Here’s LeBron’s interview that was shown on Nightline late last night. I’m not a fan of the whole give LeBron a Knicks hat. I mean we’re already competing with the president, give us a break.
Archive for the '2010 News' Category
Once Phil signs an extension with LA...
Over the last month the saga that is LeBron James’ free agency has become absolutely strange. There have been rumors, pleas and pitches from politicians, and a free agent summit. Let’s try to recap what’s happened over the last month.
Almost exactly one month ago LeBron was collecting his second straight MVP award. He was widely regarded as the best player in the NBA. At one point in the season Bill Simmons thought that no writer could vote for anyone besides LeBron for this years MVP award. LeBron was on top of his game and the Cavs playoff chances looked very good.
Fast forward to Tuesday May 11th. Game Five. Weird. LeBron looks disinterested in one of the biggest games of his career. This game is so inexplicable that rumors swirl about why LeBron played so poorly. There must be an explanation, perhaps the pain medication for his elbow made him drowsy, perhaps even depressed.
Game Six. Loss. Speculation begins. Did LeBron just throw the series so he had an excuse to leave Cleveland? Of course he didn’t, but that’s how insane things became when the Cavs were bounced from the playoffs by the Celtics. Last season LeBron refused to shake hands with the Magic when his season was ended prematurely. This year he’s all to happy to congratulate the Celtics. Perhaps he’s over compensating for last year’s reaction?
Several questions still linger. How did we lose to the Celtics? Did something happen before/during Game 5 that interrupted the Cav’s playoff momentum? Did LeBron James give 100% in the Celtics series? Did the pressure get to LeBron? Did LeBron’s free agency interfere with his current goal? Weeks later, the Celtics series is still a mystery.
Before the loss can completely sink in LeBron is already being courted by other cities. New York’s own Mayor Bloomberg said, “I think it would be great for New York if he comes here. If he calls me and says, ‘What’s it like to live in New York?’ I’ll give him a big sales pitch for New York. I love living in New York. My kids love living in New York. I think LeBron James would love living in New York.”
It’s not every day that a politician openly asks an athlete to come to his city, but it’s not unheard of, that is until it’s the president of the United States. In an interview with Marv Albert Obama actually made a case for LeBron to play in Chicago. “You know, like I said, I don’t want to meddle. I will say this, [Derrick] Rose, Joakim Noah…it’s a pretty good core. You know, you could see LeBron fitting in pretty well there.” Really? Did the president just ask LeBron to play for the Bulls?
Now LeBron has his hometown of Cleveland depending on him to stay, an entire city wanting him to come to New York, a friend and idol wanting him to go to New Jersey, a respected peer hoping he moves to Miami, and the president making a case for him to play in Chicago.
But it doesn’t stop there, Mark Cuban cost himself $100,000 for these comments to CNNMoney.com, “Come July 1, yeah, of course. Anybody would be interested in LeBron James, and if he leaves via free agency, then it’s going to be tough.” Steve Kerr was also fined $10,000 for joking about LeBron taking the mid level exception to come play in Phoenix. Both NBA execs were fined under the NBA’s tampering rules.
Next there are rumors of an NBA free agency summit. LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Stoudemire, Joe Johnson and other 2010 free agents will supposedly have a sit down (I can’t help but imagine this being similar to the New Day Co-op from The Wire) and discuss where each player is thinking of going next season. Obviously this makes the rumors of LeBron/Wade/Bosh to Miami/NYC/Chicago that much more realistic. A free agent meeting of this scope has never even been discussed before. Oh the Summer of LeBron will be interesting…
The countdown to July 1st promises to be one of the most unique and strange off the field sporting events in recent memory. I wish I could come up with a clever way to end this blog entry, but there’s no way to predict what will happen over the next month or two. Just stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed that LeBron will make the right choice.
You think this franchise has a better future with LeBron James than me?
The Clippers released their coach/general manager Mike Dunleavy yesterday and according to several “sources” it may have something to do with LeBron James. While the Clippers made several cap clearing moves before the deadline, they may have made another power move in preparation the upcoming summer of LeBron. While some point to the Clippers poor performance over Dunleavy’s seven years with the team, others point to the timing of the move. The thought is that the Clippers will offer LeBron creative control for lack of a better term (seriously what’s the word for “Hey LeBron pick your coach and general manager”).
If the Clippers are really offering LeBron the chance to pick his own coach and general manager it’s a desperate attempt at luring one of the most influential free agents the NBA has ever seen. How many teams geared their moves towards LeBron over the past two years? Every day there’s a new conspiracy theory on where LeBron will end up. This is the latest and perhaps greatest to date in my opinion.
In other news Mike D’Antoni has filed paperwork to have the name of 23rd street in Manhattan changed to 6th street in honor of LeBron James changing his number to honor Michael Jordan. When asked if it would be problematic having two sixth streets in New York D’Antoni replied, “The confusion that would come with two sixth streets would be worth having one LeBron James.” It seems everyone is preparing for the summer of 2010 in their own way.
Our new expert on where LeBron won't go (the one with the beard)
A new article from the NY Daily News’ Mitch Lawrence gives reasons that the Nets, Clippers, and Heat are out of this summer’s LeBron lottery. He also goes on to explain what teams still have a shot at LeBron. Any surprise that he thinks the Knicks have one of the best situations for attracting LeBron?
Lawrence reasons that LeBron would not want to play second fiddle in Kobe’s town so the Clippers are out of the running. Next he shoots down the Nets dreams because they will most likely be playing in Newark for somewhere between 2 and 4 years while the Atlantic Yards project is set into motion. Finally the Heat won’t be getting LeBron because both Wade and James need to dominate the ball. These thoughts all seem reasonable, besides the fact that Wade and James would probably love to be on the same team and LeBron is a very unselfish player. Something tells me they could make it work…
On to the teams that Lawrence believes might still have a chance at LeBron. First up the Chicago Bulls freed up some cap space for LeBron and possibly Bosh this summer. They have a solid core and the big city lights of Chicago fits LeBron’s rumored need for a bigger market. Lawrence then directs his attention to the Knicks who gambled everything on the LeBron lottery. He claims that they are the only team with a chance to get LeBron and Bosh, although I’ve heard Miami and Chicago could sign more than one free agent.
Lawrence strenghtens his argument with a quote from LeBron about playing with Bosh. During All-Star Weekend LeBron had this to say, “Being around him last summer (in the Olympics), I got to see how smart he is. His basketball I.Q. is unbelievable. He’s a very, very good player. Sometimes you look at him and you say, “He’s not that strong or he’s not the fastest guy out there.’ But the way he approaches the game … his mindset really helps him dominate a basketball game.”
In the end we’ll see where LeBron goes, but it’s funny that the Knicks have started to rule out other teams from the LeBron sweepstakes. While the Knicks cleared a ton of cap space they gave away a lot of talent to do so. Until LeBron signs a new contract with the Cavs I’ll be thinking NoYork!!!
The King and The Prez
In Bill Simmons’ podcast “The B.S. Report” there are many topics. When you tune in you could hear anything from sports to reality TV talk. Lately Simmons has been talking about LeBron’s future a lot. In my opinion Simmons is a hilarious Sports Guy with a lot of insight on the NBA, so give his thoughts a listen and see what you think.
He asked David Stern where he thought LeBron would go in 2010. Stern’s answer, “There’s a lot of interest, whatever he does, whether he stays or goes…I grew up in this league, valuing no contraction and players staying with their existing team.” Once again, the NBA’s commissioner hopes that LeBron stays in Cleveland. We’ll see if he has any pull!
In an earlier talk with JA Adande Simmons shared a couple of his own theories. Here’s one that involves the dreaded Wizards, “Washington somehow avoids Arenas’ contract, they trade Butler, they trade Jamison, they have all this cap room all of a sudden. They lure LeBron, last week of October Sports Illustrated comes out LeBron/Obama on the cover…The King and The Prez.”
After that ridiculous thought he said that he thought LeBron to the Wizards was in his top five LeBron possibilities. Simmons went on to predict that Bosh and LeBron would end up in Chicago. Adande said that he believes it will be Miami or Cleveland.
While all of the theories are very interesting, I’m hoping that LeBron will stay in Cleveland and we’ll find a way to sign another free agent in 2011. Only time will tell, but the media will continue to dissect all the possibilities. If you haven’t had the chance to check out The B.S. Report go to iTunes and download a podcast (it’s FREE!)
Do we look nervous? We're fine, seriously.
I’ve heard rumors that LeBron would resign with the Cavs if they were able to trade for a superstar power forward. That’s right, if the Cavs can land a game changing power forward LeBron would resign, and his signature would be inked before the end of the season! Let me be the first to say this will not happen!
Unless the Cavs can find a way to land Chris Bosh, LeBron won’t be signing a contract with the Cavs before the season ends. It doesn’t make sense that LeBron would wait this long to sign, then decide half way through the season that now was the time. There would have to be a blockbuster trade that improved the Cavs dramatically for LeBron to resign early.
The rumors claim that LeBron told Cavs management that if they could sign a top tier free agent he would sign a new contract before the Cavaliers season ended. There is no credible source and there is no evidence that this conversation ever happened. LeBron wouldn’t even have to make this statement for the Cavs brass to feel pressure to improve.
The Cavaliers organization, and many Cavs fans, are already feeling the heat from LeBron’s upcoming free agency. If LeBron said this to management it wouldn’t get more done than what the Cavs are already attempting. They’re talking to anyone willing to listen and trying to get everyone from Antawn Jamison to Amare Stoudemire in Cleveland. Unfortunately for all of us LeBron fans, these reported whispers of an early resigning are nothing more than words in the wind.
I liked New York more when my hair was this length, baby fros are made for Cleveland. Next question...
Slam recently posted a great article about why LeBron probably won’t be going to New York. After reading it, I can’t agree more with what is being said. Needless to say we thought it was right up our alley!
Although I wish the article said LeBron is going to stay in Cleveland, it actually points out the reasons that The King could easily end up in Miami or New Jersey/Brooklyn. They even discuss the idea of a possible sign and trade with Portland or Houston, which I don’t believe would ever happen, but who knows?
There are two lines in this article that I love. First, “People make imperfect career choices all the time, just because they want to be somewhere. Manhattan has been that somewhere for a lot of people.” Yes, exactly, and LeBron can’t be one of those people! The second quote I loved was this one, “Don’t feel too sorry for Knicks fans if their summer is a let down. They’re used to it.”
Great article, check it out at Slam now.
Melo, when does your contract expire? Nevermind you shoot too much.
Peter Vecsey recently wrote an article that made the possibility of LeBron and Dwyane Wade teaming up sound more probable than ever. Wade was quoted as saying, “Before we agreed to terms, LeBron and I had a couple conversations. I can’t recall exactly what we said, but the gist of it was we wanted to give ourselves the flexibility and the option to play together.”
As if that wasn’t enough Wade went on to say, “A lot of times in this league, players usually wind up going where they can get the most money. We’re both blessed within that area. We’ve made a lot of money. So we wanted to base our decision on two things, the organization and the ability to win a title. And that’s what we’ll do. When the season is over, we plan to sit down and talk about it. I’m not saying it will happen. But I’m intrigued by the idea.”
So Wade is thinking about joining forces but what does LeBron think about the idea? “I’d like to play here (in Miami), but I don’t mind where it is as long the organization is a good fit and it’s committed to competing for championships. The unknown has me intrigued.”
It would be amazing to see LeBron and Wade on the same team. The talk coming from the two stars seems like it’s a possibility that we’ll see them wearing the same jerseys in 2010? Now the question becomes will they be wearing Cavs jerseys, Heat jerseys, or another team’s jerseys? Sadly enough I believe that if the two players decide to play on the same team, it won’t be in Cleveland. Miami’s combination of cap space and talent seems like the best fit. Keep in mind that the Miami tax structure might also come into play if the two stars are taking lower salaries.
Of course the LeBron/Wade scenario is purely speculation at this point, but it would be fun to see the two players on the same team. I guess we can always hope that LeBron can convince Wade to come to Cleveland, but I’m not counting on it. If Wade did come to Cleveland, Andy wouldn’t be safe in practice anymore…
Merry Christmas Cleveland
Make sure to check out NoYork.com for the next twelve days. To celebrate the holidays we will be posting a new video every day starting tomorrow.
Another rendering of the arena
Yesterday New York’s top court ruled in favor of the Atlantic Yards project. Bruce Ratner’s $4.9 billion dollar project can now move forward, bringing the Nets one step closer to Brooklyn. Although there is much to be done Tuesday’s ruling was positive for the Nets for a couple reasons.
First off this ruling impacted whether or not Mikhail Prokhorov would spend $200 million to own 80% of the team and 45% of the arena. With this legal victory Prokhorov will most likely move along with negotiations to become the majority owner of the Nets. This also has a major effect on the Nets appeal in the free agency game. The organization plans to play in their new arena in the 2011-2012 season, although some speculate that the arena will not be complete until June 2012.
Despite the fact that moving the Nets to Brooklyn makes them more appealing to free agents, their 0-14 start has to be hurting their chances at LeBron. Without a solid group of players and no guarantee that the Nets will move to Brooklyn before 2012, I can’t see LeBron seriously considering them as an option. The only way I think LeBron goes to the Nets is if he signs a one year extension with the Cavs after this season, then reevaluating the situation in 2011.This is a long shot at best and personally I’m glad to see another team falling out of the race for LeBron.
