The majority of the sports world will get what it wants Thursday night when LeBron James finally tells everyone who’s been waiting on pins and needles just where he’ll be playing basketball next year and for the foreseeable future.
When he finally makes his decision — Cleveland, Chicago, New York, Miami, New Jersey or Los Angeles — we’ll finally all be able to move on, live life and not worry about where the King will be holding court.
But once that finally happens, real, tangible conversations can start about where LeBron ends up.
The location of his announcement — Greenwich, Conn. — is one that should raise eyebrows for Celtics fans. Now this, of course, is all speculation, as has been everything said about the LeBronstakes, but let’s say for argument’s sake that the announcement’s location in a small, wealthy Connecticut town means one of two things: LeBron’s going to end up with the Knicks in New York or with the Nets in New Jersey.
This may come as initial unwelcomed news to Celtics fans, but should it really? Sure, you’ll be seeing a lot more of King James if he’s playing his ball in Manhattan or Jersey. But think of the other options. Outside of Los Angeles (which, let’s face it, never really was an option) is there anywhere else you’d like to see James end up?
Granted, the Knicks have come to terms with Amare Stoudemire — a move that, yes, does make them better — are the Knicks really a team to fear?
LeBron and Amare is a lot less intimidating than LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh patrolling South Beach wearing Heat jerseys. Heck, it’s even less intimidating than LeBron going back to Cleveland to an organization that he helped raise from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to the team with the best record in basketball.
If LeBron signed with the Knicks, they’ll likely improve over the course of a few years, but they’re still going to be hunkered down by two enormous contracts. And you have to ask yourself, have the Knicks done anything in the last few years in terms of drafting and developing young talent and signing under-the-radar free agents that makes you think they’re going to improve their franchise so drastically that they’ll challenge the upper echelon of the East?
Probably not.
LeBron’s decision to hold ‘Decision 2010’ in Greenwich is much more intriguing if it’s done so in order to announce he wants to become a New Jersey Net.
This should make Celtics' fans a little more nervous. If LeBron were to decide he wanted to help a struggling franchise like New Jersey reinvent itself, the ingredients are all there in Jersey.
Think about it. LeBron can come into a franchise owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who is seemingly willing to do anything to win. He can hang out with his buddy Jay-Z, who owns some — very little — of the team. And most importantly, he can join a team with young basketball talent.
He can join the likes of Devin Harris and Brook Lopez, two young players who would no doubt flourish with a basketball talent like LeBron James playing with them every night. On top of that, a lot of the money the Nets owe is coming off the books very soon, giving them financial freedom to sign free agents in the summers to come.
Like with the Knicks, success isn’t guaranteed overnight. Success isn’t guaranteed at all. And while the Nets with LeBron would have a more promising future than the Knicks with LeBron, it’s still not as intimidating as seeing LeBron on the same team with Bosh and Wade.
Of course, all of this could mean nothing. LeBron could be moving this announcement to Greenwich and then turn around and say he’s going back to Cleveland or heading to South Beach after all.
But if you’re a Celtics fan and want to infer that he’s going to either New York or New Jersey, you have to like what you hear.
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