Long-time friend of James is one of the best-known unknown powers in the NBA.
William Wesley holds back Ron Artest during the infamous Pacers-Pistons brawl in Auburn Hills, Mich. in 2004.• In favoring the unknown, can Dan Gilbert avoid rolling craps? Bud ShawCLEVELAND, Ohio -- William Wesley has been telling everyone that LeBron James is "leaning hard" toward signing with the Chicago Bulls, according to Yahoo.com's Adrian Wojarnowski.
Um, William Who?
If you don't know Wesley, you don't know how the NBA operates. Wesley, who goes by the nickname of "World Wide Wes" for his ability to seemingly be everywhere, has been called "the most powerful man in basketball" and has been a close confidant of James' since the St Vincent-St. Mary product's high school days.
In a New York Post Q&A with Knicks president Donnie Walsh on Sunday, the executive speculated on Wesley's appeal.
"The players really like him and respect him, so when he speaks to them, they listen. ... He knows the game of basketball, and if they need help, he'll try to help 'em, is all I can tell."
Always somewhat of an enigma, Wesley signed with Creative Artists Agency earlier this year to become an agent for NBA and college coaches. CAA's basketball division is headed by James' agent, Leon Rose. Wesley also is close with Kentucky coach John Calipari, a godfather to former Cavaliers player Dajuan Wagner and is close to Bulls guard Derrick Rose, who played at Memphis when Calipari coached there.
A reported agreement for Boston assistant Tom Thibodeau to coach the Bulls happened only after Thibodeau signed with CAA.
All the connections can be dizzying, but it's enough to indicate that there's a lot of behind-the-scenes negotiating going on. One front-office executive told Yahoo, "I think all the big free-agent deals will be done by July 1, if not the draft. The NBA would have a cow if [it] knew what's going on now."
Is Tom Izzo still at the top of Dan Gilbert's wish list as coach of the Cavaliers? • According to Wojarnowski, the Cavaliers' attempt to retain James in Cleveland hinges on Tom Izzo.
Yahoo! reported that Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, a Michigan State graduate, is "determined to hire away Izzo," the longtime, successful Spartans coach.
Unless, of course, James really does want Calipari to coach the Cavaliers, as many have speculated. In the past, Danny Ferry would temper many of James' desires by standing up to Gilbert, Wojarnowski reported. Now that Ferry's gone?
"As much as anything, the Cavaliers are giving the franchise completely over to James and his inner circle now," Wojarnowski wrote. "Whatever he wants to stay, he'll get. Now, Ferry isn't there to play the wet blanket anymore. He never feared fighting Gilbert on issues because he had stature, money and, truth be told, he didn't need the job."
• Another front-office executive told Wojarnowski that James' disapproval with ousted coach Mike Brown and the departed Ferry was evident by the fact that both are now gone.
"LeBron never had to come out and say that he wanted Brown and Ferry gone," the executive said. "But the anti-Brown and anti-Ferry sentiment from LeBron's crowd was loud and clear to Dan Gilbert. He knew where LeBron stood."
• If James does decide to leave Cleveland, former L.A. Lakers forward James Worthy says The Chosen One will be perceived as a quitter.
"My personal opinion is a lot of times when you lose and you leave, it sounds like a quitter," Worthy told the New York Post. "I would never want to leave without accomplishing the goal.
"He's in the right position to demand what he wants," Worthy said. "He's in a position to tell the team what he wants. If they don't give it to him, I don't think he wants a Kevin Garnett situation where he's there 11 years, 12 years. He's got to ask for the same thing Larry Bird had, Magic had; he needs another Hall of Famer around. But I still see him in Cleveland."
• Meanwhile, James' buddy Jay-Z recognizes that winning is important to the most coveted free agent, and he told Rolling Stone that he won't try to persuade James to come to the New Jersey Nets, where Jay-Z is a part-owner.
"That's his decision," Jay-Z said. "We're friends - we've still gotta hang out! I don't want to convince somebody to do something, then have to see him and say, 'Uh, yeah, we're 4-30 ... sorry.'"