Get ready Cavs fans. It is going to happen wvery time LeBron plays a game on the road in any major city that looks to be readying for his pending free agency that could happen, ok - will happen - during the summer of 2010.
LeBron James "holds court" so to speak with the media an hour before every game. He enjoys the attention, enjoys being able to speak his mind. Playing in the New York area for the first time this season meant the first time LeBron had the chance to talk to the media in a city that everyone who thinks they are anyone believes James will run to the second he gets the opportunity. It doesn't matter that James has consistently said he is happy in Cleveland, it doesn't matter that James has never said he is unhappy.
More importantly, it doesn't seem to matter that James' current team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, are good......real good.
That has always been the most important thing to James - winning. He has said that over and over. Players like James aren't the normal superstar. They transcend even the greats of their time to be compared to the greats of All Time. James knows to be welcomed into this elite fraternity he will need to win a Title, likely several of them.
If it isn't painfully obvious to the ignorant members of the New York media that neither team in the area will be championship contenders in 2 years then let me be the one to break it to them. The Nets are awful, a boring team with boring fans in a boring building. Even Jay-Z looked bored at the game last night. We keep hearing that the team is going to move to Brooklyn but project plans keep getting delayed. Who knows when tht will actually happen.
It's tonight's opponenet, the Detroit Pistons, that worry me becuase they can provide James that all important asset that he wants the most - a great chance to win multiple championships. What gets left out all too often in this whole circus is how well Danny Ferry and the Cavaliers front office has prepared itself for the summer of 2010. Like many of James' potential suitors, the Cavs have plenty of cap space to play with, not only to sign James but to take a shot at one of the other big names that will be available(Chris Bosh, anyone?)
Enough of what I think, what did James have to say that gave hopeless Nets fans a glimmer of hope?
You do what's best for you and your family, you do what's best for your career. Loyalty definitely has a big part to do with it ... and every night I go out and play hard, and that's loyalty, but it's hard because it's a business.
A franchise is going to do what's best for the franchise, and the players, for some odd players, when a player does what's best for the player, it comes back and almost looks bad. But when a franchise decides to give up on a player, then it's OK. So we've got to do what's best for us.
Ok, what is so shocking in that statement? NOTHING. James is right. Basketball is a business and teams do give up on players all the time. James also is right on the money when it comes to loyalty. James has a job to ddo, and let's be honest, he may do it better than anyone despite coming into his job, right out of high school, with more pressure and expectation than anyone, ever.
Listen, this is a Cavs site and I am a Cavs fan. I am going to get tired of all the talk about James impending departure but it comes with the territory of having a player like James. If we have learned anything about James during his time in the Wine and Gold its that he is his own man. He is going to make his own decision. I firmly believe that where LeBron plays has NO IMPACT on LeBron's marketability and income potential off the court. When James goes the media follows. Where the media goes the advertisers follow. That won't change.
LeBron wants to go down asa one of the all-time greats. He looks squarely at Michael Jordan and even Kob Bryant, players that have multiple championships to legitmize their greatness. When the time comes LeBron will make a decision that most greatly assists his desire to get there. Sorry, New York/New Jersey, you just don't fit the bill.