While James has been mulling over his future, Kevin Durant signed a 5 year 86 million dollar extension with Oklahoma City, and has now returned to shooting jump shots. It's unfair to compare the two, but to me, they will be the two best players in the NBA for the next 10 years, so a comparison has some merit. One (Durant) cares about the basketball, the other (James) cares about "building his brand," as so many people have put it. That's how much sports have changed, it isn't about winning anymore, and hasn't been for a while.
All indications are that James will sign with the Heat, and join Bosh and Wade in Miami. I'm not sure how to feel about this. First, let's address if it's good for the NBA. That is what I'm concerned about, the NBA. Not a player's "brand."
The answer is yes. This is great for the NBA. Finally the NBA has a villainous team again. The Lakers are not that. Sure people hate Kobe Bryant, but outside of Boston there is no real hatred for the Lakers. They are just a great team, a well oiled machine if you will, it's hard to hate on that. I think people resent the Lakers getting Gasol for essentially nothing more than they hate the team as a whole.
The Heat are now a team that everyone can hate. The three best players in free agency conspired, tweeted, sent smoke signals, lied, etc. through the entire free agency period, all the while knowing it would come to this. This is a blatant attempt by all three players to create a Dream Team. They would all have to take less money in order to play together. Fans, especially those of the teams that were expected to have a chance at landing any of the three do not appreciate the way this has dragged on. And they shouldn't.
But most importantly, how will this affect the Heat? They'll have max money tied up in James, Wade, and Bosh, and will have to settle on a bunch of rookies, D-Leaguers, and veteran league minimums to fill out their roster. What if one of the big three gets injured? Can they deal with getting each team's best every night, even after they haven't won anything? Can the big three play 40-45 minutes every night the entire season and playoffs? These are all questions that need to be answered. Depending on how this works out, the Heat may not even be the best team in the East. Key word: TEAM.
The last issue I want to address is the idea of James holding a press conference to announce his decision. Many, including myself, when hearing of the news, assumed that James would be resigning with Cleveland. How could he possibly go on national television and rub it in the face of the city of Cleveland that he is not coming back? Well, it appears that's exactly what he's going to do.
James doesn't owe it to the city to stay. He can do what he wants, just as any player can. What bothers me is the way in which he is going to leave. Spare me the this-is-for-charity-bullshit, this is a completely classless move, one that his image with never recover from.
Miami is one of the most fickle, fair-weathered cities in all of sports. If James does abandon his hometown fans, who have supported him through all of his failures, by the way, he better hope this Miami experiment works out. Otherwise, its him against the world, and I don't think he's built for that.
Two final thoughts: shame on me for assuming LeBron's number change from number 23 meant he was going to Chicago. Miami, bowing to the real king, if you will, retired Jordan's 23 to acknowledge his greatness in beating them for a decade.
Second thought: LeBron's signing with the Heat officially takes him out of the best player of all time contention. The best player wouldn't have fled to a team where he wasn't expected to solely shoulder the burden of the team's success. Jordan wouldn't have done that, Kobe didn't do that post-Shaq. Congratulations are in order once again, LeBron James, you are basketball's version of Alex Rodriguez.
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