Here’s LeBron’s interview that was shown on Nightline late last night. I’m not a fan of the whole give LeBron a Knicks hat. I mean we’re already competing with the president, give us a break.
Once Phil signs an extension with LA...
Over the last month the saga that is LeBron James’ free agency has become absolutely strange. There have been rumors, pleas and pitches from politicians, and a free agent summit. Let’s try to recap what’s happened over the last month.
Almost exactly one month ago LeBron was collecting his second straight MVP award. He was widely regarded as the best player in the NBA. At one point in the season Bill Simmons thought that no writer could vote for anyone besides LeBron for this years MVP award. LeBron was on top of his game and the Cavs playoff chances looked very good.
Fast forward to Tuesday May 11th. Game Five. Weird. LeBron looks disinterested in one of the biggest games of his career. This game is so inexplicable that rumors swirl about why LeBron played so poorly. There must be an explanation, perhaps the pain medication for his elbow made him drowsy, perhaps even depressed.
Game Six. Loss. Speculation begins. Did LeBron just throw the series so he had an excuse to leave Cleveland? Of course he didn’t, but that’s how insane things became when the Cavs were bounced from the playoffs by the Celtics. Last season LeBron refused to shake hands with the Magic when his season was ended prematurely. This year he’s all to happy to congratulate the Celtics. Perhaps he’s over compensating for last year’s reaction?
Several questions still linger. How did we lose to the Celtics? Did something happen before/during Game 5 that interrupted the Cav’s playoff momentum? Did LeBron James give 100% in the Celtics series? Did the pressure get to LeBron? Did LeBron’s free agency interfere with his current goal? Weeks later, the Celtics series is still a mystery.
Before the loss can completely sink in LeBron is already being courted by other cities. New York’s own Mayor Bloomberg said, “I think it would be great for New York if he comes here. If he calls me and says, ‘What’s it like to live in New York?’ I’ll give him a big sales pitch for New York. I love living in New York. My kids love living in New York. I think LeBron James would love living in New York.”
It’s not every day that a politician openly asks an athlete to come to his city, but it’s not unheard of, that is until it’s the president of the United States. In an interview with Marv Albert Obama actually made a case for LeBron to play in Chicago. “You know, like I said, I don’t want to meddle. I will say this, [Derrick] Rose, Joakim Noah…it’s a pretty good core. You know, you could see LeBron fitting in pretty well there.” Really? Did the president just ask LeBron to play for the Bulls?
Now LeBron has his hometown of Cleveland depending on him to stay, an entire city wanting him to come to New York, a friend and idol wanting him to go to New Jersey, a respected peer hoping he moves to Miami, and the president making a case for him to play in Chicago.
But it doesn’t stop there, Mark Cuban cost himself $100,000 for these comments to CNNMoney.com, “Come July 1, yeah, of course. Anybody would be interested in LeBron James, and if he leaves via free agency, then it’s going to be tough.” Steve Kerr was also fined $10,000 for joking about LeBron taking the mid level exception to come play in Phoenix. Both NBA execs were fined under the NBA’s tampering rules.
Next there are rumors of an NBA free agency summit. LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Stoudemire, Joe Johnson and other 2010 free agents will supposedly have a sit down (I can’t help but imagine this being similar to the New Day Co-op from The Wire) and discuss where each player is thinking of going next season. Obviously this makes the rumors of LeBron/Wade/Bosh to Miami/NYC/Chicago that much more realistic. A free agent meeting of this scope has never even been discussed before. Oh the Summer of LeBron will be interesting…
The countdown to July 1st promises to be one of the most unique and strange off the field sporting events in recent memory. I wish I could come up with a clever way to end this blog entry, but there’s no way to predict what will happen over the next month or two. Just stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed that LeBron will make the right choice.
Oh no, NoYork's blog is down, my future looks so blurry
We’d like to apologize to all of our readers for the lack of posts/recent crash of our blog. Unfortunately there were several attempts to breach the security of our website. These attempts took a heavy toll on our server and caused our blog to go offline for an extended amount of time. We apologize for the absence, but now it’s time once again to fight the good fight!
NoYork!
From April 23-25th some of the best high school talent in the nation was in Akron for the 2010 King James Shooting Stars Classic. The tournament, named after LeBron’s AAU team, is quickly becoming one of the largest events in the country. This year 618 teams competed at sites throughout the Akron area. Having this many teams in Akron is estimated to have brought over 5 million dollars to the local economy. Even when LeBron is in Chicago winning a playoff series he’s giving back to his hometown.
Take that Guacamole!
"Sweet" is a good word to use. "Awesome" works as well.
We’re in love with you! The “we” being Columbus ALIVE! magazine. Yeah we came in behind LOST and The National but look at those floaters in our wake. Half Priced Tiki Drinks, The Deftones, the guy that played Kelly Leak in The Bad News Bears and the stuff that you sigh having to pay an extra $1.25 for at Chipotle beacuse yes, it’s awesome. Good lookin’ out Columbus!
This video was sent to us by lifelong Cavs fan Trent Thompson. Not only did Trent rock his NoYork shirt to the Cavs first playoff game against the Bulls, he got us footage of downtown Cleveland and LeBron’s mansion. If any fans have footage they’d like to see on NoYork or photos in NoYork tees, we’d be glad to post you up on our blog. Thanks again to Trent.
I’m not sure if I enjoyed the dunk more or the commentary. Both Reggie and Marv stepping up their announcing for this one. Can you believe Marv didn’t pull out his famous “serves up a facial line?” Keep on rolling Cavs!!!!
"Excuse me Kevin, I'm going to slip by you for that MVP trophy"
With the King on autopilot and KD struggling to find a place for his Thunder in the wild wild west, it looks as though Durant will be the league’s scoring champion, but that’s okay. LeBron has already stated his distaste for individual awards, despite the fact that he could win them if he wanted… earlier this year LeBron spoke of the scoring title saying, “If I really wanted to, if I really wanted to be the scoring [champion] every single year — every single year — I could really do it. But it doesn’t matter.”
Since we are fans we can talk about awards all we want, so while we’re on the topic let’s just crown LeBron the MVP now. His team once again has the best record in the NBA and his numbers are ridiculous as always. LeBron has coasted through this season, leading the Cavs through injuries and personnel adjustments, hardly phased by his competition.
So KD can have the scoring title, LeBron will take the MVP award for a second straight season and he’ll be in competition for an NBA championship. This doesn’t take anything away from the year Durant is having, it’s just to say that LeBron could win the scoring title if he wanted it. Instead he’ll take MVP and a ring.
In case you didn’t know. NoYork will be selling our shirts up at the Cleveland’s Got Sole Event tomorrow, April 10th (Embassy Suites 3775 Park E Dr, Beachwood, Ohio). It’s going to be Cleveland’s largest sneaker event. There are a ton of great raffles (I got my eye on you Mystery Shoes) and proceeds are going to the Lebron James Family Foundation.
Clevelands Got Sole Promo Video from ClevelandsGotSole on Vimeo.
Also, for a little challenge, we decided to come up with the following:
NoYork Challenge
The Game: NBA 2K10 (xbox360 only, sorry PS3 fans)
The Rules: You play as the CAVS, we play as the KNICKS (already in your favor) in one quickgame.
How to win: Top 3 players with the highest point difference win (first game starts at 1pm, last game at 4:30pm).
The Prize: A beautiful NoYork shirt of your choice
So come visit the booth, bring your A game, and if you can’t beat us, join us and pick up a NoYork shirt (or two).
Saturday April 10th
12pm - 5pm
Embassy Suites
3775 Park E Dr, Beachwood, Ohio
Breath Mint Carlos?
Is there anyone who doesn’t know where LeBron James is headed next year? Apparently not, as Carlos Boozer is the latest player to predict where LeBron will end up. “I think LeBron’s going to stay. That’s my gut. They’re doing everything they can to build him a championship. His biggest thing is winning a ring. I think his best chance to win a ring is probably where he’s at.” Thanks for the insight Carlos.
My question is was it in Boozer’s gut that he would leave for Utah when he gave his word to the Cavs that he would stay in Cleveland? Was it in his gut that he thought money was more important than staying Cleveland and having a great shot at a title? I don’t know the answer to these questions but I know there would be a size 12 Nike in his gut if I ever met Boozer. I haven’t practiced my roundhouse ninja kicks lately, but I think he would bring it out of me.
Hopefully LeBron does stay in Cleveland, and yes the Cavs have definitely built a very solid team around their King. I do believe his biggest thing is winning a ring, and I do believe that his best shot is in Cleveland. And no, you will never know how much it pains me to agree with Carlos Boozer.
