Most everyone, it seems, has an opinion on what LeBron James will announce Thursday night on national television. Many aren't especially impressed about the way he's going about it.
LeBron James: The look of someone who knows something.Cleveland, Ohio -- So, Thursday night, LeBron James and ESPN will collaborate to let the world know where the NBA's two-time MVP will play basketball beginning this fall.
Will James stay with the Cavaliers or join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat? Other candidates to land James are the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets. The other team James met with last week, the Los Angeles Clippers, seemed themselves amused to be part of the conversation, with virtually no chance of getting James.
There is no shortage of opinion on what James will announce, nor on how he's conducting the process, choosing to cap it with an hour-long special after orchestrating the wait with his new twitter and website teasings.
As always, follow James and the Cavaliers on The Plain Dealer's cleveland.com website, specifically on cleveland.com/cavs.
Ian Thomsen writes for Sports Illustrated's SI.com one of the more common sentiments about James' pending nationally-televised decision:
If James is planning to leave his hometown, one of the cruelest ways to break the news would be via a one-hour TV special to celebrate his exit.
James has managed his image as well as any young NBA player since Michael Jordan. He has to understand how badly he would alienate fans not only throughout the country but also in his hometown if he were to abandon Cleveland in this way. For someone of his unique commercial standing, taking out an hour of live TV makes sense only if he's going to declare loyalty to his hometown and celebrate his desire above all else to win a championship for Cleveland. An announcement like this is meant to help James' image -- not damage him -- which is why I view it as a sign he'll remain with the Cavaliers.
Second that opinion
For the New York Post reporter Mike Vaccaro, James' ESPN show means this:
Mostly, it’s starting to feel like what LeBron wants most of all is to stay home. Let’s be very clear about something: If he’s gone to the trouble to reserve an hour on ESPN all so he can humiliate his hometown on national television and go elsewhere . . . well, maybe he won’t immediately become more detested than Tiger Woods in the pantheon of athletic shame (everywhere outside of his chosen city, of course), but he’ll run an awfully close second.
Sell the "brand"
The marketing of sports stars took off with Michael Jordan. Even then, it was nothing like now, writes Dan Le Batard for the Miami Herald:
Jordan was the first to really brand in basketball. But he gave birth to quite the monster, and his insatiable descendants appear to be gluttons. So Chris Bosh teases on Twitter, and Dwyane Wade hires a film crew to do a documentary as he flirts with fans, and LeBron James trumps them with a one-hour special Thursday night on ESPN to televise the merging of sports and entertainment in a way we've never quite seen before.
Cheap shot
Before getting to the point of his story, Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News delivers a low blow to Akron, James hometown:
Akron, Ohio is nobody's idea of an ideal summer destination, but this summer is a little bit different, as you might have heard.
Beautiful Akron is where the Knicks should be right now, with Amar'e Stoudemire in tow, helping to recruit LeBron James.
Here or there
A report from Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears for Yahoo! Sports includes:
Said an official with one team that made a formal presentation to James: “It’s down to Cleveland or Miami for him.”
The three players shared a call after midnight on Wednesday, when Wade and Bosh told James they were committing to the Heat, a source said. James didn’t commit with them, but kept his own plans private for a television announcement on Thursday night.
Elsewhere.....
Rotary dial phones were still common when Michael Jordan (left), here going against the Cavaliers' Brad Daugherty, became a marketing giant.LeBron James would have a tough time filling Michael Jordan's shoes, writes Lacy J. Banks for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Sean Deveney writes on SportingNews.com about ramifications of the Wade-Bosh pairing in Miami, including what it might mean about James' decision.
On CBSSports.com, Ken Berger writes about Miami's hopes of James joining Wade and Bosh.
J.A. Adande writes for ESPN.com about how James' and other free agency decisions are being made in the social networking era.
The New York Post's Mike Vaccaro gives another opinion on what James might do.
A "Dear LeBron" letter by Greg Cote of the Miami Herald asks James to join the Heat.
James is taking self-importance to a new level, writes Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Tribune.