LeBron James, Lakers Rumors Further Evidence That Star Continues to Live in Fishbowl With or Without Championship

by abournenesn

Oct 18, 2012

LeBron James, Lakers Rumors Further Evidence That Star Continues to Live in Fishbowl With or Without ChampionshipAll those innocent souls who thought anything would change
after LeBron James finally won a championship last June were sorely mistaken. The
greatest individual player on the planet may have his ring, but changing
behavior does not happen overnight. Changing people's minds can take even
longer.

Maybe it is because he was world-famous at 15 years old or
because he was a millionaire at 19, but for whatever reason James will never be
treated like a normal athlete. "The Decision" did not help, but
detractors mocked James' performance in the clutch even during his Cleveland
days, when he led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals at 22 with Larry Hughes and
Zydrunas Ilgaukas
as his running mates. Some folks simply need to believe in
James' inadequacy and to think he is somehow any more self-centered than any
other famous person.

Winning a championship therefore was not going to change
anything. Further proof of that came on Thursday, when an ESPN reported floated
the possibility of the Los Angeles Lakers making a run at James in 2014. The go-to storyline for the start of the last six seasons — "Can LeBron
finally win The Big One?" — is obsolete. If we cannot talk about James
failing in the clutch, why not take another stab at the old story about James
switching teams? That worked out pretty well last time.

As is often the case, the furor caused by the headline
drowned out the nuance in the text. The Lakers' attempt to obtain James in two
years hinges on a variety of factors, ESPN's Brian Windhorst cautions. If James
opts for free agency two offseasons before his contract ends, and the Lakers
clear a satchel full of expiring contracts including Kobe Bryant's, Pau Gasol's
and Metta World Peace's, then James and the Lakers could be a match. James
would need to want to leave Miami, of course, and the Lakers probably would
need to be willing to continue to pay the gradually more punitive luxury tax,
but for now the timeline and the contracts appear to line up.

Details, details. Sure, this is two years away at least and
the Lakers have yet to even play a game with this offseason's monster haul of
Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. James going to the Lakers is just bound to get
people's blood flowing, most of it straight to their foreheads, pulsating in
anger.

Oh, we could play this game with just about any team, of
course. Joe Johnson's $24.9 million contract expires in 2016, at the same time
James' current contract would expired if he plays it out to the end. James to
Brooklyn! Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett could both be gone by 2015, when James
has an early termination clause. James to Boston! Ben Gordon, Ramon Sessions
and, uh, DeSagana Diop will be cleared from the Bobcats' books in 2014. James
to wherever the heck the Bobcats play! (Charleston?)

James was kind enough to create a reason for a nationwide
catharsis in 2010, when he became the world's greatest antagonist by publicly
shaming Cleveland and taking his talents to South Beach, where he celebrated a
title he had not yet won. Perhaps in two years, when many of us have forgotten
exactly why it was we detested the guy in the first place, he will offer a
reminder and skip to a franchise fans are already used to hating.

And if he does not, oh well. For now, the very thought of
James doing such a thing is enough to reinforce some people's deep-seated
notions of him. Never mind that the most accurate representation of James may
be that he is just a guy who makes a lot of money playing basketball, and every
once in a while he likes to move. It is so much simpler to call James a
mercenary and an opportunist, as though he alone owns the rights to those
traits.

Have a question for
Ben Watanabe? Send it to him via Twitter at @BenjeeBallgame or send it here.

Previous Article

NESN Ranked No. 9 Among Most Valuable Sports Business Brands According to Forbes

Next Article

Report: Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez Could Leave Manchester United for Fiorentina in January

Picked For You