LeBron's hitting the free agent market on July 1 and as the best player of the generation, people are making a big deal over it. New York and Chicago are even throwing up billboards inviting LeBron to come. Also available are top tier players like Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudamire and Joe Johnson, so its quite possible that the NBA next year will look nothing like the NBA this year. But its all about LeBron and here's what I think he wants:
1. Attention. The way James has treated the speculation this season has proved that he very much wants to soak in the spotlight. Never before a free agent and not even recruited by colleges because he was going to the NBA, LeBron has never been in this position before and now he's loving it. The team he chooses will need to be able to quench his thirst for attention and keep him in the world spotlight. The argument is whether any team can stay in the spotlight simply by having LeBron, or whether it'll need to be a big time franchise from a big time city.
2. NBA Championships. Multiple ones are needed to ensure that James goes down as one of the greatest of all time, and more than 6 might be needed for James to be considered the greatest. That actually seems very unlikely at this stage, I would certainly have a hard time seeing James surpass Michael Jordan. But anyways, LeBron needs to start winning titles for his legacy to reach its potential, and he's learned that he can't do this by himself. The teams that Cleveland have had in previous years haven't been bad, but LeBron needs a real sidekick worthy of comparison to Scottie Pippen.
3. Money. Most certainly LeBron wants to make money, but I'm confident this is a tertiary concern below the previous two. He's obviously made millions and will make millions more and his endorsements could potentially grow greatly from a location change. The difference between what the Cavaliers and and Knicks could offer him is not insignificant, but I argue that the marginal utility is.
Ok, so the suitors appear to be the hometown Cleveland Cavaliers, the New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls. I don't have the financial information in front of me, but each team can offer LeBron a max contract. The Cavaliers can offer a little more because of an NBA role that gives preference to players re-signing with their current teams. So with that, here's a brash look into the mind of King James.
The LA Clippers have no chance. For some reason, this team has been offered up as a dark horse team to land quality free agents, such as Kobe Bryant, before. Maybe it's the great weather, the Hollywood landscape, the access to the glitz and glamor that LeBron would indeed like. But those properties are really the domain of the LA Lakers, who have dominated the Clippers in this market for my entire life. Really I don't even know why the Clippers are in this city, they'd be better off moving to Seattle. Even if they nabbed LeBron, he would still not displace Kobe as the biggest athlete in town. That'd be unacceptable to him as he wants to be the biggest athlete in the world. Also, the Clippers are a terrible franchise. Their owner is a well-documented moron, they never win, they have no fans and they even have a terrible name.
The New Jersey Nets are possibly the most interesting team in the discussion. They recently finished a season where they came close to setting the NBA record for most losses in a season. For their efforts, they only got the 3rd pick in the draft (in a 2 man draft) and attendance was terrible. And they will play next year in Newark. That's quite a lot to swallow. However, the team is really not that bad. Devin Harris is a really good point guard who would work great with LeBron, Yi Jianlian still has potential and Brook Lopez is quite good and looks hilarious. With the third pick (perhaps a solid big man like DeMarcus Cousens and Derrick Favors) and another free agent, this team would compete with LeBron next year. But even better, they have a new ownership group headed in with the richest billionaire in Russia leading the way, and Jay-Z also along as a minority owner. LeBron and Jay-Z are notably good pals, if only because they bring each other street cred. The team should move to Brooklyn in time for 2012, which would satisfy both LeBron's need to play in a huge market and his hipster lifestyle. This actually all makes great sense for him. I just can't see LeBron wearing New Jersey on the front of his shirt for two seasons.
Chicago is another city that makes great sense, both marketing and basketball sense. The 3rd biggest city in the US, LeBron can stay in the midwest and still attract an enormous audience. The Bulls are young, with tons of talent like Luol Deng, Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich. The team is also famous worldwide especially here in China. The one problem may seem trivial but is actually quite serious in my opinion. The source of the Bulls fame is of course the looming shadow of Michael Jordan. The Bulls will always be Michael's franchise and LeBron will not change that. Now LeBron used to look up to Jordan, wearing the 23 since high school. But now, as evidenced by his decision to switch jersey numbers next year, he wants to carve his own legacy. He doesn't want to be the next Jordan, he wants to be the first James. It's not so much that LeBron no longer wants to be compared with Jordan, but he doesn't want to be compared negatively. If he goes to Chicago and doesn't win 6 championships, he'll inevitably be compared unfavorably.
The Miami Heat are an extremely intriguing option. Now Miami isn't a large metropolis per se, but I've always thought of it as a city that carried a lot of weight in the cultural context of the US (similar to Boston, a city of 700,000 that acts a lot bigger). Certainly Miami is an important city to the Hispanic American population, and by extension the Latin American world. Both are markets that the NBA could grow in. So Dwyane Wade is the star of the Heat and is also a free agent. There is talk that the two want to be on the same team, and Miami is the likely destination if that scenario were to happen. Critics say that the two megastars couldn't possibly share one basketball - who would shoot it in crunch time? I think they're dead wrong. Dwyane Wade came off the bench for the gold medal winning 2008 Olympic team and managed to finish as the leading scorer. That tournament showed his ability to move without the ball and expose inferior defenders. I think he could definitely adapt his game to work with another great scorer. LeBron for his part has never been a selfish player. If anything he's been criticized for being too selfless, passing up last second shots to the likes of Donyell Marshall and Sasha Pavlovic. Passing is his greatest strength and I think he could make Wade even greater. I'm actually terrified of them playing together. Maybe their egos could clash, I don't know, but basketball-wise I think they could make it happen.
Now the New York Knicks are the team that people have talked about LeBron going to for years, since he got drafted into a small market team. They're obviously the biggest market and really on a different level than Chicago and Los Angeles. The Knicks are one of the most prestigious NBA franchises (maybe behind the Lakers and Celtics) and play in the most famous stadium (the overrated Madison Square Garden). It's a big stage for a big star. The problem is that the Knicks suck, having been buried into laughingstock territory under the General Managership of Isaiah Thomas. Even with LeBron, I don't see them competing next year. But in all other aspects, LeBron makes sense in Manhattan. Can't you see the enormous LeBron billboard in Times Square? He'd be the biggest thing to hit New York since Godzilla.
Finally we get to the hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. Some pundits and diehard fans alike are convinced that LeBron will re-sign with his team. They believe that 1) He's from the area and it's his hometown team 2) the fans adore them and he's too loyal to leave 3) it's been a good fit, why change? 4) he wants to bring Cleveland it's first championship in ages and 5) Cleveland can offer him the most money. All valid points. But they're all completely utterly wrong. LeBron is from Akron, Ohio which is only 40 miles from Cleveland. However the cities seem to be as different as Baltimore and Washington and LeBron has NEVER shown any signs of hometown rooting for Cleveland. The man's a frontrunner, wearing a Yankee hat to an Indians game. He says he grew up as a Cowboys, Yankees and Bulls fan! I've never heard of a bigger frontrunning fan. In an interview, he stated his favorite cities as 1) New York 2) Washington 3) Dallas 4) Los Angeles 5) Akron. (His favorite borough? Brooklyn) Yes, Akron beat out Cleveland on that list. LeBron doesn't care about Cleveland and he probably can't wait to get out. He hasn't been able to win there in 7 seasons and he probably doubts if he ever will. He'll probably feel bad leaving his devoted fans, cause they're going to be monumentally crushed, but he will. Sorry.
So I actually am really interested to see where LeBron ends up. I think the most likely destinations are New Jersey, New York and Miami. Chicago might have an outside shot. The Brooklyn Nets though seem to be the most fitting ultimate destination. Expect the attention-craving LeBron to draw out the negotiations and have a gigantic press conference when he does sign.
And yes I am aware that there is an actually important international sporting event occurring this summer. I'm am even more excited for this for despite my only lukewarm interest in soccer, I love the World Cup. Something about nations competing against each other and their fans following passionately is really cool. I can't wait for England - US, a.k.a. Revolutionary War 2, nor for Brazil - North Korea, a.k.a. Koreans Barbecued. I'm also really rooting for an African team to shine and so it sucks that Ghana's best player Michael Essien is out with injury and that Cote D'Ivoire's Didier Drogba (one of the top 5 players in the world) just dislocated his elbow. Stuff starts Friday and I can't wait. I might write more about this.
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