duncan228
01-23-2009, 04:39 PM
New York, New York? Cavaliers hope not (http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_11537422)
By Steve Luhm
The Salt Lake Tribune
Los Angeles -- One hour before the Cleveland Cavaliers are scheduled to play the Lakers, reporters crowd four-deep around LeBron James in the cramped visitor's locker room at Staples Center.
They shout questions about James' pending duel with the world's other best basketball player, Kobe Bryant.
They ask about the new-and-improved Cavaliers, who just might be good enough this year to win an NBA championship.
They want to know about the Olympics, winning the gold medal in Beijing and if James might feel like doing it again in 2012.
They want to know James' plan for energizing the economy, fighting terrorism and ending global warming.
O.K., so nobody asked about the economy, terrorism or the environment.
If the media session had lasted more than 12 minutes, however, somebody probably would have gotten around to it because -- these days -- James is perhaps the most iconic figure in America, not counting the guy who just moved into the White House.
As James preps for the Cavs' annual visit to Energy Solution Arena Saturday night to play the Jazz, everybody wants to know what he thinks, what he does, where he goes and -- of course -- whether he plans to cure the New York Knicks' lingering ills in 2010, when he becomes a free agent.
There will be other suitors, obviously. But the Knicks are the most high-profile and least subtle because, well, they are the Knicks.
In November, new team president Donnie Walsh cleared $27 million in salary cap space for 2010 by trading Zach Randolph, Jamal Crawford and Mardy Collins.
After the fire-sale, Walsh said the trades were "just the first step" in rebuilding the Knicks and the deals gave him "a year and half" to "see what our options are when we get to that point."
Walsh's preferred option?
Sign King James for an amount slightly less than the gross national product of Finland and then sit back while the magic returns to Madison Square Garden.
James even did his part to fuel the fervor.
A few days after the trades, the Cavaliers played in New York. Following Cleveland's 1191-101 victory, LeBron teased the media.
"If you guys want to sleep now and don't wake up until July 1, 2010, then go ahead," James said. "It's going to be a big day."
It was all New Yorkers had to hear.
James' words were taken as a promise that he was coming ... as reassurance that all was well ... as a message to NBA commissioner David Stern that the world headquarters of LeBron, Inc. would soon be located just down the block.
Two months later -- in the locker room before Monday's Cavaliers-Lakers game -- James was asked about his plans in 2010.
"The question hasn't come up in a long time," LeBron said earlier this week, teasing again. "... The further and further I get away from New York, the question kind of goes away."
Good answer.
Everybody laughed, except maybe the Cavaliers, who would have preferred an etched-in-stone declaration of career-long devotion to the franchise James has lifted to unimaginable heights in only six seasons.
But if Cleveland coach Mike Brown is worried about ever losing his mega-star, however, it does not show.
"People ask me, 'What's going to happen in 2010?'" Brown said. "[But] we're ... building this organization for the long haul, not just so LeBron James stays here. We're building this organization so everybody wants to be a part of it, from custodial workers to secretaries to the [team] president."
At the same time, Brown insists he is not going to worry about it. "A lot of things can happen before 2010. So there's really nothing, in my mind, to talk about," he said.
Onetime Jazz point guard Mo Williams was acquired by the Cavs during the offseason to help make James' life in Cleveland a little easier.
A talented scorer, Williams' presence means James does not have to produce 40 points every night for the Cavs to win games and, in the long run, compete for a championship.
"To be honest, we don't talk about [2010]," Williams said. "It's not a topic of conversation -- not at all."
As far as James' comments in New York, Williams shrugged. "He has to answer those type of questions and that's just LeBron. He gives honest opinions," he said.
One thing about James that everybody does know: He's playing the best basketball of his life.
Unstoppable on offense. A stone wall on defense. The best player on one of the best teams in the world.
The MVP, perhaps.
Said Brown: "Obviously, you have to throw Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade into that conversation. And Tim Duncan into that conversation. And obviously a maturing Dwight Howard. There are some players that a lot of people would argue about. But me personally, I'm a LeBron James fan. I look at him as being the best player in the league. But I might be a little biased."
Laker coach Phil Jackson refuses to get into the MVP debate, but he calls James "... one of the top players who has ever played. The way he's going, he'll be ranked up there in the top five or top 10 players ever in this game."
Williams calls James' abilities "overwhelming. More than I thought. I expected the best and I've got the best and then some. So I'm rolling. I rolling with this circus. I'm definitely having the best time of my life as a professional athlete."
Another teammate, Sasha Pavlovic, has spent five seasons with James.
"He's a great guy and that's why he's a great player," Pavlovic said. "He is great with everybody -- off the court and on the court -- and that's why the guys love to play with him ..."
The question now is whether James, an Ohio native, loves Cleveland and playing with his teammates enough to stick around and perhaps lead the Cavs to an NBA championship or two.
A question that may not be answered for another year, at least.
By Steve Luhm
The Salt Lake Tribune
Los Angeles -- One hour before the Cleveland Cavaliers are scheduled to play the Lakers, reporters crowd four-deep around LeBron James in the cramped visitor's locker room at Staples Center.
They shout questions about James' pending duel with the world's other best basketball player, Kobe Bryant.
They ask about the new-and-improved Cavaliers, who just might be good enough this year to win an NBA championship.
They want to know about the Olympics, winning the gold medal in Beijing and if James might feel like doing it again in 2012.
They want to know James' plan for energizing the economy, fighting terrorism and ending global warming.
O.K., so nobody asked about the economy, terrorism or the environment.
If the media session had lasted more than 12 minutes, however, somebody probably would have gotten around to it because -- these days -- James is perhaps the most iconic figure in America, not counting the guy who just moved into the White House.
As James preps for the Cavs' annual visit to Energy Solution Arena Saturday night to play the Jazz, everybody wants to know what he thinks, what he does, where he goes and -- of course -- whether he plans to cure the New York Knicks' lingering ills in 2010, when he becomes a free agent.
There will be other suitors, obviously. But the Knicks are the most high-profile and least subtle because, well, they are the Knicks.
In November, new team president Donnie Walsh cleared $27 million in salary cap space for 2010 by trading Zach Randolph, Jamal Crawford and Mardy Collins.
After the fire-sale, Walsh said the trades were "just the first step" in rebuilding the Knicks and the deals gave him "a year and half" to "see what our options are when we get to that point."
Walsh's preferred option?
Sign King James for an amount slightly less than the gross national product of Finland and then sit back while the magic returns to Madison Square Garden.
James even did his part to fuel the fervor.
A few days after the trades, the Cavaliers played in New York. Following Cleveland's 1191-101 victory, LeBron teased the media.
"If you guys want to sleep now and don't wake up until July 1, 2010, then go ahead," James said. "It's going to be a big day."
It was all New Yorkers had to hear.
James' words were taken as a promise that he was coming ... as reassurance that all was well ... as a message to NBA commissioner David Stern that the world headquarters of LeBron, Inc. would soon be located just down the block.
Two months later -- in the locker room before Monday's Cavaliers-Lakers game -- James was asked about his plans in 2010.
"The question hasn't come up in a long time," LeBron said earlier this week, teasing again. "... The further and further I get away from New York, the question kind of goes away."
Good answer.
Everybody laughed, except maybe the Cavaliers, who would have preferred an etched-in-stone declaration of career-long devotion to the franchise James has lifted to unimaginable heights in only six seasons.
But if Cleveland coach Mike Brown is worried about ever losing his mega-star, however, it does not show.
"People ask me, 'What's going to happen in 2010?'" Brown said. "[But] we're ... building this organization for the long haul, not just so LeBron James stays here. We're building this organization so everybody wants to be a part of it, from custodial workers to secretaries to the [team] president."
At the same time, Brown insists he is not going to worry about it. "A lot of things can happen before 2010. So there's really nothing, in my mind, to talk about," he said.
Onetime Jazz point guard Mo Williams was acquired by the Cavs during the offseason to help make James' life in Cleveland a little easier.
A talented scorer, Williams' presence means James does not have to produce 40 points every night for the Cavs to win games and, in the long run, compete for a championship.
"To be honest, we don't talk about [2010]," Williams said. "It's not a topic of conversation -- not at all."
As far as James' comments in New York, Williams shrugged. "He has to answer those type of questions and that's just LeBron. He gives honest opinions," he said.
One thing about James that everybody does know: He's playing the best basketball of his life.
Unstoppable on offense. A stone wall on defense. The best player on one of the best teams in the world.
The MVP, perhaps.
Said Brown: "Obviously, you have to throw Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade into that conversation. And Tim Duncan into that conversation. And obviously a maturing Dwight Howard. There are some players that a lot of people would argue about. But me personally, I'm a LeBron James fan. I look at him as being the best player in the league. But I might be a little biased."
Laker coach Phil Jackson refuses to get into the MVP debate, but he calls James "... one of the top players who has ever played. The way he's going, he'll be ranked up there in the top five or top 10 players ever in this game."
Williams calls James' abilities "overwhelming. More than I thought. I expected the best and I've got the best and then some. So I'm rolling. I rolling with this circus. I'm definitely having the best time of my life as a professional athlete."
Another teammate, Sasha Pavlovic, has spent five seasons with James.
"He's a great guy and that's why he's a great player," Pavlovic said. "He is great with everybody -- off the court and on the court -- and that's why the guys love to play with him ..."
The question now is whether James, an Ohio native, loves Cleveland and playing with his teammates enough to stick around and perhaps lead the Cavs to an NBA championship or two.
A question that may not be answered for another year, at least.