But this is July of 2010, which means we’ve got quite a riveting World Cup Soccer Tournament going on in South Africa, as well as one of the most action-packed, star-studded free agency NBA classes that we’ve seen in years.
Of course, the U.S. was knocked out of the World Cup by Ghana in the first round of single-elimination play. And now we’re down to the semifinals, where we’ve got Germany vs. Spain (sounds about right), and … the Netherlands vs. Uruguay (uh … okay?!). Yes, so no matter what happens now, it’ll be worthy of some above-average interest. Germany and Spain are world powers in ‘futbol’, but the other two teams are not. Semi matches are Tuesday and Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., which means most of the working world here in the U.S. is going to miss them. Unless you’re savvy about watching stuff online at work while also getting stuff done and not being caught.
As for the NBA dramatics, all anybody wants to talk about is ‘Where is LeBron going?’ It’s worse than a frigging soap opera already. We understand that the city of Cleveland and the Cavaliers organization is doing everything allowed by law (and probably quite a bit of stuff that isn’t) to hang onto their most prized possession. And we understand that a handful of other teams with which James has agreed to meet (Knicks, Nets, Bulls, Heat, Clippers, etc.) are all making their individual best imaginable sales pitches to persuade the superstar athlete to jump ship. There are a zillion different theories on where he’ll go and why.
But what’s most likely?
Take it from a non-expert (and why wouldn’t you?) – he’s either staying put or going to the Chicago Bulls. Above all else, LeBron has proven to be intensely loyal. There’s only so loyal a player can stay before his patience is exhausted, but we all know that the Cavs haven’t actually given him a championship-caliber supporting cast yet. If they’ve convinced him, one more time, that they can do that and are giving him a short-term deal with a boatload of cash, he may grant his beloved home-state team one more chance.
The Knicks and Nets suck too much and are going to for the next few years in order for him to agree to go to either franchise (despite the best efforts of Jay-Z, Mayor Mike and that new, Russian, multi-billionaire N.J. Nets owner), and he wants a championship now (as he damn well should, seven years into the league with his super-human abilities but no rings on his fingers).
The Clippers are just a West Coast version of the Knicks/Nets, and they’ve got a notoriously cheap, uncaring owner in Donald Sterling.
Playing with Dwayne Wade in Miami seems tempting, and those are two superstar players. But as we’ve seen year in and year out, you need more than two fantastic players to win a title. You need a strong supporting cast and deep bench. The Heat still won’t have that, even if LeBron joins them. The Heat plus LeBron would still fall to the Lakers in an NBA Finals Series, especially considering that L.A. isn’t likely to lose any pieces of their two-time defending championship team.
Who does this leave besides Cleveland to woo James? The Bulls.
Don’t think LeBron wouldn’t absolutely relish the possibility of going on a Jordan-like run in Chicago. Can he and Derrick Rose be the Jordan-Pippen for the new era? They’ve also got Joakim Noah as an exceptional post player, a feisty young team and an organization that seems committed to winning. If anyone can lure LBJ away from the state of Ohio, it’s probably Chicago. And don’t also think that LBJ wouldn’t be tantalized by the prospect and challenge of trying to be the next ‘Jordan,’ or at least eventually drawing the comparisons. He has a lot of hardware to pilfer before we can even begin having that conversation, but the fresh start in another city might be just what he needs. Don’t forget, Jordan was in the league almost as long as LeBron has been before he started piling up the trophies in the early 1990s.
Oh and Cleveland, it’s not like you don’t already know this or anything, but if you actually want to win a championship, you’ll have to do better than bringing in an over-the-hill, past-his-prime veteran (ala Shaq) to round out a supporting cast that’s not proven any ability to make a title run.
Good luck to all competitors in the LBJ Sweepstakes! Won’t be long now until we find out who wins.
Oh yeah and let’s not forget about the other super-duperstar free agent players that are on the open market right now (D-Wade, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Joe Johnson and several others), many of whose decisions could change the face of the league for the next several years to come.
On a closing note, the Knicks just moments ago agreed in principle with Phoenix Suns standout power forward Amare Stoudemire to a 5-year, 100-million dollar deal. Stoudemire will be reunited with Mike D’Antoni, the former Phoenix coach who left to coach the Knicks a couple years ago. This is a great get for New York, but also leaves them with limited money/negotiating power to get another big-time player. Stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment