Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is LeBron James and what he should do next summer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.LeBron James is no fool. Starting this season with uncertainty over his pending free agency would doom the Cleveland Cavaliers, bury them under a sea of unhealthy rumors.
Accentuated by Shaquille O'Neal playing alongside him, basketball would become more circus than serious in Cleveland this season.
Steinmetz: Big Apple Has LeBron's Name All Over It
And James loves Northeast Ohio too much to let that happen. Watch for him to make a surprise announcement during training camp, verbally committing to a long-term contract that will keep him in Cleveland, assuring him a statue at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, ending all debate.
It's the only logical way to end this nonsense, avoid becoming a season-long distraction to both his team and the league.
Anything else, and he may as well be slapping the face of general manager Danny Ferry, owner Dan Gilbert and coach Mike Brown, all good men who have been bending over backward for him long enough.
Doesn't matter how many bike-a-thons he rides in Akron or how many movies he makes about his hometown or his posse, if he is as loyal to this team and this town as he says -- and there is no real reason not to believe him -- then he should show it now. And he will.
Maybe he likes the mystique, the intrigue, or making people beg, but the whole affair just isn't very professional, falsely raising the hopes of fans in other cities who have no real chance of getting him, and causing too much anguish for those who have shown him nothing but love.
Aside from his earlier teenage follies, and his unsportsmanlike decision not to shake hands after losing in the conference final last spring, James always has been a stand-up guy. It's hard not to like him.
It's just time for him to stand up and make a statement about loyalty and integrity and prove that he won't be swayed by the bright lights and high-living that other cities will use to tempt him.
These New York/New Jersey rumors are little more than big-city snobbery, fueled by an elitist attitude that should insult him more than impress him.
Twenty years ago, going to New York would present greater outside endorsement opportunities, but those days have passed. The world is smaller now, accessible even from Cleveland, Ohio. Fortunately, NBA rules allow a free agent's current team to pay him a little more -- bigger raises and an extra year -- than anyone else can pay him.
The rule is designed to avoid the downfall of Major League Baseball, where too much free agent movement has crushed the game's popularity. It's a rule that likely will keep Dwyane Wade in Miami, Joe Johnson in Atlanta and Chris Bosh in Toronto.
James can tease the Knicks all he wants, but it would make absolutely no sense to go from a team on the verge of winning an NBA title, to a franchise that hasn't had a respectable season in 15 years.
The Knicks are like a bunch of old men sitting around in their underwear playing cards at a retirement home, telling lies about the good old days. It's a franchise that has been mismanaged for so long it still has Bernard King on the payroll.
James is no fool. It won't be long before he tells everyone he's staying right where he belongs – in Cleveland.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-08-2009 @ 12:36PM
knicksfanjhb said...
As a Knicks fan, I'm well aware we are the laughing stock of the NBA. HOWEVER, to say that we have not had a respectable season in 15 years is downright ignorant. You might recall the 1999 season (10 years ago), where as the #8 seed we made it to the finals. I guess going to the finals is not considered respectable these days?
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9-08-2009 @ 1:48PM
burt said...
15 years, 10 years
whatever
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9-08-2009 @ 7:06PM
Rick said...
I don't understand why Le Bron doesn't make the announcement now if he is staying put. Really he can't makr more salary than in Cleveland & the Cavaliers are one of a select few teams to have a real shot at the NBA title. The writer is correct though. The Cavaliers front office & coaching staff is doing what they can to make him comfortable here.
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9-08-2009 @ 10:19PM
take5agency said...
I always trip when people think there will never be another great player, then out of nowhere comes some guy who dominates. It happened with Jordan, Shaq, Kobe, whoever. It should be Lebron, but in two or three years, who knows what could happen. The thing is, Lebron has a great situation in Cleveland. Stay there, we don't know where the next dominant player is coming from. It may be Lebron, it may be Kevin Durant, or it may be some guy in the 10th or 11th grade who has'nt even entered the league. The future is'nt guarateed, and with injuries, the threatened lockout, the new salary structure and new talent, who knows who will dominate this league. Do like Jordan, stay where you're at, and put Cleveland on the map, that will be a great legacy.
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9-08-2009 @ 10:28PM
Giles said...
LeB J will keep a summer home in Akron/Cleveland, and crazy as it should sound, I think inertia would cause him to lean to staying in Cleveland, but he likes being wooed, and keeping his options open. If he does leave, all the guys he`d want to play with, Yao, Howard, Stoudamire, Bryant, Wade, Paul, are already in the south, or, Bosh, probably headed there, mainly in Southern Cal, Texas, Florida. Not likely if he left he`d go anywhere but south for the winter, and even in summer, his camp is in San Diego, not Akron anymore, much less Manhatten. (So watch him sign with Toronto just to spite my analysis!)
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9-09-2009 @ 2:52PM
unagi said...
As a Knicks-fan I can only hope that Lebron stays in Cleveland. That's right, I'm a Knicks-fan and I DON'T want "King James" in NY. I want Walsh to build a tough team like the Knicks of the 90s. And on a team like that there's no room for a prima donna like Lebron. Lebron might be one of the best players in the league for years to come - I admit that - but he is also a whiner with unsportsmanlike behavior that talks about himself in the 3rd person (what's up with that??). I'd rather have Wade, Bosh or even Stoudemire but please no Lebron James.
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9-09-2009 @ 7:19PM
hello said...
As a Knicks-fan I can only hope that Lebron stays in Cleveland. That's right, I'm a Knicks-fan and I DON'T want "King James" in NY. I want Walsh to build a tough team like the Knicks of the 90s
are u serious. you would rather have the knicks build around their team and not get the king. dude lebron is going to the knicks and the garden will rock again..
heres that i see it. if the yankees with CC Sabathia (Lebron's buddy) win a title that would be lebron's coming to the knicks.
2011 NBA Finals: Knicks in 6 against the Lakers
book it
yo i dont mean to insult any1, i just voiced my opinion
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9-09-2009 @ 11:21PM
Kevin said...
Lebron's decision is all his own. However, if I were in his shoes, Cleveland is where I would stay. They've given him everything, they've build around him, and they have the most money to offer him. No reason not to stay with the Cavs.
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