{"id":1411,"date":"2010-04-21T07:05:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-21T07:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/sports\/what-does-this-nba-playoffs-mean-for-lebron-james\/"},"modified":"2010-04-21T07:05:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-21T07:05:00","slug":"what-does-this-nba-playoffs-mean-for-lebron-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/what-does-this-nba-playoffs-mean-for-lebron-james","title":{"rendered":"What Does This NBA Playoffs Mean For LeBron James?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s an elephant in the room of these NBA Playoffs.  <\/span>No, I\u2019m not talking about KG\u2019s decent from tragic-hero to evil-villain.  <\/span>No, I\u2019m not talking about how terrible Ron Artest\u2019s hair looks.   <\/span>And no I\u2019m not talking about Kenyon Martin\u2019s secret popcorn fetish.  <\/span>The long-awaited summer of 2010 is approaching.  <\/span>Like 2012 to the Mayans, this summer is when one city finds out if it is actually the end of the world. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Obviously I\u2019m talking about the impending tragedy where the Lakers will lose Adam Morrison.  <\/span>I mean sure he\u2019s a \u201crestricted\u201d free-agent, but what if he leaves?  <\/span>It\u2019s too heartbreaking to talk about.  <\/span>So I guess we\u2019ll talk about LeBron instead.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of questions marks about where LeBron will go.  <\/span>Will it matter what Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade do?  <\/span>Is Yao Ming the sleeper X-factor (if you want to make a billion dollars you need China, anyone that plays with the Yaoster will immediately sell 50% more shoes in the world\u2019s most populous loan shark)?  <\/span>Isn\u2019t that a bigger factor than people realize?<\/p>\n

But my real question is: Would winning an NBA Championship this year make LeBron more (or less) likely to stay in Cleveland?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my underlying premise: LeBron is an Ohio kid.  <\/span>Ignore the Dallas Cowboy and New York Yankee hats, he understands what it\u2019s like to live in Cleveland.  <\/span>Surely it\u2019s horrid to live in Cleveland  <\/span>(because the premise of this column already pisses off the entire state of Ohio, I figure I\u2019ve got nothing left to lose, so it\u2019s free reign to continue to insult).  <\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

LeBron wants to do right by his home-state.  <\/span>He knows how jinxed the city is and he wants to bring in a championship.   <\/span>So I\u2019m willing to bet that since the Cavs have proven their willingness to try and win it all, and since he doesn\u2019t feel like he can leave without finishing the task, then LBJ doesn\u2019t leave without a ring in Cleveland.  <\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

BUT\u2026what if he wins in June?  <\/span>Doesn\u2019t that free him up to go where he pleases?  <\/span>Like sleeping with your high-school sweetheart first so that when you go off to college you can make your way through half of Delta Delta Delta.  <\/span>If LeBron brings Cleveland their only championship in a half-century doesn\u2019t he then have a \u201cfree pass\u201d to go somewhere better?  <\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard the arguments: \u201cwinning in Cleveland will keep him there,\u201d \u201conce he sees how happy they are about the Championship he\u2019ll want to stay,\u201d \u201cLeBron\u2019s so cool, he makes Cleveland tolerable.\u201d  <\/span>I immediately reject all of them, especially because nothing can make Cleveland tolerable (Ed note: his email address is ryan@lbpostsports.com get it right when you send the hate-mail.)  <\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

I truly believe that an NBA Championship in Cleveland is just a launching pad, it confirms His rightful place at the top.  <\/span>Any victory celebration there only whets his appetite for a main course- a Championship in a place that really matters.  <\/span>He\u2019s seen what a Lakers victory parade looks like, he knows Cleveland will never be able to match that.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

For a media mogul (and LeBron is nothing short of that), Cleveland is small potatoes.  <\/span>Think about what cities are out there- New York, Chicago, LA (I\u2019m not judging the teams just the cities).  <\/span>If you had a business that you wanted to take to the big time would you launch it in one of the biggest cities in Ohio or in one of the biggest cities in the world?  <\/span>Again, I don\u2019t think he leaves if he doesn\u2019t win it all, but if he does win it all, then I think he\u2019s free to move on to the big time.  <\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t the Brooklyn Nets- with their billionaire owner and their just-outside-of-Manhattan-arena be appealing before we include the Jay-Z aspect?    <\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

There\u2019s the obvious rebuilding project in midtown.  <\/span>It\u2019s easy to dismiss the Knicks offhand but are they really any worse off than Cleveland was when he first ended up there?<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard the delusional Clipper fans, and there are a lot of reasons they could be a realistic destination.  <\/span>Of course the biggest argument against them is that LeBron really likes his knees.  <\/span>I mean he uses them practically every day, and history has shown us that any talented player that becomes a Clipper immediately has to give up his knees to the Gods.  <\/span>Sad but true.  <\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

He could live in Jordan\u2019s shadow in Chicago or in Charlotte.  <\/span>He could go down to Texas where any of the three teams could immediately surround him with Championship talent.  <\/span>He could join D-Wade in Miami.   <\/span>My point is: his options are limitless.  <\/span>If that team doesn\u2019t have cap room, he simply orchestrates a sign-and-trade.  <\/span>If that team doesn\u2019t have the talent, he brings it with him.  <\/span>If that team is Cleveland, he\u2019s been-there and done-that.  <\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

Winning a Championship in Cleveland would be for them; moving on and winning one somewhere else would be for him.  <\/span>Every city in the league (with the exception of Milwaukee) would offer his off-the-court career a boost.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But\u2026wait, Cleveland fans, earmuffs please\u2026.ok, here\u2019s something I don\u2019t really want to get out right now: I want him to stay.  <\/span>I was serious, I think trying to break the Cleveland curse is enough to keep LeBron there and I think once its broken he\u2019ll feel like his work is done, but I want him to stay.  <\/span>There\u2019s something nice about an athlete choosing their home town.  <\/span>And there\u2019d be no other reason to choose Cleveland other than the home-town factor.  <\/span>Even in pursuit of a billion, a person choosing to stay is refreshing.  <\/span>KG, back when we liked him, had to leave the small market.  <\/span>Kobe, even as a Laker, strongly considered switching to the Clippers.  <\/span>Jordan was already in a big city.  <\/span>No one of LeBron\u2019s stature has ever played in an NBA small market for their entire careers.  <\/span>It would be remarkable to say the least.  <\/span>In fact, that kind of thing might make me want to buy shoes (hint hint Nike.)  <\/span><\/o:p><\/p>\n

There\u2019s going to be more and more speculation the longer the Cavs last in the playoffs, but Cleveland fans might not realize that their team making it til June might be hurting them in the long-run. While it\u2019s probably true that it\u2019s tougher to repeat than to win the first, once you\u2019ve got the first it might be toughest to ignore the greener pastures.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this episode of Couch Commentary, there\u2019s an elephant in the room of these NBA Playoffs. Would winning an NBA Championship this year make LeBron more (or less) likely to stay in Cleveland?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1411"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=1411"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}