
The waiter bringing him his cup of green tea with a spoonful of honey and a dash of lemon juice
makes the cut, as does the scantily clad brunette with a tattoo of a heart on her right shoulder.
She wants to take a picture with him. "I can't right now," says James. "Maybe later, upstairs, I'll
remember you're the one with the tattoo."
James will host a party later in the upstairs nightclub at Tao, but he is currently hosting a dinner
for his friends and family in the downstairs restaurant. Wearing a gray striped shirt and gold
crucifix around his neck, he bobs his head to music played by an amped-up saxophonist who
weaves his way around the table like a one-man mariachi band.
I have somehow found myself at this exclusive table, seated beside Eddie Jackson, who is
introduced to me as James' father (though he actually began dating James' mother, Gloria, after
LeBron was born and the two are no longer together). Jackson, wearing a muscle shirt
accentuating his large biceps, looks like a member of James' four-man entourage, like one of his
childhood friends.
James' circle includes Randy Mims, seated to his right at the center of the table, Maverick
Carter, seated at the head of the table, and Richard Paul, seated in front of James. The quartet
makes up the initials behind LRMR Marketing, the management firm James founded almost four
years ago with his buddies. Their offices in downtown Cleveland gained notoriety this month as
the location teams flocked to for their meetings with James.
Truscello/WireImageLeBron
James partied at Tao last
weekend, complete with a kings'
cake and an entourage to make
heads of state jealous.
Seated to the right of James is Chris Paul, whose brother, C.J., is seated across from him. The
New Orleans Hornets point guard has seen how James has positioned himself to win a
championship by signing with the Miami Heat and joining forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris
Bosh and has reportedly considered a similar move himself.
The truth is, in James' dream world, the duo he would love to play with for the next decade
would be Wade and Paul, his two closest friends in the NBA. Paul has been like a brother to
James since the two were in Las Vegas four years ago for USA Basketball training camp, when
as a rookie he carried James' and Wade's bags to and from the team bus.
James and Paul are fairly quiet at the center of the table as they take in the scene around them.
As family style plates of miso-glazed Chilean sea bass and crispy lobster and shrimp dumplings
are brought to the table, James effortlessly picks up the food with his chopsticks and
occasionally raises his cup of green tea to passersby as they raise their martinis and mojitos in
his direction before being helped along by security guards.
When trays of dessert plates are brought over, James gets up, preferring to start his party
upstairs instead of indulging in the giant fortune cookies and chocolate cake. A security guard
comes over and puts plastic wristbands on our wrists and escorts us through the back of the
restaurant, up a flight of stairs in the bowels of the hotel and through a back entrance into the
club. About a dozen security guards, moving their flash lights, direct us to a roped off section on
the dance floor of Tao next to a couple of apparently nude women in a bathtub full of water and
James, now wearing sunglasses in the dark club, immediately stands up on the couch and folds
his arms high on his chest and nods his head. He smiles as he looks at the dozens of people
crowded on the dance floor. Noticing him, they stop dancing and snap pictures as the DJ
screams out, "LeBron James in the building!" and plays LMFAO's "I'm in Miami."
Carter, LeBron's childhood friend and manager, begins dancing around James like Puff Daddy in
a Notorious B.I.G video. A giant red crown-shaped cake is brought over to James while go-go
dancers dressed in skimpy red and black outfits raise four lettered placards that spell out,
"KING." Carter grabs a bottle of Grey Goose and pours a quarter of it on the floor and raises it
up before passing it off.
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James' infamous one-hour special, "The Decision," was reportedly the brainchild of Carter, a 28-
year-old who has never managed anyone outside of his friend James. This three-day party
marathon in Vegas (which James is being paid six figures to host) is also Carter's idea.
Bottle after bottle of "Ace of Spades" champagne is delivered to the table by a waiter flying
down from above the dance floor like some overgrown Peter Pan on a wire. One time he's
dressed like a King, another time as Indiana Jones and another in a replica of James' No. 6
Miami Heat jersey.
James, who can hardly see the flying figure through his tinted glasses, almost gets kicked in the
head on the waiter's last trip down. He looks at the girls around him and says, "I wish they'd
have one of these girls with no panties do that instead of the guy."
Toward the end of the night, Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis walks past James' party and
looks at the scene up and down several times like a painting in a museum, soaking in the
images of the go-go dancers, the "King" sign and the costumed man delivering bottles of
Davis shakes his head and walks on.
James dances on the couch and sings along with the music blaring from speakers all around
The more you hang around James, the more you realize he's still a child wrapped in a 6-foot-8,
250-pound frame. The night after the party at Tao, he and his crew walk through the casino at
the Wynn and Encore and he pretends to dribble a basketball as he walks past ringing slot
machines and tourists who do double-takes. In a Nike T-shirt, jeans and sneakers, James'
pantomime seems unconscious. He stops every few feet to shoot a jump shot, his right hand
extended above his head on the follow through. He weaves through a pack of a dozen friends
and pretends to connect on a layup as he walks past a gift shop. He passes overhead casino
signs and jumps up and slaps them, pretending to dunk. Columns covered with advertisements
for lounge acts become stationary defenders, chumps to fake out before connecting on
imaginary mid-range jump shots.
James probably goes through a practice's worth of shots as we walk from the XS nightclub at
Encore (James left his poolside table when he saw the club was practically empty), through
Wynn and over the bridge to the Palazzo.
Soon after arriving at Lavo, a restaurant and nightclub at the Palazzo, a scene straight out of
"West Side Story" breaks out when James and Lamar Odom, seated at a nearby table, engage
in an impromptu dance-off to California Swag District's "Teach Me How To Dougie."
Odom, smoking a cigar, can't quite keep up. James celebrates by crossing himself and taking a
shot of Patron. Moments later, a handful of girls dressed as cheerleaders walk toward his table
with someone dressed in James' Heat uniform. Someone throws talcum powder in the air as
James does before every game, while his new unofficial song, "I'm in Miami," plays.
Odom casts a glance James' way before looking in the opposite direction and raising his glass
at a couple on the dance floor who point to their ring fingers and smile.
Back at his table, James and his crew sing every word to Rick Ross' "Free Mason." LeBron raps
every line to former teammate Damon Jones (who played with him in Cleveland). Jones, puffing
on a cigar, nods.
James rips out the lines:
"If I ever die, never let it be said I didn't win/
Never, never say/
Never say legend didn't go in/
I just wanna die on top of the world."
While he looks at club-goers flashing the LA and Westside signs at him, James smiles and
points to Jackson's T-shirt, which reads, "Another Enemy," and raises his glass of champagne.
Finally, Carter tells James it's time to leave the club and they do, LeBron pretending to cross-
over tables and shoot over slot machines all the way back to his room.

The True King of the NBA has Spoken: Michael Jordan on Lebron James

The Michael Jordan view of LeBron James
Michael Jordan has weighed in on the LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh "SuperFriends" team in Miami:
"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry, called up Magic and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team,' " Jordan said after playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada. "But that's ... things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."
In so many ways, Michael Jordan is the most appropriate person in the world to comment on LeBron James and his legacy, but not for the reasons you might expect.
He is helping to solve one of the biggest mysteries in sports.
The question is: When James announced that he was taking his talents to South Beach, why did he instantly become the guy sports fans love to hate? What's so reprehensible about joining a good team?
He's the man
Michael Jordan was, is, and will always be the man. Yes, in italics.
You don't need me to define that, but just for fun: It means essentially the most aggressive, victorious, macho, indomitable player in the sport. The most feared, and the most fearless.
This utter lack of restraint, in the face of any challenges, is no small part of how Jordan inspires us.
Hell no I don't need help.
It's a real and valid way to view the game. You have to respect the sheer number of players, former players, executives and coaches who see the game through this lens. The best player is the man. Basically, that's the guy who, of the few superstars who produce in huge numbers and win a lot of games, is most fearless and ferocious.
This is often measured in terms of being willing to shoot with the game on the line.
When people heard that James was teaming up with Wade and Bosh, though ... wow. You know how men have this reputation as not being willing to pull over and ask for directions?
Hell no I don't need help.
Jordan, Barkley and others are making fun of James -- perhaps the most biting of all of Jordan's words was "kid" -- for getting help. If the whole idea is to show that you're the baddest man on the planet, what do we care about all these SuperFriends? (Similarly, Jordan said the other day that Bryant was the best player in the NBA. He's the most fearless, that's for sure.)
The problem with the critique is twofold. For one thing, he's not bad as the man. James shoots plenty with the game on the line, already produces like one of the two best players in NBA history (hitting at a better career rate than Bryant), wins a lot of games and even called himself leader of Team USA.
But more importantly, how do we know James' end goal is to be the man?
It's a team game. Jordan and Bryant are self-reliant types who didn't come naturally to the idea that crunch time ought to be played as a team. Both have had to be coached into passing with the game on the line.
But that they think like that doesn't mean we all have to go along. In your personal life, do you find it true that real men don't pass the ball, or share, or have friends, or smile or all that? The Jordan/Bryant way was one way to do it, but it's hardly the only way to get the job done.
When Jordan started passing -- to open teammates like Steve Kerr and John Paxson -- the Bulls started winning titles. Bill Russell owned basketball to the tune of 11 titles and he never thought it was his job to take the last shot. He was a different kind of "man," and won plenty.
Men who pull over and ask for directions may lose hombre points, but we all agree they waste less time driving around, right?
The man vs. the team
Sometimes you have to ask yourself what your end goal is: To win the individual sport of being the man, or the team sport of basketball? They usually go together. There's a reason Bryant and Jordan have all those championship rings.
But sometimes the best thing for basketball is to not put everything on your shoulders, and instead get some help.
Think about Kevin Garnett. There are several different really smart analyses to show that when he was in Minnesota losing all those games he was literally the best player in the NBA (the same analysis, over the last two years, would say James is that player now). If you use some kind of smart objective metrics, Garnett's is the name that comes up most from those years. But Garnett had no help! After he grew distraught with the team's endless rebuilding, the Timberwolves found him a home in Boston with some serious help in the form of Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Even though Garnett did not play his best basketball in Boston, he did his best winning there, and the result has been a profound transformation of both how the world sees Garnett and how the city of Boston feels about basketball in the 2000s. It's a model anyone would want to copy -- a new home with talented teammates became a story of pure, unrestrained basketball joy for all involved who aren't Timberwolves fans.
Similarly, before the Lakers got Pau Gasol, Bryant was among the most unhappiest campers in NBA history and was caught on camera phone talking about the inadequacy of his teammates and his willingness to be traded. When Gasol arrived, Bryant started winning more than ever, and he was proved absolutely right that he could win a lot more with more with help.
Imagine if you will, crazy as it may sound, that back in the day, Jordan had somehow charmed Barkley or David Robinson to join the Bulls?
By the metrics of being the man, Jordan would have been a failure. Talk about pulling over to ask for directions. But Jordan would have been a better winner. He'd be more valuable to his team and his fans in every way if somehow he had pulled that off.
Hell no I don't need help.
If refusing help when it's available is the end goal, then in my mind we have cooked up one silly, old-fashioned definition of being the man.
Playing executive is smart
Jordan is affixed in our minds as the portrait of a winner, but take the long view of not just his playing days, but his life to date.
Through all the millions, the TV ads, the golf games and the casino trips, maybe there's nothing to regret.
But something funny happened in Springfield, Mass. Remember his Hall of Fame acceptance speech? Didn't we all come away from that with the news that life inside Jordan's shoes is not all peachy? He's bitter! About a lot of things! With the world's blessing to discuss whatever he wanted, Jordan mostly just spat insults.
One of the first things he brought up was the guy who built the Bulls team he won all those titles with, Jerry Krause. "Jerry’s not here," explains Jordan. "I don’t know who’d invite him. I didn’t. ... " All this bitterness, even though they won championships together!
The reason I bring this up is: Jordan proved right there and then that letting someone else build the roster for you can make you a very bitter man, even if you win six titles.
Players have the power of free agency, which, James and Wade have demonstrated, is one new way to solve that problem.
Jordan's career is widely seen as an example of why James and Wade ought not play together. It costs them both points as the man.
But you can also see Jordan's life to date as a textbook case of why building your own roster might be the smartest thing you can do, even if it isn't how things used to be done.




Jordan knows it: LeBron took the easy way out

I believe Michael Jordan when he says he wouldn’t have called up Bird and Magic to be teammates. I believe he would have had his agent do it.
But I understand what he means. “I wanted to beat those guys,” he said recently about Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, a remark that served as a commentary on LeBron James and his decision to take the easy way out and join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami.
Jordan’s words coincided with a recent blast by Bryant Gumbel on his HBO Show, “Real Sports.” During a lengthy closing commentary, Gumbel said: “Just when did they (championship rings) become the all-important barometer of who does or who doesn’t count in sports?”
That is another way of asking a related question, “What is more important, the journey or the destination?”
I vote for the journey. The whole point of competition is the challenge. It’s testing yourself against the best. It’s pushing yourself to your absolute potential.
But when you take shortcuts to make things easier on yourself, and all you have in your sites is that sparkling reward at the end, you’re missing the whole objective.
I believe that’s what lay underneath Jordan’s comment, and at the surface of Gumbel’s.
Take the Heat example to an extreme: If you had James, Wade and Bosh, and you were also somehow able to add Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant, you’d probably win several championships. But would it mean much? Would you have challenged yourself, or would you have made sure that you would be challenged as little as possible?
Jordan, Magic and Bird would never have joined forces. But they understood. Anybody who puts the country through “The Decision” obviously doesn’t.


.Artest to LeBron: If you want pressure, come to NYC
Did LeBron duck NYC? Ron Artest hinted at what a lot of New Yorkers already felt about LeBron James -- he wanted to avoid the pressure of playing in the Big Apple. "I don't think it means anything in particular (that James didn't sign with the Knicks), but if you want some pressure, come to New York," said Artest, who made an appearance at the West 4th St. basketball court in Manhattan Friday. "I don't know what he was thinking. ... He had a different plan. You don't know if he was thinking weather, team, players, friends. But if you want some pressure, come to New York." Artest added that Amar'e Stoudemire should be given credit. "The $100 million helps, but he still wanted to come here," said Artest, referring to Stoudemire's five-year deal with the Knicks. "He must be special to want to come to New York."

Lebron James Booooed and R.I.P. George Steinbrenner

RIP George Steinbrenner!!




LeBron James booed at Carmelo Anthony's wedding
yahoosports.com
Last Saturday, while you were enjoying bratwursts and s'mores, Carmelo Anthony(notes) was marrying LaLa Vasquez, an MTV VJ. Cool weekend plans, I suppose. And since Melo is a big-time NBA baller, he attracted more than a few celebrities to his New York City nuptials. In attendance were Kim Kardashian, Spike Lee, Justin Timberlake and Ludacris, who hopefully provided entertainment during the reception. Oh, and LeBron James(notes), whom you may have heard of.
That's right — LeBron James was in New York City just two days after choosing the Miami Heat in his highly rated one-hour ESPN special. You can imagine how well that went over with Knick fans. From Fox Sports:

[LeBron] James was greeted by a round of loud boos from angry New Yorkers outside the wedding in Cipriani 42nd Street when he arrived with his girlfriend Savannah Brinson, myFOXny.com reported.

Geez, LeBron. Way to almost ruin your friend's wedding by choosing to play in Miami. It's like that old saying: "You made your multi-millon dollar free-agency bed, now get booed by Knick fans in it." Or something like that. LBJ might as well hear the jeers now, since he'll be getting heckled basically everywhere but Miami-Wade County. Better to start with a few scattered New Yorkers than 20,000 rabid Clevelanders who hate his guts.
Of course, if those same classy Knick fans had stuck around a little longer, they might have gotten some good news. According to the New York Post's Marc Berman, attendee Chris Paul(notes) made a pretty interesting speech at the ceremony.
During Carmelo Anthony's wedding Saturday night at Cipriani's on 42nd Street, Chris Paul, the superstar New Orleans point guard, predicted a future Knicks Dream Team.
According to a person who spoke with wedding attendee Amar'e Stoudemire(notes), Paul made the reference during a speech of a potential union of himself, Stoudemire and Anthony, saying, "We'll form our own Big 3," Paul allegedly said.
I'm sure that won't get New York fans' hopes up for the summer of 2012. Surely they'll take this potential joining of forces in stride and not get too upset if it never comes to fruition. At least I hope that's the case because VJs don't grow on trees these days. If things change, it'd be unfortunate for Knicks fans to have to boo Chris Paul for passing Jesse Camp on the street.





ESPN host criticizes LeBron-a-thon
yahoosports.com
ESPN’s Thursday-night LeBron-a-thon — aka “The Decision”— scored big ratings and sparked plenty of criticism of the cable network for blurring the line between news and advertising.
For days, commentators have chewed on the ethical implications of a sports-news network giving a star athlete an hour for self-promotional purposes. But as the special aired, the real-time Twitter critique focused on ESPN dragging out the inevitable decision for nearly 25 minutes. Viewers were forced to sit through Jim Gray — James' hand-picked interviewer— tossing six minutes of softballs before asking what everyone wanted to hear.
Washington Post columnist Mike Wilbon, who interviewed James after Gray, suggests he would have done things differently.
“I didn't like it,” Wilbon said Sunday on CNN. “I mean, just as a reporter, I didn't like it. And I was saying to somebody at the time, there's one question here."
Wilbon, who co-host’s ESPN’s "Pardon the Interruption," spoke candidly about the hour-long special and said that viewers likely wanted the network to "get to it" Wilbon acknowledged that the criticism is something "the network has to live with."
"And that was talked about before," he continued. "And if anybody didn't anticipate that reaction, then that was incredibly naive."
One of the lingering questions in the whole affair is what Gray got out of the deal. ESPN says the network didn't pay Gray. But it appears that James' camp and William Morris did.
An interviewee paying his interviewer presents a blatant conflict of interest. However, Gray disputes a CNBC report that he received payment and contends that he was only reimbursed some expenses.
"I am not receiving a single penny from LeBron or any entity involved with LeBron," Gray said. "I will receive a small stipend to take care of expenses. But I'm not making money off this."
ESPN executives have defended airing the special, which James' representatives brought to the network.
Today, Advertising Age provides a bit more of the back story as to how “The Decision” got off the ground. One oddly fitting detail: Hollywood super-agent Ari Emanuel — brother of White House chief of staff Rahm, basis for Entourage’s Ari Gold — was involved in the project since the onset of the NBA Finals, prior to James formally entering the free-agent market.

LeBron James: Officially a Bum

Prince James
Sources: No probe from Cavs, Raptors
espn.com
The Cleveland Cavaliers have no plans to push for an NBA probe into the circumstances that led to LeBron James joining Team USA colleagues Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, according to sources with knowledge of the team's thinking.
NBA commissioner David Stern said Sunday that the league would investigate the Heat's signings of James and Bosh for any illegal negotiating or planning before free agency officially started if the Cavaliers or Toronto Raptors make that request.
While awaiting a good nickname for the new LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh collaborative, let's establish that there are three things they can't be called: conspirators, colluders or tamperers, writes J.A. Adande. Story
Reached Sunday by ESPN.com, Stern said: "Whenever a team lodges a tampering charge, it is investigated."
The Cavaliers declined official comment Sunday, but one source briefed on Cleveland's intentions told ESPN.com that -- in the wake of owner Dan Gilbert's vitriolic open letter to Cavs fans that slammed James for leaving his home-state team -- the organization wants to try to keep the focus from here on its post-James future as much as possible.
Toronto likewise declined comment, but one source with knowledge of the Raptors' thinking indicated that they will not press for an inquiry, either, preferring to let league officials decide if any sanctions are warranted with regard to recent acknowledgements from the three players that they have been talking about teaming up for some time.
Stern also declined further comment but is expected to expound on the subject Monday night when he is scheduled to meet with reporters in Las Vegas following an owners meeting devoted to the league's ongoing labor negotiations with the NBA Players Association.
Although labor matters were initially expected to dominate the agenda, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said Friday that he intends to push for renewed discussion about the league's tampering rules and how they are enforced.
Concerns about this issue have been mounting since an ESPN.com report in late June that James, Wade and Bosh met face-to-face before free agency to discuss their plans. Yet the league's general position has been that players are not subject to the same tampering restrictions as teams except for "the most egregious cases," when it can be proven that a player was operating as a direct extension of team management.
Miami's counter to any tampering claims figures to center on the premise that James, Wade and Bosh have openly dreamt of playing together at some level since the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and that the Heat turned out to be the only team in the league in the long-anticipated summer of LeBron that had the requisite salary-cap space to sign all three players.
The Heat will also undoubtedly point to the fact the Cavaliers and Raptors -- to ensure that neither team lost its franchise player without compensation -- just willingly completed sign-and-trade deals with Miami for James and Bosh.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported in Sunday's editions that James, Wade and Bosh actually hatched the idea of playing together during a stint with Team USA in the summer of 2006 at the World Championships in Japan, which contributed to each of them signing new contracts in 2007 containing an opt-out clause after three seasons to become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2010.
Tensions nonetheless remain high in various cities around the league, starting obviously with Cleveland, some 72 hours after James announced in a one-hour special on ESPN that he would be leaving the Cavaliers after seven seasons to play alongside Wade and Bosh.
A comment made by Bosh at a welcoming rally Friday night in Miami has only fueled accusations that the three stars began plotting their joint move to South Florida well before they were technically allowed to. Bosh initially told the assembled crowd that the trio had been talking about landing with the same team for "months" before catching himself and amending that statement to "days."
Cuban told a group of reporters Friday at the NBA's annual summer league in Las Vegas that he would urge Stern to look into the matter whether or not Cleveland or Toronto asks, saying: "I'm going to bring it up to the league that we really do have to re-evaluate the issue of player tampering. Who knows what will happen? But I have to suggest it to them because there has to be more definitive rules.
"It's not just the Cavs," Cuban continued. "It could be any team. It could be the Heat in a couple years. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. But there has to be a way to keep these guys away from each other for the last week anyway."
Wade and Bosh are represented by the same agent -- Chicago-based Henry Thomas -- and were together throughout the league's moratorium period between July 1-7 when teams and free agents could meet and negotiate deals to the point of reaching agreements in principle. Thursday was the first day that teams and players could actually execute new contracts.
James and two of his closest advisors -- business manager Maverick Carter and agent Leon Rose -- took a different approach, inviting six teams to the Cleveland area to make their pitches over a three-day span before committing to the Heat.
But James and Wade acknowledged at a press conference Friday night that the three players were in frequent contact as they finalized their decisions where to sign, with the information flow also facilitated by the fact that Thomas joined Rose at CAA in July 2009.
Wade acknowledged Friday night that what he termed as "the possibility" that all three stars could someday wind up on the same team was established "a long time ago."
Stern, however, has made it clear that he would not punish player-to-player interaction with the same vigor that the league threatens to punish team contact with players that they don't employ, suggesting that it is unrealistic to try to put limits on or police player fraternization.
At the NBA Finals, when asked about the prospect of various top free agents holding a so-called "summit" -- as Wade playfully suggested to the Chicago Tribune in late May -- Stern said he would not try to stop it or punish participants for getting together.
"They can have it," Stern said on June 3.
Sources in the initial report told ESPN.com that the sitdown took place in Miami during the weekend before July 1, which was subsequently denied strenuously by Thomas. But sources close to the process reconfirmed to ESPN.com on Wednesday that the players convened at least one face-to-face meeting before July 1, except that sources now acknowledge that the meeting was on James' Northeast Ohio turf on the Saturday before the NBA draft.
The Plain Dealer reported in Sunday's editions that Wade flew with Bosh to Akron to meet at James home, where Wade-- still under contract to the Heat -- pointed out that only Miami had the cap space to afford all three players.
The newspaper also reported that the Cavaliers were aware of a November meeting Heat president Pat Riley had with James and Michael Jordan in Miami, with Jordan in town to do some Nike work with Wade. But Cleveland, according to the Plain-Dealer, did not register a tampering complaint with the league about the meeting, believing that Riley's primary purpose was convincing James that more modern players need to pay homage to Jordan, who at the time had not yet become majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats.
After James' Cavaliers beat Wade's Heat on Nov. 12, with Riley and Jordan watching together courtside, James made the announcement that he no longer wants to wear No. 23 and that all players, in a bow to Jordan, should forsake that number.


Jackson rips Gilbert's LeBron comments
espn.com
First of all Jessie Jackson needs to crawl back in a hole and shut the #$%@ up! This has nothing to do about race, so don't make it out to be you racist punk. You are just looking for someone else's coat tails to ride and it would only be fitting to match you and Prince James together. Jackson is a washed up racist who no one listens to any more. Cleveland does not need your mouth on top of an already bleeding city!

CHICAGO -- Jesse Jackson criticized Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert on Sunday, saying Gilbert sees LeBron James as a "runaway slave" and that the owner's comments after the free-agent forward decided to join the Miami Heat put the player in danger.

“His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship -- between business partners -- and LeBron honored his contract.
”-- Rev. Jesse Jackson on Cavs owner Dan Gilbert's comments about LeBron James

Shortly after James announced his decision last week, Gilbert fired off an incendiary letter to Cleveland's fans, ripping the 25-year-old and promising to deliver a title before James wins one. He called James' decision "cowardly" and later told The Associated Press he believes James quit during a handful of Cavaliers playoff games.
"He has gotten a free pass," Gilbert told the AP in a phone interview late Thursday night. "People have covered up for [James] for way too long. Tonight we saw who he really is."
Jackson said Gilbert's comments were "mean, arrogant and presumptuous."
"He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers," the reverend said in a release from his Chicago-based civil rights group, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. "His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship -- between business partners -- and LeBron honored his contract."
Messages were left Sunday night seeking comment from Gilbert, the Cavaliers and James.
Jackson also called Gilbert's comments an attack on all NBA players and said the owner should face a "challenge" from the league and the players' association.
NBA spokesman Tim Frank declined comment.


Gilbert's admirable fire might be too hot to handle
sportsline.com
This isn't about me, but if it was, here's what I would tell you: That I love Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert more than I have ever loved the owner of a professional sports franchise. At this moment I love him more than I have ever loved an athlete, and as a kid in Oklahoma I loved me some Billy Sims. It's possible I love Dan Gilbert more than I love my parents, my wife and my kids. But not my dog. Love my dog.
But Gilbert's a close second, even if his reaction to LeBron James' defection makes me wonder if Gilbert is housetrained. He seems a little unhinged. Unrefined. Hell, he's raw like road rash.
Dan Gilbert's grasp of diplomacy went missing after LeBron James' decision. (AP)
He's beautiful.
Gilbert freaked out when James announced last week on ESPN that he was leaving the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. Gilbert posted an "open letter to fans" on the Cavaliers' website that called James "heartless" and "callous" and "our former hero." And then Gilbert ceased with the niceties. He called James "narcissistic" and said James' decision was a "shocking act of disloyalty" and a "cowardly betrayal."
So of course Gilbert is being ripped for it. Classy Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon wrote that Gilbert "came off like a creep" and "leaving this idiot was the right move" for James. Wilbon decided that Gilbert's image "ought to be taking a lot worse beating than LeBron's."
Which just goes to show that even a smart man, which Wilbon is, can have a stupid opinion. Which that was.
But if this story isn't about me, it's damn sure not about Michael Wilbon. It's about Dan Gilbert, and what his furious letter about James might have done to his franchise.
It sure didn't help it.
And I say that with a heavy heart, because as I've written, I'm all about Dan Gilbert. Do I root for his team? No. But I don't wish negativity on the Cavs, although I fear that's what Gilbert's tirade might accomplish. There are tons of people who understand what Gilbert did, who like what he did, maybe even love what he did.
None of those people play in the NBA.
Here is how NBA players will view Gilbert: That dude's crazy, and not in the Mark Cuban, defend-my-team-to-the-death kind of way. They'll view Gilbert as crazy in the don't-you-EVER-cross-me kind of way.
There are unique circumstances here, but it doesn't matter. It won't register with players that James was a local Cleveland hero, that he personally approved (or didn't disapprove) radical, franchise-shaking moves designed to keep him happy. The Cavs fired their coach. They essentially fired their general manager. The two most important people in the organization, not counting the owner and the superstar, are gone. Why? Because the owner thought the superstar wanted it that way. And still the superstar left. By announcing it on national TV. Without giving his hometown team a blow-softening phone call ahead of time.
When that prime-time special began, the Cavaliers were worth roughly $476 million. Less than 30 minutes later, according to Forbes Magazine, the franchise was worth nearly $100 million less. All because LeBron James is gone.
Given all of that, what James did to Cleveland -- how he did it to Cleveland -- was mind-bogglingly cold.
What Gilbert did in response was mind-bogglingly vindictive, and while I love what he did, this isn't about me. This is about Gilbert, and he was vindictive, and for that he will pay a price. Mark my words: His team will pay a price, because Gilbert crossed a line you simply do not cross.
Call it the Nolan Richardson Rule.
Richardson was the coach at Arkansas in February 2002, his team 13-13 and everyone in town angry about it, when he dared his bosses to fire him. "If they go ahead and pay me my money," he said, "they can take this job tomorrow."
Days later Arkansas paid Richardson his money and took his job. Richardson responded by suing the university, and eight years later he remains out of college coaching. He'll never coach in college again, and why? Because he crossed a line you simply do not cross. He told his school to fire him -- and then sued when it took him up on that offer. No school will hire Richardson now, not with this in mind: If we fire him some day, that crazy coach could sue US. Richardson is un-hireable because he's un-fireable.
The same will hold for Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers. His post-decision rant against James will scare away potential free agents. If I leave Cleveland some day, that crazy owner could do that to ME. That's a risk some free agents will take, players on the level of Jason Kapono or Eldridge Recasner. But great players? All-Stars? They'll have options, including teams whose owners haven't publically eviscerated a player for exercising his rights as a free agent.
That's my theory, and I ran it by some agents. I wanted agents who would talk to me on the record, without fear of backlash from either side, so I called agents of other sports to ask about Gilbert's reaction to James.
Baseball agent John Boggs, whose clients have included Tony Gwynn and Adrian Gonzalez, said Gilbert's reaction "definitely isn't a selling point ... you can be disappointed, but to go to that extreme, I don't understand it. It wouldn't help him land any player I know."
I talked to four other agents, two from the NFL. I got versions of that same quote, over and over again: After publicly smearing James, Gilbert will have a tough time signing marquee free agents.
I hope they're wrong, but I bet they're not. LeBron James ripped a gash in Gilbert's franchise -- and Gilbert, in his fury, spilled acid into the wound.

Can it Be LeBRON? Miami???

If you go to Miami Lebron just remember it is D-Wade's team, not yours. He recruited you, not the other way around. Win all the championships you want, but they won't be yours alone! I don't believe it, but I still think we will find out that you are smarter than people give you credit for and will remain a Cav for life!!!!


Countdown to the LeBronocalypse
A great article by Bill Simmons, especially if you are a Cleveland fan.
Careful; this column will self-destruct at 9 on Thursday night. I can't remember writing a column that had a shorter shelf life. Twelve hours and it turns bad like leftover sushi. Let's call this "Twenty-Three Random Thoughts Before Tonight's LeBronocalypse."

1. A few weeks after the 2008 Summer Olympics, Someone Who Knows Things told me the following rumor: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Chris Paul became such good friends during the 2007 Olympic trials, and then during their 2008 Olympics excursion in Beijing, that they actually made a pact in China to play together. You know, like one of those pacts in a chick flick where two friends agree to get married if both of them are single when they turn 40.
As the rumor went, the 2010 free agents (LeBron, Wade and Bosh) would sign with the same team (at that point the Knicks if they created enough cap room), then Paul would join them in 2012 (or sooner). I thought this was the craziest thing I had ever heard -- so crazy, I only mentioned it once (in a November '08 column). It reminded me of being in my mid-20s in Las Vegas, gambling in the wee hours with my single high school buddies, then all of us drunkenly saying, "We should all pick one city and live there, we'd just go out and kill it every night!" Then you wake up the next morning and forget it was ever discussed. So even if the China rumor was true, that didn't mean it was actually going to happen. Or so I thought.

2. Fast-forward two summers: If LeBron says the word "Miami" tonight, does that mean the rumor was true? Or at least discussed by those guys? Because how could anyone make up something that loony? In 2008, you and I could have sat in a room for 10 hours trying to make up the craziest possible sports rumor and never come up with "Bosh, LeBron, Wade and/or Paul all made a pact in China to play together" without throwing in some improbably bizarre addendum like, "And they did so right after covering up the shooting of Jayson Williams' chauffeur." Was the rumor accurate? Did they stick to their guns? Will we ever find out the truth? Because if they did make a pact, that means …

3. Stephen A. Smith wins the Woodward & Bernstein Award for reporting last week that Wade/LeBron/Bosh in Miami was "done." I thought it was ridiculous. How could it be "done"? Bosh and LeBron were committing to an owner, president and coach without meeting any of them?
My guess at the time: Smith got word that Miami was in the lead, took it and ran with it, then hoped he was right. If he was right, he became the big winner of the summer of 2010. If he was wrong, he could always claim that he WAS right, but that something got screwed up and things changed. I busted his chops a few times on Twitter about it; when he reported one week later that Bosh might be heading for Houston, it sure seemed like Smith was talking out of his butt like Ace Ventura. But if LeBron announces Miami tonight? Then Smith is vindicated and I'm giving myself the byline "William J. Simmons" in my next column as an apology. Although …

4. I'm still not crazy about any report that says "done" unless it's definitely, 100 percent done.
Quick tangent: I like the engagement-ring corollary for all sports reporting. If a friend calls me and says "I'm engaged," I always want to know if they actually got the ring. Give her the ring, you're engaged. If not, "Let's get married" may have been something thrown out there during a drunken dinner, right after sex, during a makeup session after an argument … who the hell knows? I want to see that ring. Once you get the ring, there's no going back. You're locked in. You can get out, but it's almost impossible, and even worse, you might have a one-carat diamond whipped at you at 65 miles an hour.
Had Smith said, "I learned tonight that Miami is the prohibitive favorite to get all
three; someone would have to go back on their word for this not to happen," then it played out the way it had, he would have been the Nostradamu-SAS of this thing. But he tried to get engaged without the ring. Still, he gets a partial credit for sniffing it out. Nobody else had the Miami scenario. And if Smith DID have accurate intelligence and it WAS done, then that means the guys panicked and concocted every event these past eight days -- every waffle, every leak, every extra meeting -- just to throw us off the scent.
Did they willfully snooker the general public? Four red flags indicate they may have (assuming LeBron signs with Miami, of course).

5. Red Flag No. 1: Wade and Bosh (who have the same agent, by the way) hired documentary crews to follow them around. As any reality-show junkie knows, if there's no drama, you have to manufacture it. Well, how could a free-agency documentary (or reality show, or web series, or whatever they do with this footage) have drama if both guys decided where they were going weeks ago? You'd have to center it around Wade's upcoming divorce, or Bosh struggling to decide whether to stay with his girlfriend or hook up with those gorgeous half-Cuban models that only exist in South Beach. And neither guy would ever do that. So what works? Indecision. Meetings. More meetings. A lot of "agonizing." If this footage ever sees the light of day, I bet the acting is worse than your average episode of "The Hills." You wait.

6. Red Flag No. 2: Wade's second visit with Chicago (the old "I really might do this, look, I'm meeting with them again!" trick) was a textbook reality ploy. Look, I've logged my fair share of reality TV over the years. It's one of my vices, along with gambling, Sour Patch kids, Sly Stallone movies and unprotected sex in hotel saunas. (Fine, I made that last one up.) If I were producing Wade's documentary, I would have told him, "After we meet with the Bulls, let's leak information that you want to meet them a second time, and that you want to be closer to your kids post-divorce, then after the meeting we'll shoot a scene of you walking along Lake Michigan deep in thought like you're deciding what to do. Just trust me. It will be great TV." That's what you do when you fake reality. And that second Chicago meeting sure seemed fake.
(Also helping this theory: Multiple teams -- that's right, multiple -- believe Wade went through the free-agency process partly to spy on Miami's competitors for Pat Riley. And if he did? Savvy. Why not? Did you ever think an NBA free-agency period would include the word "spy"? That would have been the wackiest thing that happened this summer if Darko Milicic, Channing Frye, Amir Johnson and Drew Gooden hadn't signed for a combined $114 million on the same day Atlanta offered Joe Johnson $120 million to thank him for leading the Hawks to a four-game sweep in Round 2 in which they were outscored by 25 points per game.)

7. Red Flag No. 3: Wade is 28 years old and just finishing a bitter divorce. He's earned max money for exactly three years and doesn't have a second payday looming in 2016 like Bosh and LeBron do. As we learned with Antoine Walker and Allen Iverson, "wealthy" superstars are never quite as wealthy as we think. Walking away from a sixth guaranteed year in Miami (and no state income tax) when he's battled serious injuries in the past? No way. This was his one chance to bank as much money as possible. It was always going to be Miami.

8. Red Flag No. 4: Bosh clearly wanted to emerge from this summer more famous than he was. I know this because he hired his own documentary crew. Because he made an "Entourage" cameo last month. Because someone who attended one of Bosh's free-agent meetings told me that Bosh was considerably more concerned with his camera crew than hearing the team's pitch. Because he asked his Twitter followers where he should play next year -- a slap in the face to everyone in Toronto who supported him these past seven years -- and because I attended two different 2010 Lakers games at which Bosh inexplicably walked a complete lap around the court while holding hands with his girlfriend, like someone who just wanted to be seen. And it worked. You see a 7-foot basketball player strolling 0.02 miles an hour around a basketball court, you're going to notice him.
If you want fame, then attaching yourself to Wade and/or LeBron in a major market is the way to go. That's what Bosh did. Orlando's Stan Van Gundy even hissed yesterday that Bosh followed Wade around for two weeks like a "lapdog." Doesn't sound like someone who ever seriously considered anywhere but Miami. Add those four red flags together and it's pretty clear, in retrospect, that Wade and Bosh never seriously looked elsewhere. You know, because any time you can play in a city with such rich basketball tradition, you have to do it. It's hard not to get inspired during the national anthem when you see Rony Seikaly's number in the rafters.

9. If one more person refers to Bosh as a "superstar," I'm going to scream. His résumé: seven seasons, 11 career playoff games, one second-team All-NBA selection, never played in a big game in his life other than the gold-medal game of the 2008 Olympics. Now he's fleeing frigid Toronto for South Beach, no state income tax, Dwyane Wade, max money and the playoffs … and this makes him a "superstar"? Did we really drop our standards that low?
Look, I need my NBA superstar to sell tickets, generate interest locally and nationally, single-handedly guarantee an average supporting cast 45-50 wins, and potentially be the best player on a Finals team if the other pieces are in place, which means only LeBron, Wade, Howard, Durant and Kobe qualify. There's a level just a shade below (the Almost-But-Not-Quite-Superstar) with Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Carmelo Anthony, Brandon Roy, Chris Paul and Deron Williams. (Note: I think Derrick Rose gets there next season.) Then you have elite guys like Bosh, Pau Gasol and Amare Stoudemire who need good teammates to help them thrive … and if they don't have them, you're heading to the lottery.
You know what we call these people? All-Stars. Although if LeBron picks Miami, we have to call Bosh something else: lucky. On a good team, he could absolutely thrive like Gasol did on the Lakers, although he's not as sure a bet because Gasol played in so many big games overseas before the Lakers stole him. (Bosh had the opposite experience: He's never played in a Sweet 16, a Game 7 or even Round 2 of the NBA playoffs.) Hearing Bosh referred to as a "superstar" these past few weeks left me with the same face Jake had on Monday's "Bachelor" special when Vienna wouldn't shut up and kept undermining and emasculating him. If Chris Bosh is your third-best player, you're in tremendous shape. Just don't think you can win a title with a 228-pound big man who doesn't block shots and grabs 10 rebounds a night. You need more help than that. Which brings us to …

10. Let's say LeBron signs with Miami. Can you even make the Finals with LeBron, Bosh, Wade and nine minimum-salary guys? Because that might be next year's team … and if that's what happens, the answer is "no effing way." You don't win titles just because of your top three. That belittles the meaning of guys like Derek Fisher, Robert Horry, Steve Kerr, John Paxson, Brian Shaw … you could go on for hours naming role players who swung a title. The 2008 Celts lucked out by getting James Posey, Eddie House and P.J. Brown for practically nothing; Miami wouldn't have that luxury this summer, not with so many role players jockeying for contracts one year before the possible lockout. Nobody is taking less money to showcase themselves for a summer that might not happen. Even if Miami could spin Michael Beasley for a fourth guy (say, Trevor Ariza), that's still not enough. They'd need one more rebounder, point guard, a 3-point shooter and a center. Good luck.

11. Another problem: You realize how many minutes these guys would log on a three-man team? About 42-44 minutes for 100 games … and if anyone missed an extended stretch of games, then that would put even more pressure on the other two. Crazy. No way they win more than 50, especially with teams gunning for them every night. We've also never seen two perimeter superstar alpha dogs coexist for an NBA title -- not even when Jerry West and Elgin Baylor teamed up with Wilt Chamberlain against the aging Celtics in 1969. LeBron would have to accept becoming Mega-Pippen to Wade's Jordan. (Yeah, right.) Even during the final quarter of the 2008 gold-medal game, when everyone on the American team was staring at each other wondering who was going to step up against a red-hot Spain team, there were a few minutes of tentative, "I don't want to step on anyone's toes here" basketball before Kobe said, "Screw it, get out of my way" and took over the key portion of the game.
Well, at some point, Wade and LeBron will have one of those 2008 Spain moments … but what happens if both guys say, "Screw it, get out of my way"? You need to have a special type of mentality to want that moment; that's why Scottie Pippen melted down in that 1994 Bulls-Knicks playoff game, because Phil Jackson had spent that entire year building him up and making him think, "We can win without Jordan, you're just as good, we can DO THIS," then designed the biggest play of the season for someone else. It was a slap in the face. Pippen reacted terribly, but still, don't you want him to be pissed there? Isn't that what being an alpha dog is all about? Don't you need a special level of swagger and confidence to carry that load every night? And once you reach that level, doesn't it become impossible to share the spotlight with someone else? Of course …

12. Maybe LeBron knows that he isn't wired that way.
Maybe he wants to be an unselfish creator like Magic or a do-it-all wingman like Pippen. Maybe he has too much Doctor J in him, as I theorized after Game 6. Maybe he believes that if Wade carries the crunch-time load, it will free LeBron to do LeBron things and average a triple-double every game without having that burden of "I've gotta create every shot for us in the final four minutes." Maybe he thinks it's his best chance to win. And if so …

13. I think it's a cop-out. Any super-competitive person would rather beat Dwyane Wade than play with him. Don't you want to find the Ali to your Frazier and have that rival pull the greatness out of you? That's why I'm holding out hope that LeBron signs with New York or Chicago (or stays in Cleveland), because he'd be saying, "Fine. Kobe, Dwight and Melo all have their teams. Wade and Bosh have their team. The Celtics are still there. Durant's team is coming. I'm gonna go out and build MY team, and I'm kicking all their asses." That's what Jordan would have done. Hell, that's what Kobe would have done.
In May, after the Cavs were ousted in the conference semifinals, I wrote that LeBron was facing one of the greatest sports decisions ever: "winning (Chicago), loyalty (Cleveland) or a chance at immortality (New York)."
I never thought he would pick "HELP!"

14. LeBron joining Wade after his 2010 playoffs flameout, in my opinion, is like Conan O'Brien getting kicked in the teeth by NBC, then overreacting and forming a late-night version of "The View" with Chris Rock, Adam Carolla and Jeffrey Ross over trying to create his own show somewhere else. (Note to Carolla and Ross: Don't get excited, it's only a hypothetical.) Total cop-out. The move of someone who, deep down, doesn't totally trust his own talents any more. And maybe he doesn't.

15. What should LeBron do? Pick Chicago. That's where the rings are. The fact that he didn't say to Bosh, "Come to Chicago with me, we'll play with Rose and Noah and win six titles together" was the single most disappointing outcome of the summer. That team would have been a true juggernaut with pieces that actually complemented each other, unlike this pickup-basketball situation that's brewing in Miami. Even with Boozer there in Bosh's place -- and I think he's a great fit for them, with or without LeBron -- it could still translate to multiple titles, because Rose could have been the best second banana since Kobe in 2001.
Just know that Kobe would have caught a whiff of those rings and gone to Chicago. Same with Jordan. Same with Magic and Bird. Chicago had the biggest competitive advantage of anyone: room for two max guys along with an under-23 franchise point guard and one of the only elite defending/rebounding big men in basketball. How can you care about winning and NOT go to Chicago?

16. I need to make that point a second time: How can you care about winning and NOT go to Chicago? Unless …

17. LeBron picks New York. Ballsiest move. Fulfills his "global icon" wishes, puts him in the best possible basketball city, allows him to live a relatively normal life in our biggest city, gives him the biggest possible challenge (saving basketball in New York) and the biggest possible reward (going down in history as the guy who saved basketball in New York). I wouldn't love the thought of him crushing Cleveland for a similarly shaky situation, but if he spun it the right way, you could talk me into it. And here are the words I'd want to hear:
"Bringing New York a championship -- and doing it in the biggest city in America, in the best arena to play basketball -- would mean more to more people than anything else I could do as a basketball player. It's a challenge I could not resist."
Say that and I'm signing off. Anything less … no.

18. I ruled out the Knicks last week after details trickled out about LeBron's comical New York meeting, which sounded like a "Saturday Night Live" sketch because of Donnie Walsh being in a wheelchair and wearing a neck brace (he just had neck surgery), and James Dolan being James Dolan. Now the Knicks are gaining momentum thanks to the "He's coming!" buzz that drove MSG's stock price up 6.5 percent Wednesday. Where did this buzz come from? As far as I can tell, nowhere. But there's buzzing. You have to believe me. My BlackBerry practically blew up yesterday with e-mails from sports-industry friends with "KNICKS???" in the subject heading.
If he spurns them, then suddenly we're looking at the most disastrous decade in the history of New York sports -- first the Layden Era, then the Isiah Era, then Walsh spending two years gutting the team so he could spend $100 million on a guy with a bad knee and a bad eye who hasn't played defense in six years. Do you realize the Knicks will have given away top-10 lottery picks in 2004, '06, '07, '09, '10 and, potentially, '11 and '12 without making the playoffs or landing one superstar? How is that even possible?
(Important note: The fact that David Stern stuck Rod Thorn in New Jersey, Walsh in New York, David Kahn in Minnesota and Stu Jackson in Vancouver has to be added to his Wikipedia page. Like, right now. He's the Pied Piper for putrid GMs.)

19. I always thought the goal was winning rings. That's what Russell, Bird, Magic and Jordan taught us. That's what I grew up believing. But sports are different now. You're a brand as much as an athlete. In the past 72 hours, with the suspense building for his announcement, LeBron created a Twitter account, launched his own website and agreed with ESPN on a one-hour live selection show that, incredibly, was the exact same idea that a Columbus reader named Drew had in my Thanksgiving '09 mailbag … but I thought he was kidding. Now I think he's Nostradamus. Or even Nostradamu-SAS.
Drew from Columbus looked into the future, and here's what he saw: A world in which it was totally conceivable that an NBA superstar would sell an hour-long show in which he picked his next team and tainted his legacy in the process. I played along and pushed a "Bachelor"-type setup ("The LeBrachelor!") in which LeBron whittled 29 teams down to six, then four, then two, then one over the course of six episodes. Hell, have him hand out roses. Why not? It's not like this would actually happen, right?

20. Seven months later, it's happening. I can't wait to watch for the same reasons I couldn't turn away from O.J.'s Bronco chase or the Artest melee: it's Car Wreck Television. If LeBron picks anyone other than the Cavaliers, it will be the cruelest television moment since David Chase ended "The Sopranos" by making everyone think they lost power. Cleveland fans will never forgive LeBron, nor should they. He knows better than anyone what kind of sports anguish they have suffered over the years. Losing LeBron on a contrived one-hour show would be worse than Byner's fumble, Jose Mesa, the Game 5 meltdown against Boston, The Drive, The Shot and everything else. At least those stomach-punch moments weren't preordained, unless you believe God hates Cleveland (entirely possible, by the way). This stomach-punch moment? Calculated. By a local kid they loved, defended and revered.
It would be unforgivable. Repeat: unforgivable. I don't have a dog in this race -- as a Celtics fan, I wanted to see him go anywhere but Chicago -- but LeBron doing this show after what happened in the 2010 playoffs actually turned me against him. No small feat. I was one of his biggest defenders. Not anymore.
And here's where I really worry, because I don't think LeBron James has anyone in his life with enough juice to hurl his or her body in front of the concept of "I'm going to announce during a one-hour live show that I'm playing somewhere other than Cleveland." It's the best and worst thing about him -- he has remained fiercely loyal to his high school friends, but at the same time, he's surrounded by people his own age who don't stand up to him and don't know any better. Picking anyone other than Cleveland on this show would be the meanest thing any athlete has ever done to a city. But he might. Assuming he's not malicious, and that he's just a self-absorbed kid who apparently lost all perspective, that doesn't make him much different than most child stars who became famous before they could legally drink -- or, for that matter, Tiger Woods. That's just the way this stuff works. Too much, too fast, too soon. You don't lose your way all at once; just a little at a time. Then one day you look up and there's a TMZ photo spread with 15 of your mistresses, or you're agreeing to stab an entire city in the heart on a one-hour television show.
(When Kevin Durant announced his own five-year, $86 million extension with an endearingly simple tweet yesterday, we all had the same thought: "Now that's how it's done." Pretty sad that an NBA star stood out for being humble and only caring about basketball.)

21. I don't think LeBron will pick Cleveland for the simple reason that he didn't want to meet with Tom Izzo a few weeks ago. If he was staying, he would have wanted to meet someone who may have been his next coach. He didn't care. That tells me he's gone. But what do I know?

22. I think he should pick Chicago, and if not the Bulls, then New York. But I live in a dream world where NBA superstars only care about winning titles and/or playing in the biggest basketball cities with sophisticated fans and tons of history. The truth is, New York might not mean anything to LeBron, just like college football recruits don't care about Notre Dame any more. He isn't old enough to remember Frazier's Knicks, or Bernard's Knicks … hell, he's barely old enough to remember Ewing's Knicks. And he might be too egotistical to follow Jordan in Chicago, like it was the sloppy seconds of NBA cities or something. But what do I know?

23. Before I heard that tonight's announcement was taking place in Greenwich, Conn., I would have bet anything on Miami … as well as my next column having the byline "William J. Simmons." The Greenwich thing threw me for a loop. I am still picking Miami. Cautiously. Then again, what do I know?
(Actually, I do know one thing: By going for 24 thoughts instead of 23, I have to nail only six of them to win the LeBronocalypse MVP. Let's go one more.)

24. The goofiest part of these past few weeks: The way media people have been speculating in a way that seems like a cross between learned information and opinion, except we're never really sure what's real and what's conjecture. Thanks to Twitter and the 24/7 news cycle, the lines have been blurred completely. Chuck Klosterman thinks the true hero of the LeBron saga is Brian Windhorst, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter who cranked out articles and Tweets by the boatload -- never speculation, always facts, always backed up by sources, and there were a couple of times when he made you wonder, "Wait a second, is Windhorst hiding under a table in LeBron's office right now?" Maybe he was.
Sifting through the various reports and tweets, trying to figure out fact from fiction, glancing at my BlackBerry every 15 seconds to see if anyone e-mailed me … that's what I'll remember from the LeBronocalypse more than anything else. And also, who knew anyone could keep a secret for this long in the Twitter/TMZ Era? Even yesterday, when I was batting around LeBron theories with my buddy Connor, we were breaking down the Greenwich thing and had this exchange:
-- Connor: "Greenwich, that's nine minutes from the Knicks' practice facility. That has to mean something."
-- Me (thinking): "Maybe they KNEW it was nine minutes from the Knicks' practice facility, so they put it there to throw people off the scent."
I mean … what the hell kind of sporting event is this? It's like college signing day crossed with JFK's assassination. LeBron's team wanted to keep people talking and promote his website, and really, that's what happened. The man nearly exploded Twitter and melted ESPN. He transcended free agency, the World Cup, everything. He will draw a massive television audience tonight; he's the only professional athlete who could have pulled that off.
What a week for LeBron's brand. I just hope he remembers to wipe the blood off the knife after he pulls it from Cleveland's back.


LeBron's TV spectacle a fitting end to outlandish free-agent process
si.com
In those anxious, heart-stopping moments before LeBron James addresses the nation on the state of the war in Afghanistan, I'd like to ... wait a minute [this is where Jon Stewart puts the fake phone to his ear] ... I've just been informed that the King's special is not about Afghanistan. It is about his deciding in which American city he will pursue his dream -- our dream, really, the dream of our collective nation, or more like the dream of the world, that's it, the whole world, the universe, that dream. Which is to play basketball, make a lot of money, and, dammit, just maybe change humankind for the better.
But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, as much as we are tingling with anticipation about LeBron's decision, to be announced in a one-hour ESPN special cleverly called "The Decision," you do realize that we are staring into the abyss. Because think of it: What will we do when "The Decision" has been, you know, decided? How will we fill the empty hours, the endless, malaise-driven days when there is no longer video of LeBron arriving at his basketball camp, LeBron posting delectable tidbits on his Web site, LeBron tapping out messages on his new Twitter account? We got nothing. An irritating war, something about an oil spill down South, a crumbling job market. But, man, that stuff is hard to tweet about. LeBR plz stay w. homeeeez!!! LOL!!
Sure, there are a couple of free-agent mysteries still to be solved, a Mike Miller here, a Raymond Felton there. But nothing like the captivating saga of the King and, before that, his Court, the Butch-and-Sundance duo of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, who announced on Tuesday that they will pursue their dream jointly, which is, in a smaller way, our dream, too, the LeBron dream: to play basketball, make a lot of money and, dammit, just maybe change humankind for the better.
All right, let me stop right here. I have not been immune from the protracted free-agent pornfest. I've made a few phone calls and dropped a few hints to sources that I would love to be the one to announce LeBron's destination, get my name on that endlessly spooling crawl across the bottom of the TV. But all the while I've been a little heartsick, half-angry and half-sad at the devolution of this process, what it says about the NBA, the cult of celebrity that has overtaken our country and the whole out-of-whack state of sports journalism.
The Amar'e Stoudemire welcome that was plastered on the Madison Square Garden billboard -- incidentally, the same place they advertise the circus every year -- was an interesting diversion, as was his chest-pounding calls for Carmelo Anthony and Tony Parker to join him on the Knicks. But the over-the-top part began with Wade and Bosh, whose nauseatingly orchestrated we-are-the-world pas de deux was, in the final analysis, a middle school kickball game. Miss Miller, we want to play on the same team. Can we? Can we? Pleeeeeeeeze? If LeBron joins them in Miami, it'll be all the cool kids on one side, taking over the playground, geeks over there against the wall.
Look, Wade is a great talent and he won an NBA championship in 2006 practically by himself. (Along with a few whistles that put him at the foul line a few thousand times.) But his diva act has been way, way over the top -- bringing your own documentary crew to a free-agent negotiation sounds like a story in The Onion -- and, though we have no idea how difficult his custody battle might be for him, his I-want-to-be-in-Chicago-to-be-near-my-kids pronouncements did ultimately ring hollow. I'd lay you odds right now that sometime in the near future D-Wade is romantically linked to L-Gaga. They deserve each other.
And while Bosh is a solid player, the attention foisted upon a guy who at this point is about the 100th best interior player in NBA history defied belief. In his seven seasons with the Raptors, Bosh led them to exactly two playoff appearances, both of which resulted in first-round exits. If you were starting a team right now, is there anyone -- outside of Wade and Bosh -- who would pick Bosh over Kevin Durant, a player who, sans fanfare, signed a five-year extension with Oklahoma City this week, a move that went unnoticed during the free-agent orgy? You would? Congratulations -- the Clippers want you to start in the front office next Monday.
But the big story, of course, was LeBron, who, drunk on the magnificence of his own LeBron-ness, is utterly clueless of how ridiculous this whole process has been, the monumental amount of self-importance attached to scheduling a one-hour show when you have zero championship rings and, at last glance, were seen folding like a beach chair against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy termed the whole LeBron tease "almost like a parody of itself," which would be accurate if he removed the word "almost." I'm sure Team LeBron is claiming that "The Decision" is mostly about raising money for charity, but here's a simpler way he could do that -- take a million or two of the 100 he's going to get and write a check to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. And if he's already done it, do it again.
After announcing they are signing with the Miami Heat, SI.com's Jack McCallum explains why Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade ended up in Miami.
But given the media's mindless acquiescence, why should these guys treat this as anything but business as usual? As I said before, SI has played its part -- my intrepid colleague Ian Thomsen has spent the last few weeks with a cell phone surgically attached to his ear -- but ESPN has truly jumped the shark. One might've thought that the walk-up to David Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy debut set the standard for over-coverage (how did that work out, by the way?), but this is indeed a brave new world. A half dozen of ESPN's best reporters on the story. Endless bulletins. Endless crawls. Endless "according to sources." Endless "ESPN has learneds." Even a 24-hour sports network should have some sense of perspective about sports, and The Worldwide Leader utterly lost it on this one. The only thing missing has been Brett Favre. I keep hoping that sometime Thursday the Favre-ster will weigh in with his opinion on where LeBron should go, and ESPN will halt regular broadcasting to bring us his thoughts.
What this plugs into, needless to say, is our obsession with celebrity, the idea that the sizzle is absolutely more important than the steak. I guarantee you that once Wade and Bosh (and maybe James) actually put on a Miami uniform and begin the difficult process of trying to win a championship, there will be zero interest outside of NBA fans and journalists. The story is not about making the Heat better or about the inner workings of an inside/outside combo; it's about the tweets and the marketing and the seductive dance and the chest-pounding drumbeat of me-me-me, or, in this case, we-we-we.
Despite the amount of publicity being generated for the NBA, I can only imagine how embarrassing these weeks must have been for the old-schoolers in the league office. The commissioner fines Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $100,000 for making the utterly obvious suggestion that he would like to have LeBron on his team, yet James, Wade and Bosh can pick up the whole Eastern Conference in their hands and mold it like a lump of clay. Since the Finals ended with the Lakers' victory -- hey, remember them? -- it hasn't been a league; it's been a summer camp for the marquee masters of the universe, the adult version of AAU ball.
What I kept longing for was the offseason of 2000, the free-agent summer that truly shaped what happened in the NBA for the next decade. Oh, you don't remember it? That's when Tim Duncan chose to stay in San Antonio, a decision he announced -- and I'm probably not far from the truth here -- by putting down the car magazine he was reading, dialing Gregg Popovich and saying, "Pop, I'm coming back."
As I write this, there are still about 12 hours until this newest reality show hits the airwaves. Still time for 100 more crawls, 1,000 more educated projections, a million more tweets. I'll probably watch "The Decision," because, like so many others in my business, I am a prisoner of the process. I told my wife to buy the popcorn, and I'll bring the Pepto-Bismol.

Lebron James Free Agency Day 1

Scott officially named Cavaliers coach
CLEVELAND (AP) -- With LeBron or without him, Byron Scott has decided to get back on an NBA sideline.
Scott accepted Cleveland's coaching job just as LeBron James officially became a free agent and no longer property of the Cavaliers, who are hoping that landing the best coach available will convince the two-time MVP to stay home and try to win a title.
Scott's agent, Brian McInerney, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that he and the Cavs are working through some final details, but doesn't expect any problems and that Scott has agreed to become Cleveland's next coach. As of Thursday night, the team was still hoping to officially announce Scott's hiring by the end of the day a day James listened to offers from the New Jersey Nets and New York Knicks.
Scott, who previously coached in New Jersey and New Orleans, may not know for some time if he'll have James on his roster. But after working as a TV analyst, the 49-year-old has decided it's time to get back to doing what he loves most.
The Cavs have been looking for a coach since Mike Brown was fired May 24, ending a five-year run with the club. Brown guided James and his teammates through the most successful run in franchise history, but fell short of winning a championship.
Scott's hiring ends a twisting drama to the Cavs' coaching search.
Los Angeles Lakers assistant Brian Shaw appeared to be the favorite to become Cleveland's coach after an impressive two-day meeting with the club earlier this week. As of Tuesday, Shaw was reported to be assembling a staff to bring to Cleveland.
But despite the Cavaliers seemingly moving toward a deal with Shaw to the point where McInerney sent out a congratulatory e-mail to Shaw through several news outlets general manager Chris Grant reopened talks with Scott on Wednesday.
Scott's dream has been to coach the Lakers, but with Phil Jackson possibly returning to the champions he has decided to take on the Cavs, who could be better positioned to re-sign James with Scott on the sideline.
James has said he would like to play for a former NBA player, and Scott's resume includes 14 pro seasons 11 with the Lakers and three titles. He was a teammate of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on L.A.'s famed "Showtime" teams under coach Pat Riley and later with Kobe Bryant. He knows what it takes to win it all.
As a coach, Scott led some lesser-talented Nets teams to the finals and had a solid relationship with star Jason Kidd that unraveled toward the end of the point guard's time in New Jersey. In New Orleans, Scott took the Hornets on a surprising run to the Western Conference finals and was close with guard Chris Paul, who is James' best friend in the league.
The Cavs had an unsuccessful pursuit of Michigan State's Tom Izzo, who rejected a reported $30 million to stay with the Spartans. Cleveland had several discussions with Scott, who flew himself to Michigan and met with owner Dan Gilbert on Father's Day.
Shaw emerged as a leading candidate but then something pushed the Cavs back to Scott, landing him just in time to make an impression on James, who will hear presentations from the Nets and New York Knicks on the first day of free agency.



CP3 + Byron Scott = LeBron’s new Cavs?
It could happen.
According to a source of the New Herald‘s Bon Finnan, Chris Paul wants out of New Orleans. And given that his former coach, Byron Scott, is set to take over the Cavs … you know where we’re going with this.
Though the Hornets have made it clear that they won’t trade their superstar point guard, we can’t help but forget what Paul said when Scott was fired last November:







LeBron's toughest call: Where to go?
gene wojohowski espn.com
If it's about money and loyalty, LeBron James stays in Cleveland.
If it's about winning championships, James leaves for Miami or Chicago.
If it's about the size of his world launching pad, James leaves for New York. LeBron James wants to get his hands on the Larry O'Brien Trophy. If he does, where will it happen?
If it's about building something from scratch, James leaves for New Jersey/Brooklyn.
If it's about playing for the most passionate owner in sports, James leaves for Dallas.
If it's about playing for the worst owner in sports, James leaves for the Los Angeles Clippers.
If it's about the first five, then I have absolutely no idea what NBA uniform James will wear next season. And from the number of breathless but conflicting rumors surrounding his free-agency romancing, I'm not sure James knows, either. Cav or Mav? Knick or Net? Heat or Bull?
We are witnesses to one of the great sports decisions of all time. Bigger than Alex Rodriguez to the New York Yankees. Bigger than Joe Namath to the New York Jets. Bigger than Robert Irsay moving the Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis. (Baltimore got another NFL franchise; Cleveland isn't going to get another LeBron.)
If James screws this up, his basketball legacy will fit under a beer cap. He will become the guy who overthought or underthought himself into the wrong choice. Agents and business school professors will use James as a cautionary tale, a 6-foot-8 example of what not to do in free agency.
The King will be reduced to a spectacularly rich jester.
You see the great James calmly orchestrating some grand career scheme. I see a guy just old enough (25) to rent a car without an age surcharge. And on top of that, James is facing a kind of extreme pressure he's never seen on a basketball court. In other words, he could panic.
Basketball is easy compared with this. Players can practice shooting jumpers from the arc. They can't practice making sense of a half-dozen business scenarios from six different teams with six different presentations.
James gets only one opportunity in his life to be a free agent in the absolute prime of his playing career -- and that opportunity is now. If he signs a six-year max deal with the Cavaliers, or a five-year max deal with any of the other teams, he'll be 31 or 30 the next time free agency arrives. That isn't basketball AARP age (Kobe Bryant just led the Los Angeles Lakers to a championship at 31), but who knows what sort of physical toll the game will have taken on James by 2015 or 2016.
What would you do? Would you let your heart dictate the decision?
Cleveland hopes so. Without James, the Cavaliers would instantly lose an estimated $100 million in franchise value. The downtown businesses, according to a recent Cleveland Plain Dealer story, would lose about $200 million in LBJ-generated season revenue. And a city with a long, depressing history of sports failure would lose a chunk of its self-esteem, as well as a player who was born and raised in nearby Akron. One of its own would become an Ohio export.
Comfort counts, and James is comfortable as a Cav. Plus, he would leave $30 million on the table if he signed elsewhere.
But James is also ringless. There's the not-so-small matter of the Cavs' roster, which isn't getting any younger, better or more likely to help James with a championship.
So the heart has its limitations, as do the Cavs.
This is semi-new territory for James. He was recruited by colleges out of high school, but his entry into the NBA was a foregone conclusion. Then the Cavs drafted him. He has never had to choose an NBA team; one chose him.
Now the Bulls, Knicks, Nets, Heat, Cavs and Clippers will essentially make the equivalent of home recruiting visits to the Akron area beginning July 1. They will be selling -- that's what recruiters do -- James on everything from basketball to brand name.
The Bulls will sell the quality of their roster, the chance to connect the championship dots from MJ to LBJ, and the vitality of their city.
The Knicks will sell the wattage of New York and the franchise's plan to turn Madison Square Garden into a place where they raise banners again. What that plan is, I have no idea.
The Nets will sell a new owner with pockets as deep as the Caspian Sea, the business savvy of Jay-Z and their impending move to Brooklyn.
The Heat will sell Dwyane Wade and the audacious, but doable idea of having D-Wade, James and Chris Bosh on the same team.
The Cavs will sell familiarity and commitment.
The Clippers will sell the law of averages -- that Donald Sterling can't be the most
clueless owner every year, right?
There are no guarantees James will make the right decision. That's because championships, health and rebuilding plans aren't guaranteed. The money is, but nothing else.
James is in the rare position of having everything to gain but also everything to lose. If this works, he can start collecting title rings. If it doesn't, he'll have wasted the chance of a lifetime.
You see a guy with choices. I see a guy with perspiration stains.




The Latest News on NBA Free Agents as of 10:00 pm est according to si.com
Thursday, July 1
RAPTORS GET JOHNSON: Amir Johnson agreed on a five-year, $34 million contract with the Raptors, his agent, Kevin Bradbury, told Marc Spears. "Amir didn't want to play the free agency game," Bradbury said. "He wanted to go back to Toronto. He's young and he has security and a lot of basketball left in him." The 6-foot-9 power forward considered four teams before quickly agreed to the Raptors offer. [Yahoo! Sports]

CELTICS SHOPPING WALLACE: The Celtics are trying to use Rasheed Wallace's contract in a trade, which would allow them to keep their mid-level exception, claims Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. Wallace announced last week that he would retire, but has yet to file retirement papers, so his $6.32 million salary for next season and $6.79 million the following the season would come off a team's books when he's traded to them.

Boston GM Danny Ainge is shopping Wallace's contract to get a power forward or center to replace him and the injured Kendrick Perkins. The team could then use their mid-level exception for a different player, like Orlando sharpshooter J.J. Redick, whom sources say Ainge is targeting. Other candidates: Free agent Brad Milller and Dallas center Erick Dampier. [Yahoo! Sports]

BOSH MEETS HEAT: Chris Bosh met with the Pat Riley and the Heat's contingent in Chicago on Thursday, each side gauging the chance of him joining Dwyane Wade in Miami. Bosh flew to Chicago from his Dallas home, while the Heat brass arrived after meetings with Amar'e Stoudemire and others in Los Angeles. On his Twitter feed, Bosh said he was "looking forward to seeing what Miami has to offer," adding, "stay tuned." Riley was joined for the Bosh visit by team owner Micky Arison, Heat great Alonzo Mourning, among others. Bosh told The Associated Press earlier this week that Miami is one of his top choices during the free-agent period. [AP]

DIRK'S DETOUR: Dirk Nowitzki was supposed to be headed to Dallas to speak with the Mavericks' brass about a new contract, but he made a pit-stop in New York City to have dinner with teammate and confidant Jason Kidd. Kidd, who was a free agent a year ago before he inked a three-year, $25 million deal with Dallas, recently said he thought Nowitzki would re-sign. Mavs GM Donnie Nelson was minutes away from boarding a plane for Germany to meet with Nowitzki on Tuesday, but didn't seem too worried about the big man's detour. "A day doesn't matter at this point," he told NBA.com's Art Garcia. "We've got all our lines in the water. We've been talking to players and agents." [NBA.com]

HAWKS WANT ANSWER: Atlanta offered Joe Johnson a max six-year contract worth $125 million, and if he doesn't make a decision soon, the Hawks may be forced to withdraw their offer and look elsewhere, a league source told SI.com's Ian Thomsen. The Knicks, who have Johnson as one of their sticking points in their pitch to LeBron, met with the Hawks guard Thursday morning before they talked to James. Two Knicks sources described their meeting with Johnson in Los Angeles as "very promising."
-- Ian Thomsen

GRIZZ KEEP GAY: Rudy Gay agreed to a five-year, $81.6 million contract with Memphis, with a player option on his fifth year, reports NBA.com's David Aldridge. Gay had scheduled a visit Thursday afternoon in Minnesota with the Timberwolves, but the Grizzlies contacted Gay's agents Thursday morning and said they now would be willing to match any offer sheet another team gave him. Gay then had no incentive to look elsewhere, and canceled his trip to Minnesota. [NBA.com]

WADE MEETS WITH BULLS: Dwyane Wade and his representatives spend about two hours with the Bulls on the Day 1 of free agency. The Heat are still "very confident" they can re-sign Wade, who grew up in Chicago. Details of Wade's talks with the team weren't immediately known, but his chat did coincide with LeBron's meeting with the Nets. Both meetings ended at roughly the same time, and the nets' contingent quickly left Cleveland to fly to Chicago for an afternoon meeting with Wade. [AP]

BUCKS BUSY
Hours after the Bucks reportedly agreed to a deal with forward Drew Gooden comes news that guard John Salmons is closing in on a new contract to remain with Milwaukee, reports NBA.com's David Aldridge. A league source told Aldridge a deal that would pay Salmons $39 million over five years, and up to $5 million in potential bonuses, is "real close." [NBA.com]

DARKO DAYS IN MINNESOTA
Once strongly considering a return to Europe, Darko Milicic, the man selected after LeBron James in the 2003 draft, has decided to give the NBA another chance, thanks to a four-year, $20 million deal from the Timberwolves.

MAGIC TARGETING BOOZER?
Though over the salary cap, the Orlando Magic may be interested in acquiring Carlos Boozer through a sign-and-trade, reports the Deseret News. Boozer is reportedly high on Magic center Dwight Howard's list of preferred additions, according to a CBS Sports report Wednesday. [Deseret News]

GOODEN GETS DEAL: Drew Gooden reached a five-year, $32 million contract with the Bucks, reports Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. Bucks GM John Hammond and Gooden's agent Dan Fegan cut the deal early Thursday to help solidify Milwaukee's frontline. The Bucks are still negotiating with free agent John Salmons to return. [Yahoo!]

JJ, HAWKS REUNION CLOSE
The Atlanta Hawks have offered Joe Johnson a six-year, $119 million contract, two NBA sources told SI.com. Multiple executives believe that Johnson is likely to sign the deal and remain with the Hawks.Hawks GM Rick Sund delivered the offer to Johnson in Los Angeles shortly after midnight Thursday. Johnson then met with coach Mike D'Antoni and a group from the Knicks with the Rockets and Mavericks on hold for meetings later Thursday.
--Chris Mannix

(UPDATE: Johnson is slated for a second meeting with the Hawks Thursday, reports Ken Berger of CBS Sports. Agent Arn Tellem said that he expects his client to make a decision on the Hawks' max deal "in the near furtue." [CBS Sports])

BOSH HEADED HOME?
The Houston Rockets have identified Chris Bosh as their primary target this offseason, a source told SI.com. The Rockets visited Bosh in Dallas just after midnight Thursday morning and are discussing sign-and-trade options to bring Bosh to Houston. Among the trade candidates that could be sent to Toronto are forward Luis Scola and guard Aaron Brooks. Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted: "Just finished meeting with @chrisbosh - great player & person. He is about winning so I focused on how w/Houston he can win a championship."?
--Chris Mannix