There's no escaping LBJ questions ... especially if you're a potential new teammate in Chicago. Right, Derrick Rose?
LeBron James' first public appearance since the end of the Cavaliers' season came Saturday night at a dunk competition during the rib burnoff at Tower City. James judged the competition with former NBA star Darryl Dawkins -- and no announcements were made.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Even high-profile players under contract are getting drawn into the NBA's free-agent mania.
Bulls point guard Derrick Rose spent more than two hours signing autographs at an auto dealership outside Chicago on Friday night, reported Scott Powers of ESPNChicago.com, and Rose repeatedly had to answer questions about LeBron James.
Maybe prompted by earlier unfounded -- and illogical -- rumors that Bulls legend and Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan had escorted a house-scouting James around Chicago, one fan asked Rose if James had been in Chicago for a week and stayed at Rose's house.
Rose shook his head and smiled, Powers wrote, as he autographed the fan's poster.
The Bulls are one of the teams with the salary cap space to chase James, the Raptors' Chris Bosh, the Hawks' Joe Johnson and the Heat's Dwyane Wade when they become unrestricted free agents on July 1.
Powers asked Rose if he and James had talked recently. Rose replied: "No, no, that's not true. Don't believe none of that. Don't believe none of that, man."
When Powers asked how the Bulls intend to improve, the second-year star said, "By getting the free agents we're supposed to be getting."
Powers did not report which free agents Rose was referring to, nor what Rose meant by "supposed to be getting."
• Michael Jordan, even when his salary with Chicago dropped out of the NBA's top 10, remained committed to the Bulls, in part by accepting the advice of his agent, David Falk.
The Cavaliers, of course, can offer James more money than any other team, so his compensation considerations are not similar to any issues Jordan may have had. Regardless, Falk believes it's probably best for James to stay in Cleveland.
Falk made this point, among others, to Frank Hughes of Sports Illustrated's SI.com:
"I am a big LeBron James fan. But he needs to decide what he wants to do. He has all of the power. If he doesn't want to stay, fine. If he wants to go, then go. But tell Cleveland that and work with them to make it happen in the best fashion for everybody. The lack of dialogue is, to me, confusing and illogical.
"I don't think the people around him understand that. I don't think they understand that if LeBron James leaves Cleveland he will be a pariah, he will be a Benedict Arnold. I don't think he understands the implications of his decision. If he leaves, Cleveland's economy is going to tank, he is that important.
"He is in a unique situation. Do you think if Dwyane Wade leaves Miami and goes back to Chicago anybody in Miami is going to hold it against him? But if LeBron James leaves Cleveland and goes somewhere else he will be a pariah in the entire state of Ohio."
• Kent State students Austin Briggs and Brittany Neal have founded the company Pleasedontleave23.com -- in reference to James' No. 23 -- as part of a class in entrepreneurship at the school.
There's more to this project than getting good grades for the duo. They are passionate, too, as the Web site makes apparent.
Briggs has turned his customized 1987 Cutlass Supreme into the "Witness Mobile." The vehicle's hood is used as an oversized petition for James' fans to sign, while the trunk is reserved for the signatures of local celebrities and politicians.
Among the events Briggs will bring the car to is a meeting of the Akron-based "Grandmothers for LeBron" fan club. From June 11 to 29, the "Witness Mobile" will be on display at the Visitors Center of Positively Cleveland (the convention and visitors bureau) at 100 Public Square in the Higbee Building, where fans can sign the car/petition.