I think you can make sense of LeBron going to any of the rumored four NBA teams who seemed to have the best shot at landing him.
Let me take a stab at it.
The Chicago Bulls: Playing with a true point guard like Derrick Rose and with a young banger like Joakim Noah has to be pretty tantalizing to James. As would be, playing on Michael Jordan's home court and proving to others that he could win there. I always thought this was the best place for his future because of the young players and the fact that the franchise has prove worthy of having the NBA's greatest ever player play there.
But LeBron's at his best when the ball is in his hands and he's directing the team. There's a reason why Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan never needed superstar floor leaders. They do the leading. Rose is probably better off finding his own Joe Johnson type and running his own thing.
The New York Knicks: I imagine that playing in the big apple is the major reason to go there. When things happen in NYC, they just seem bigger than if they happened in Cleveland, even if they are the exact same thing. It's that empire state of mind. Add to that, playing with Amar'e Stoudemire and running teams to death with the pick and roll, I'm sure that LBJ has had visions of playing in the city that never sleeps.
On the flipside, Amar'e didn't really play that well against Pau Gasol in the NBA Western Conference Finals and if people didn't already know before then, they now know that he just doesn't seem interested in playing defense. I'm not sure if Amar'e is the type of player who is going to be the best big man on a championship winning team.
And also, LBJ probably doesn't want Spike Lee bugging him all the time. "I got a movie for you LeBron! We'll call it "LeBron Doing Work".
The Miami Heat: Who doesn't want to play in Miami? It seems like South Beach is every NBA player's second home as it is. And now with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh making the Heat hotter, LBJ has to be thinking that he doesn't have to play out of his mind every night in order to win. Throw in the fact that the tax situation in Florida is much easier on an athlete who plays half of his games in the state, and it seems like win-win.
But I do wonder that for someone who seems to be concerned about his legacy, the scenario of playing with the best guard in the league not named Kobe would lessen him a bit in the eyes of the fans. It wouldn't to me because as the Lakers have proven, even with the league's best player in Kobe Bryant, he needed Shaq (or Shaq needed him), and also Pau Gasol to win a championship. It's rarely ever about just one guy.
The other thing is that for guys who both are best with the ball in their hands, how can D. Wade and LBJ share the basketball? Who takes the big shot?
Winning does cure all of that, at least for a little while (again, see Kobe and Shaq), and it has to be a tantalizing situation. Then again, does he really want to be the focus of the 4th season of "Basketball Wives"?The Cleveland Cavaliers: I always hoped that this would be the place LeBron continued to call home. I looked at Kobe's own situation with the Lakers. Even though he did throw that small tantrum and wanted out, he eventually trusted that Lakers' management would do the right thing and stayed put. And they did do the right thing.
This whole free agency ego trip could've been LeBron's "Kobe tantrum". And then he'd sign with them and everything would go back to normal. He'd go back to work, trust in his management, and work on getting Cleveland that title. I still hope that's the scenario, but the other scenarios do seem more intriguing, sexy, and fitting for a, ahem, king.
Prediction: LeBron uses this ESPN 1-hour special to show how "good" of a person he is and re-signs with Cleveland. Then he can be the "Homecoming King".
I'll be back blogging "The Decision" and then giving my thoughts after it's all over.
"The Decision" - The Aftermath
I pulled for the upset, and I chose incorrectly. LeBron James said the major factor in his decision was the opportunity to win now, and win in the future. And thus, his career as one of a triumvirate of All-Stars for the Miami Heat has begun.
The opportunity to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh seems to be the major reasons as to why he chose to play for the Heat. He won't have to be superb every game because he won't need to be counted on like he was with the Cavs. That ultimately might be what ran him out of town.
You have to feel badly for the Cavs fans, but you can pin this just as much on the Cavs management as you can on LeBron. Let's not forget that in the last four years, the Cavaliers went from 2007 NBA Finalists, to losing in the 2008 and 2009 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, to losing in the second round of the playoffs last year. That's regression. I would imagine that he feels that the Cavs couldn't put the right players together for him, where as with just one decision, he immediately plays with a young power forward who can score, and the best shooting guard in the NBA not named Kobe Bryant. He didn't need to rely on management. Power to the athletes.
He's going to get blasted for his decision, and for the way he decided. But ultimately, he, Dwyane, and Chris all probably had to take less money in order to get the deal done. What actually happened is what fans have asked athletes to do all along. Three guys decided that they wanted to win more than than they wanted to get the maximum money. They still will make a ton of money and you'll hear them all say, "It wasn't about the money," even though that's hogwash, but they did exactly what people have asked athletes to do for a very long time. Put greed aside for team.
Even more so than head coach Erik Spoelstra, LeBron is on the hot seat immediately. Wade stayed with his team. Bosh is going to be able to fall under the radar. If the Three Amigos don't immediately win, the hammer falls on the Akron Hammer. He has the most to lose. With his heightened portfolio comes the most responsibility.
By making this entire free agent period about him (and really, without this ESPN televised special, it was anyway), he's saying to the NBA and the sports world, "Look at me, watch me, see me, and follow me." In the day and age of Twitter and TMZ, it might have happened that way anyway. But if his legacy wasn't already in question, it will be now. The dude needs to win now and often in order for it all to be worth it.
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