James really doesn't know what he'll do.
He's like he was in high school, the boy in the bubble, bemused by the antics of people around him who are supposed to be grownups.
James really doesn't know what he'll do.
He's like he was in high school, the boy in the bubble, bemused by the antics of people around him who are supposed to be grownups.
When July 1, 2010, rolls around, he'll decide, and not a moment before.
James does have a thing for New York -- but that doesn't mean he'll go.
Even if he's a Yankees fan, LeBron thinks any place he lives is a world capital, convening marketing summits in Akron, Ohio, his hometown, that oblige his big-ticket corporate partners to schlep there, as if to demonstrate it.
"No team LeBron James is on," announced LeBron James, "will ever be under the radar."
Cleveland is outgunned.
Well, in glamour, for sure. (Here come the e-mails.)
Nevertheless, Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry has finally managed to put nice pieces like Mo Williams and Delonte West around James while preparing for that day.
The Cavaliers will have cap room too. They're thought to be eyeing Bosh, to give James an added reason to stay.
Bosh's name sure comes up a lot in this.
There's widespread speculation he and James will wind up together, if not in New York, somewhere else.
Yes, there's definitely something wrong here.
"If I read one more story about where LeBron James might play two years from now, I'm going to puke," wrote SI.com's Peter King.
"Really: In what other sport are the next two seasons rendered totally meaningless for a cornerstone-of-the-league franchise like the New York Knickerbockers? It's everywhere -- on talk radio, on 'SportsCenter,' in columns, endlessly in every New York paper and website . . .
"Do you mean to tell me it's good for your game that a team is going to play the next 164 games with an eye not on the present, but on the future?"
That's a yes too.
King is an NFL writer and may have missed a development or two, like the fact this "cornerstone" has been not just a loser but a laughingstock for years. If landing James is only a hope, no matter how manifest New York always thinks its destiny is, it's better than anything the Knicks have offered recently.
With all that cap room and all those free agents, they'll get someone. Says the New York Daily News' Mitch Lawrence of Walsh: "He walks on water around here."
On the bright side, at least the Cavaliers know the threat is real.
By now, they may be building a wall around Cleveland and expelling visitors from New York, just to start with.
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mark.heisler@latimes.com