A Day in the Life….”The Decision” & it’s After Party

There are many days that have historical significance in the U.S. and are properly observed as so.

July 4: The Independence of the United States from the British Empire

December 25: Recognition of the birth of Christ ……well this may or not be stretch in this instance, stay tuned….

Oh, I know…..how about:

February 2nd: Groundhog’s Day, where it is judged how much longer winter will go based on if the chosen Groundhog sees its shadow or not.

That’s a fitting holiday for new day that should be set aside as a national holiday, July 8 – LeDecision Day. There shall be no work and all will rejoice. For this is a date that should be celebrated in the streets of all 50 realms of the United States and the globe at large. “Behold the day that the Chosen One has laid aside to fulfill the prophecy and choose his destination of basketball based entertainment!” Sound the trumpets. Playing the role of the groundhog of the sports world, LeBron James must have seen his shadow and allowed the mania that has built following his decision on whom to join, or rejoin, for the next few NBA season to continue for as long as possible. Now the day is upon us where the “The Decision” (as it is entitled for the hour-long ESPN special that will accompany it….wow….is called) is finally here.

Happy LeDecision Day....but what are we Witnessing?

The speculation on where he will land has reached Beatlemania levels. It seems everyone from the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers to Invaders of the MBA (Martian Basketball Association, of course) are in play for LeBron and every inside source has a scoop from his “inner circle”, which has apparently grown to around 3,000,000 on a low-end estimate. I don’t know LeBron or his people, but I’m gonna take my swing at joining the “source community” and throw out what makes sense to me here and give my final shot in the crowded room of educated guesses and hope I hit something.

Cleveland Cavaliers: The bottom line here is loyalty and legacy. He has been in the unique position of being able to craft his entire legacy from high school forward in the same location. The state of Ohio has raised him and he is without a doubt the most important individual in the entire state, regardless of profession. His involvement in Cleveland supports a huge part of the city’s financial income and no doubt supports many people he has been associated with for years since he first showed his potential as a breadwinner.

On the court is a different matter altogether. I don’t think loyalty to the Cavs is a huge issue at all. He would have become “LeBron James, Superstar” with any team he played with. He has done way more for them than they have done for him. A career of having to lean on cores consisting of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden, Maurice Williams and Larry Hughes isn’t much to brag on. Only adding Antawn Jamison, who is far past is former All-Star form and an over the hill Shaquille O’Neal as impact sidekicks is weak too. LeBron will get money anywhere is goes, so I don’t think the contract makes a huge difference. But the inability to project a championship will be and unless he feels a strong desire to build his own legacy from start to finish, Cleveland may not be the place. However, I will not count them out, because its still home and that could pull him to do it there and keep his center of control under his grasp.

ChicagoBulls: Chicago seemed like the most viable option if he could’ve taken Chris Bosh with him. There’s a hole on the floor that still could welcome him there, but it seems like a long shot for some reason now. Even with Bosh join Dwyane Wade in Miami, the Bulls still boast the most overall talent of team in the chase. There are two All-Stars in place already in Derrick Rose and newly acquired Carlos Boozer, as well as a strong starting core ready as well. If he could consider playing in Miami with Wade and his style of play, then playing in Chicago with Rose, who is far more willing to defer in his style of play. For whatever reason, it doesn’t seem like this will happen, which doesn’t make much sense to me.

New York Knicks: The Knicks will cater to his wishes bring in whoever he wants around him. They have no problem withspending money and have already landed Amare Stoudemire as a drawing piece. But beside him, there’s literally nothing to say they will win any quicker with him in the fold. 2 players don’t win championships, teams do. The Knicks do offer the biggest stage available of anyone in the Big Apple, but with a star the size of LeBron, he brings the media to him wherever, so I don’t see the Knicks as being answer. If they had a more solid core intact, ala the Patrick Ewing years, maybe. But no matter how much glitter they throw at the situation, it’s still a base level rebuilding project and that’s not what he needs. He’s already rebuilt one team in Cleveland, and now as he’s approaching the half way point in his career I don’t imagine he wants to spend the second half doing the same thing, regardless of what city it is in.

New Jersey Nets: The Nets are similar to the Knicks in that they are rebuilding. However, they are building around actual pieces in place that show potential to make the jump with the right leader on court. Adding Avery Johnson’s proven track record on the sidelines shows they’ll make strides on the court, and they have maybe the most brash ownership in the NBA this side of Mark Cuban in Mikhail Prokhoroz and Jay-Z, so they’ll continue to make headlines and be active. With all these benefits, there’s just too much in flux in Jersey. They are only a year off of a historically terrible season and are moving to another city soon. It doesn’t fit what LeBron should be in the market for, stability and a continued reign at the top of league. But with the twists and turns in this entire saga, this surprise could happen.

Los Angeles Clippers: Nope, not happening. I’m not even wasting the characters or considerably low typing energy addressing it. On Friday morning, Danny Manning or Loy Vaught will still be the best Clipper ever, not LeBron. The End.

Miami Heat: While I said who I feel about him landing in Miami yesterday, it’s seeming like this is a strong possibility. I can see why he would want to go there and I don’t blame him (do blame the Heat if they sign him though). If he goes to Miami he’ll immediately come under criticism. He’ll be pegged as not being able to get it done on his own and needing Wade and Bosh to make it to the top. Let’s look at this a few ways. True, he would be giving up his chance to make his own legacy, by joining up with the Heat. But he would be assured of being even deeper into the championship picture than he has ever been before (despite making the 07 Finals, they had NO shot at beating the Spurs).

However, it would impossible to say he isn’t concerned about winning, because this would be the quickest way to that goal. It seems like a match made in heaven, but I really see such a star laden team having huge chemistry problems that would be magnified when they struggle, and they will do that inevitably. I don’t think you can replicate what the Celtics did when Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett joined in Paul Pierce in 2007-08. They were older than Bron, Bosh and Wade, so they were more focused on ending the legacies that they had created individually. They were ready to cap them off. Of the guys in Miami, specifically Wade and LeBron, are still making their place in both the current power struggle in the league and of this era of the NBA. I’m not convinced they can totally divorce the individual to win together yet and this could keep LeBron elsewhere. Which isn’t totally selfish of him in his decision, but could cost the ultimate goal, but Kobe and his Lakers could still do that anyway, so who knows.

After all of this, it’s really only going to make sense to him. There’s probably more moving and shaking behind the scenes than we’ll ever know, but I’m gonna take my shot at what makes sense with what’s available. I’m predicting:

Cleveland

In a close turn over joining the party in Miami (and I mean very close, I erased and rewrote this five times myself), he stays home. LeBron seems to have a strong sense of both his own self value, loyalty and ego. By staying in Cleveland he appeases all of these contradictory elements at once. He makes his homeland happy by staying home and achieves the largest payday possible. He also locks in his chance at being one of the truly defined greats of all time, by leading a single franchise to a championship level. For him to truly achieve his place as a great of both this era and all-time, he does in one place. Wade, Kobe and Tim Duncan are the measuring sticks of achievement in this era of the NBA, and have done it in one location. Michael Jordan (save for his very end stint in Washington), Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Bill Russell are at the summit of NBA greatness, and did it by building and leading one team up with them.

The King stays in his castle....for better or worse.

I believe he wants this. It feeds his ego/legacy appropriately. While it is far from being a guaranteed shot and he will have to contend with Dwight Howard’s Orlando clubs still and the double-headed Miami monster, I think he takes on that undertaking. He has shown he can raise an otherwise mediocre Cavs roster to the 60 win level, and I doubt he will return without some immediate guarantees on upgrades to the roster to push them further than they have been since 2007. It’s a commendable and brave endeavor with an uncertain endgame, but what isn’t.

And in the end, there’s always the Clippers. If just for shock value alone.