On Thursday night, LeBron James will announce he's joining the New York Knicks. It's in stone.
LeBron James is joining his best friends and fellow all-world Olympic basketball gods Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami to complete an overwhelming triumvirate. It's a done deal.
LeBron James is too loyal and self-aware to rip out his city's heart on national television. It is written, James must stay and forge glory from good vibes.
At this point, only two facts are patently clear:
- LeBron James is a special kind of megalomaniac.
- If he chooses to ink with my beloved New York Knicks, I'll have to find another team.
The last time the Knicks mattered, I was on a high school band trip on the scenic Texas Gulf Coast, watching the Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady Raptors knock out the expensive, aging Allan Houston-Latrell Sprewell-Larry Johnson-Patrick Ewing Knicks. It was the spring of 2001, yet I'd fallen in love during the early '90s when NBA Jam emerged on the 5th grade sleepover scene and a Ewing-John Starks combination was the best path to downtown threes and boom-shacka-lacka jams.
The Knicks play in the country's biggest media market (a vital metric to the success of any second tier professional sport), are one of the NBA's most historic franchises. Yet when they previously tasted success, they were a defensive-minded, heartbreaking team notorious for choking, contending, playing with the grit and spark of their hometown.
But a decade removed from any semblance of hope (save for a few months during the early winter months of 2004 when fiery young administrator, Isiah Thomas, made bold plays for the likes of Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway) means the spirit of the Knicks is long dead and a franchise's identity lies at a crossroads.
With offensive guru and former Phoenix Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, along with the signing/reunion of former Suns center Amar'e Stoudemire, along with, say, a point guard like San Antonio's Tony Parker and scoring blizzard, Syracuse hero Carmelo Anthony joining up in 2011, there's a free-flowing, cerebral core for a perpetual playoff contender sure to promise heartbreaking and rewarding spring flings. They'll steadily improve. They'll matter.
With Stoudemire, D'Antoni and LeBron James, the Knicks bandwagon is instantly overloaded with new-gen fans that principally pull for individual players, celebrities in baseball caps, wealthy and very real housewives, Spike Lee, insufferable hip-hop fans and worst of all, fairweather New Yorkers.
The Lakerization in fan culture is an instantly ghastly proposition, but more so when considering the central marketing force would be a farce of a man. Make no mistake, these truths are self-evident:
1. LeBron owes no one anything.
But ripping out the heart of a suffering city takes an Art Modell/Jack Parkman gene not present in hero athletes and admirable men.
But the self-aggrandizement of an hour-long special called "The Decision" means he's fiendishly milking the moment for all it's worth.
2. LeBron certainly has a right to move forward, join forces with his best shot at winning. This is America, advancement is fundamental.
But it means the only two choices are talent-rich, supporting-cast-in-tact Chicago or cutting ties with at least $30 million, hijacking the league with Bosh and Wade in Miami in an ego-checking move reminiscent of the 2008 Boston Celtics.
3. LeBron can chase immortality and the impossible task of restoring titles to the New York Knicks and he just may have the talent and star-power to elevate the NBA past college football as the number two sport in America.
But it means James is a special kind of cocksucker because he'd sacrifice money, the heart and soul and economy of a suffering region that's championed him for nearly a decade and championships (Jordan or Russell would have long ago signed with these Bulls or this Heat force in the making) for a big city with bright lights. He's like that prick from your high school that sells out his parents for an NYU education, that spends Thanksgiving breaks touting the culture, food and nightlife...if that prick from your high school simultaneously left a major dent in the local economy upon departure.
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The Jack Parkman reference just made my day. Incredible.
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I join in "Nick's" sentiments above. I just had a hankering to go watch both Major League movies this morning. Awesome. Excellent commentary on "the Decision" and its all-around selfish demeanor, too!
can you believe this guy? what an arrogant person!
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