Has there ever been a city who’s fortunes depend so much on one player? Hell, after watching this video, I feel bad for the Clevelanders!
The smartest play for Lebron is to come to Chicago… I’m coppin a lot of this from this excellent Bill Simmons piece…
Bill Simmons: LeBron James and the choice -- winning, loyalty or immortality? - ESPN
The piece by Simmons is really long… but excellent. In a nutshell he points out that Lebron is comparable to DJ. He’s an amazing talent but doesn’t have a killer instinct. He needs a player the caliber of Derrick Rose to play off of. If LeBron brings it to Chicago… teams up in the backcourt with Rose… The Bulls provided the get the right coach become THE team to compete against Orlando for the next five years for the East title.
Shadow of Jordan?? Notsomuch… LeBron ain’t Mike… Mike was an asshole who verbally and physically intimidated his teammates. Once MJ threw a bag of potato chips at Stacey King and called him a fatass… in front of everyone… MJ also punched Steve Kerr during practice and gave him a black eye… Threw a basketball at Doug Collins… etc… But you love MJ for the idea that he didn’t want to win… he HAD to win. LeBron “wants” to win. With D Rose and Noah… he can win… and have the players with him to get that done.
If he goes to NY its strictly a money grab… they have no one on the roster so essentially it would be LBJ… maybe Bosh if Wade doesn’t steal him… and a bunch of veteran exceptions…
Nice article, Bill Simmons usually makes very interesting points even though he’s a Boston homer. I like his super long articles when they’re not about football.
Lebron just strikes me as a guy who’s sort of like Dwight Howard; kind of goofy, likes to have fun, and easy going. I agree with Simmons here because I think that you do need a second guy who’s a top level talent to win.
I have to reference Colin Cowherd again because I disagree with his assessment that Chicago doesn’t have the talent to win even with Lebron. Colin’s critique was that beyond Lebron and Rose, they have nobody else. But they can get pieces and especially coaching, which has been the biggest weakness of the Cavs thus far. Noah may not be a great player, but he works hard and can disrupt people, he reminds me of Varajao and look how far Lebron’s gotten with him. It wouldn’t take much to sign some decent free agents to surround Lebron and Rose, and with both guys so good with the ball, they don’t have to have the pressure to handle it every night. Plus, both of them can drop 30 points on you on any night, and can make up for what the other lacks.
I’m not old enough to have seen Dr. J, but by reputation, I know him as a finess and style guy who was good, but needed help to win. Lebron’s as close to a one-man team as there is in this league, but good teams like Orlando and Boston can still carve him up. I like how Simmons made the point that the decision will ultimately be one of winning in Chicago, loyalty in Cleveland, or immortality in NY. No pressure there!!
For my money, I still see him in Cleveland, but that’s just because I’m more conditioned to expect the hype not matching the result. But it’s close, really close. If I had to pick, I’d say Cleveland’s still got the best shot, followed by NY and Chicago.
Still holding out hope for him to sign for the minimum and play for the Lakers though! Damn, if he wants to win and have a different kind of immortality, JOIN THE LAKERS!!! Our weather alone should be a consideration over Chicago or NY.
Smog is not weather. And he doesn’t get “immortality” if he goes to play with Kobe. He gets to be the guy who couldn’t win a championship on his own, but who helped Kobe win his fifth, sixth, seventh, and whatever. That’s the one thing I don’t think he wants to do.
Where did you see this? Owner Dan Gilbert was reported in one of the local Ohio Newspapers as saying that he wasn’t fired (yet).
I think the Lakers as an organization has always been able to either luck into great teams or build them through cagey manuevers. Yes, Lebron would be “that guy”, but Kobe was “that guy” for years under Shaq and it only slightly hurt his legacy. Nobody disputes how great Kobe is now, and even then there were voices who whispered that Kobe was better than Shaq. That’s why we kept him instead of Shaq. When Kobe retires, Lebron will be the leader of the team and I have lots of faith that the Lakers will be able to build a championship quicker than the Cavs. Plus, the lure of free agents is much stronger here than in middle Ohio
Great game last night by the Lakers. The Suns scored like they usually do, shooting almost 50%, but their problem is that the Lakers shot almost 60%. That vaunted defense better show up in game 2 or else they’re done.
Lamar! We’ve missed you! Nice of you to show up!
Oh, and by the way, Shannon Brown has just landed! 
Orlando’s weakness has been exposed, but I think Van Gundy has the smarts to react and adjust. I think they’ll beat the Celtics tonight but I don’t like their chances in the series anymore. Boston looks rejuvenated, which is bad news because when healthy, I think they still present the toughest challenge to the Lakers.
I thought Dwight would have more moves down in the post by now because I haven’t seen much Magic games on TV, but it looks like he still doesn’t have a dependable shot and his footwork needs work. Also, he needs to stop putting the ball down on the floor where it can be stripped when he catches it down near dunking distance. Pau Gasol can get the ball and just rise up and throw it in. Dwight tries to dribble it once or twice, he needs to stop doing that.
No, Orlando’s easy trip through the first two rounds has been exposed. They were clearly rusty, but they obviously remembered how to play by the fourth quarter. I’m still taking my boys in 6.
SI reported that Brown was fired. Gilbert said he wasn’t, so they revised the story to say he was being reviewed and that sources with the team expect him to be fired.
The fact that he couldn’t win one without Shaq was a stone around his neck for years. The point was that Kobe needed the acknowledgment of winning one as the primary option, not as option 1-A or 2. Which was stupid because even when the Lakers were non-contenders, they weren’t losing because of him. It’s one thing for a guy to be the sidekick in his first few seasons. LeBron is young but he’s going into his eighth season. He wants to be the guy. If he teams up with Kobe, or possibly even Wade, that doesn’t happen.
The Lakers kept Kobe instead of Shaq because Kobe was much younger. I think he was also a lot cheaper at the time.
Kobe’s only 31. He’s an old 31, but still, he’s not retiring for a long time. If they signed LeBron they’d have to renew his deal at least once by then.
Yes, but the lure of playing with LeBron is going to be pretty strong regardless.
I think you’re underestimating the amount of positive press winning gets you (plus, playing in LA doesn’t hurt). Even when Lebron was taking his team to the Finals by himself and Kobe was getting bounced out of the playoffs by the Suns, Kobe was still extremely popular, more so than Lebron I think. NBA Jersey sales from 2005 to now has Kobe/Lebron #4/2 in 2005-06, #1/3 in 2006-07, #2/4 in 2007-08, and we know Kobe was #1 the last year before he won his solo championship. So I don’t really think it will hurt Lebron that much if he shares the spotlight with Kobe
I don’t think he’ll do it for the ego reasons you mentioned, but I think it would be a very good business decision for him to cede the spotlight.
We’ll see Kobe’s production drop off in the next 2-3 years. Lebron will be just hitting his peak by then. I’m certain they can learn to work together. Yes, it’ll be a long commitment, but one I think Lebron would be wise to make given the stature he’d ascend to being a multiple time winner in Los Angeles
Going to, but not guaranteed. People take less money to come here and win such as Malone and Payton. And the city attracts free agents, good ones in their prime, not an old Shaq. Gasol came here, Odom stayed, Ariza bolted but Artest came here instead of trying to be The Man somewhere else. I’m not saying Lebron won’t be able to lure a Bosh or Stoudemire away from their cities now, but I think the lure would be stronger if it was here in LA with an established legacy.
Its funny when I hear people say no big free agent like Lebron wants to play in Chicago under Jordan’s shadow, but nobody says they don’t want to play in LA because of the shadows of Magic, Kareem, Wilt, or West. This is an NBA city, there’s no football to lure away fans! We will be Lebron’s best chance to win and be immortal if he decides winning is more important than ego and a few dollars in the short term
Very surprised at the way the Celtics came on strong again tonight. They have this series by the throat now. Can they really compete with L.A. or Phoenix?
I’m not talking about media coverage or jersey sales. I’m talking about his future standing in the game. The Lakers won a title without him last year and I wouldn’t be surprised if they did it again this year. They could probably win a bunch more with LeBron but they’ve also proved they don’t need him to win a title. It may not be sensible logic, but I do think it’s how sports logic works, and I think it’s a factor for him.
I’d say Lebon is at his peak now, and even if Kobe’s production slows down, it’ll still be his team.
None of those guys came to L.A. because L.A. is so wonderful. They came because they wanted to join a winning team. Malone and Payton thought they would finally get rings because the team had won three in a row. Gasol came in a trade and signed because the team improved so much after he arrived. Artest signed because they won the NBA title last year. (And he was never going to be The Man on some other team. He doesn’t have the offensive skills or the temperament) It’s not about the glitz of L.A. or any junk like that. It’s because the Lakers are good.
I’ve never heard anyone say that about Chicago.
I don’t agree, though I see your perspective. I don’t think LeBron is shooting for mere immortality here (heh). I think he is shooting for flat-out “best player who ever lived” status, and - especially after his showing this year - he simply will never get that credit playing alongside Kobe Bryant. He may be viewed as great, even immortal, but alongside Jordan he will always get the slight demerit of needing another Top 15 guy to win a championship.
His real best chance at absolute immortality is in New York, because if he brings that franchise back from the grave, the media will automatically award him a X2 bonus just because it happened in New York. If he wins five titles with the Knicks, he’ll be considered the greatest player ever, I think.
His next best chance is with the Cavs, frankly, simply because his “loyalty” will become part of, and magnify, his career story.
YogSosoth, I thought before that you were just kidding around, but now it seems like you think that there’s some realistic (though small) chance that Lebron might actually sign with LA. True? Because there is a 0% chance that that happens. He simply isn’t going to give up $15M a year to sign with the one team on which he won’t *definitely *be the best player (nor should he). Seriously, you have a better chance of winning the California State Lottery.
I hate to admit this as an LA fan, but Celtics look really scary. I hope my Lakers will play with the anger and drive that came from them being beaten 2 years ago.
I still believe it’s more than just that. The Lakers are good, but also LA is a good basketball town. That’s just my opinion. Plus, if you look at history, we’ve been good consistently. That’s gotta factor into whatever Lebron’s thinking if he really truly wants to win (and I’m still not convinced he has that drive yet)
Unfortunately I don’t have the articles, but moreso than simply Lebron, I’ve read articles on Foxsports.com, Espn.com, and CNNSI.com speculating about free agents and Jordan’s shadow. I admit that it’s often just speculation though, nothing concrete.
I dunno. I think the NY media magnifies their importance a lot. After all, the Knicks haven’t been good in decades and basketball’s still fine without it. Would the NBA be much better off if the Knicks were good? I honestly don’t know, because I fail to see how the Knicks could ever overtake the Yankees in that respect.
Other than the Lakers, I think I would like him to remain in Cleveland. I feel bad for those people! Especially after that song they did about him. It would be crushing for them, I think, if the hometown boy leaves to win somewhere else.
No no, it’s just wishful thinking. It’s a LOT of wishful thinking, but I know he’s not coming here. No way he passes up tens of millions of dollars to come be second banana on a team with history instead of making history for himself. I just really really really believe that this would be the absolute best solution for him though, both for monetary reasons long-term, and for basketball immortality.
Um, they played in the conference finals ten years ago, which is, I believe, just one decade. To be fair, the last time that they made the finals was 11 years ago, which is more than a decade.
I think the Celtics are going to win it all. They sure look like it.
Yes, you’re right, forgot about that time. It was a short period of being good though, even though they had Patrick Ewing. They haven’t won the championship since something like '73, so I classify them in the “hasn’t been good in a long time” stage. Maybe it’s unfair, but plenty of teams were good and Jordan destroyed them all. We will never know if the Stockton/Malone Jazz were better than the Ewing Knicks because they were all bowled over by the Bulls.
The Knicks could have been like the Mavs or the Suns, good teams that made the playoffs every year but seen as paper champs and a regular season team or seen as the Jazz, legitimate title contenders that didn’t win it because of MJ. We’ll never know. And by the way, I included the Mavs in there even though they were in the Finals because they seem to be known more for choking (losing as a #1 seed to #8 and this year losing as #2 to #7) moreso than they are known for their run in the Finals.
i think that sometimes us lay folks don’t give as much weight to getting a ring as the big boyz do.
seriously, timmy took lot’s less than what the market could pay because he wanted another one.
do you really think malone went to the hated lakers beacause of cash. nope, i think he went for a ring.
seriously, a couple extra milly will buy you a third house in the islands or a second in the mountains. but shit, ask malone, stockton, barkley, gervin, and on and on whether they would have given up a little cash for a chance to hold the naismith. i don’t have a cite but i would bet a nickel that they would all sign that check.
so he goes to lala and signs for a ton less. sure he wins a couple with kobe being the alpha male. kobe looks to be the sort that would say “ok the first two were mine, the next three are yours”.
legacy secured.
and i hate the lakers, btw.
Still taking the Magic.
I admire your optimism. I’m hoping to avoid a sweep myself.