Some time before they decide what they are going to do with their individual careers, potential free agents LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson and Amare' Stoudemire are supposed to get together and talk about it.
LeBron James watches the Cleveland Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown on Saturday at the Time Warner Cable Amphitheater at Tower City.Cleveland, Ohio -- Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat said last week that he, the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James and the Atlanta Hawks' Joe Johnson would gather some time soon to discuss their potential free agencies.
Within a day or two, news broke that the Toronto Raptors' Chris Bosh was to be included, and not to be left out of things, the Suns' Amare' Stoudemire chirped "Me, too," after Phoenix was vanquished from the playoffs by the Los Angeles Lakers.
"Summit" is the operative word for the event that maybe, just maybe, falls a tad short in magnitude of the FDR-Churchill-Stalin Yalta meeting that would divvy up the post-World War II map.
Michael Ventre writes on, fittingly, the "Trash Talk" blog for NBCSports.com that the superstar lovefest is unlikely to alter the course of world history:
What, no Matt Barnes?
Here is what I think will happen:
They’ll meet. They’ll ask for a show of hands as to which player among them would be willing to give up an extra $30 million in order to go play on a team where one of the others will indeed have signed a contract for that extra $30 million. Nobody will raise his hand. Everybody will stay put.
Cavs coverage
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Gone international
Even Merinews.com in India has its thoughts about LeBron James and his potential free agency:
Greatness isn't measured by numbers alone. If that was the case, Wilt and not Jordan would have been the greatest.
Someone who has a legit claim to being the best player of all time and is given a free hand to pick his team and his coach has absolutley no ground to justify moving to a new team. Except that he just isn't good enough to deliver a championship on his own. And if he can't do that, then it's time to stop making the Jordan comparisons.
LeBron James can take the easy way out or he can stay at Cleveland and continue to chase Jordan. If he is not doing that, then I am not interested anymore. We were interested in seeing (possibly) the greatest player ever. Not another wannabe Jordan who couldn't stay the course.
Never boring
Bob Finnan writes for the News Herald and Lorain Morning Journal that whether James stays in Cleveland or not, covering James and the Cavs has been fun for Finnan:
I'm not going to sit here and tell you where he'll land. It could be in Cleveland. Heck, he could sign with the Los Angeles Clippers for all I know.
Anyone that tells you they know where he'll sign is lying.
I don't think James knows right now.
But if he decides he wants to play elsewhere next year, I'll tell you it's not going to be the same for me, either.
I don't want to sound like a homer here, but it was an unbelievable ride.
Kind of there
Kenny Roda wrote in his blog for ESPNCleveland.com about the mood on Saturday night when James judged the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest at the Rib Cook Off.
He was almost an hour late. Looked like he didn’t want to be there. Didn’t do much, but then again, he really didn’t try.
When it was over, he exited and left you asking yourself, what was that? Tom Withers from the Associated Press and Marla Ridenour from the Akron Beacon Journal and I talked about the best way to describe LeBron’s first public appearance, since the series ending, game #6 loss to the Celtics. We decided that the two best words to describe it were, “Awkward Reunion”! Nobody quite knew what to do or say, especially since LeBron wouldn’t answer any questions from us or anybody.
Mavs strategy?
Dirk Nowitzki has said that he intends to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Dallas Mavericks and become a free agent. Observers believe, though, that Nowitzki will stay in Dallas, and that his opt-out might be a way for Dallas to land a major free agent and still keep him.
Writes Marc Stein for ESPN.com:
Team sources indicate the Mavs' new No. 1 goal -- since they concede that an extension before July 1 is highly unlikely -- is securing a verbal commitment from their franchise player on the first day of free agency. A quick commitment from Nowitzki is crucial to the Mavs' hopes of convincing LeBron James or anyone else of prominence to press for a subsequent sign-and-trade to Dallas, since the opportunity to play with Nowitzki is the Mavericks' No. 1 selling point to prospective newcomers.
"Dirk can opt out," one source said, "but the Mavs can already have basically agreed on a deal with him when he does."
Crowded
Where LeBron James goes, his entourage follows. Marc Berman writes about some of the people around James - including some who might influence his decisions - for the New York Post:
The Knicks’ biggest fear is the Akron inner circle might feel New York is too big, too overwhelming.
One good sign is Mims, onstage with James at the BET Awards last September, donned an “I Love NY” T-shirt and a Yankees hat. And “The Four Horsemen” were on the side of the stage when Jay-Z played Cleveland last year, going berserk to “Empire State of Mind.”
On the flip side, Carter told a confidant last season that he felt visiting the Garden twice a year was exhilarating, but playing there 41 times a season might be too crazy.
“LeBron does listen to Maverick but does listen to others,” Bissinger said. “But LeBron will ultimately listen to himself.”