A high-profile Knicks fan believes James belongs in Cleveland.
Rapper and Knicks fan Chuck D is a supporter of LeBron James returning to the Cavaliers: "I love LeBron James' attitude. I love his sense of history. And I love what he means to Ohio and Cleveland. My thing is, just try harder (to win a title)."(Chasing down rumors about LeBron James' basketball future could be a full-time job. Now it's my full-time job. Just call me The Rumor Monger. Every day we'll compile a list of the rumors we're hearing about James and his next contract. Just remember these are just rumors, not necessarily facts. It's going to be a long and rough ride, Cavs fans. Buckle up. -- Mary Schmitt Boyer)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Public Enemy's Chuck D tells The Plain Dealer's John Soeder he thinks LeBron James should stay in Cleveland -- even though the outspoken rapper is a Knicks fan.
"If he comes to the black hole of New York, he'll never win," Chuck D told Soeder in an interview to promote Sunday's 8 p.m. concert at the House of Blues. "It ain't an easy thing, winning a championship, so ... don't think it's going to come any easier.
"What, he's 25? Come on, now! Who says he has to win a championship? Whatever happened to try harder, the old Avis slogan? Try harder!
"I think LeBron James is the best thing to ever happen to basketball. Not because of his game. Because of his attitude. We need more dudes in rap who really care about the history.
"I love LeBron James' attitude. I love his sense of history. And I love what he means to Ohio and Cleveland. My thing is, just try harder.
"At the end of the day, it's only going be one champion. Everybody [else] is going to lose, so he shouldn't be down on himself. Kobe [Bryant] had to get over a hump. The Lakers had to get over a hump, all that you-don't-have-Shaq stuff. That's the way it goes.
"When LeBron James is at the hot twilight of his career, like a Kevin Garnett, maybe it'll be warranted to leave Ohio and Cleveland, because he gave it all he got. But when you start off playing at 18, you can't say, 'I gave it all I got.' Those first few years really don't count.
"Now you're 25. Give it five or six more years, and make it happen, dude!"
'Watch for Soeder's story on Chuck D and Public Enemy in Friday magazine.
• Fredrick Peters, founder and president of Pizza Pan Inc., the largest independent pizza chain in Cleveland, is offering James as many Pizza Pan franchises as he'd like for free as an enticement to stay with the Cavs.
"Pizza Pan is committed to the success of Cleveland, and we know that you are as well," Peters wrote in an email to The Plain Dealer.
• The defending Frontier League champion Lake Erie Crushers will offer James a max contract -- of $1,600 a month -- on Keep LBJ in the C-L-E Night on June 30 at All Pro Freight Stadium. The team will also supply James a host family to eliminate the stress of the commute from the Akron area to Avon.
On Keep LBJ in the C-L-E night, the Crushers also will offer James a luxury suite in which he and other pending NBA free agents can hold a summit. The Crushers have the ability to offer up to three max contracts to free agents at this juncture.
The team will don special Cavaliers-themed Crushers jerseys, and all Crushers players will wear No. 6 to honor James' upcoming switch. The jerseys will be auctioned following the game. If James is in attendance -- not likely -- the money will be donated to the LeBron James Family Foundation.
The Crushers also will rename the playing surface LeBron James Field at All Pro Freight Stadium to commemorate the evening. The first 1,000 fans to arrive at the stadium will receive free T-shirts with the replica Cavaliers/Crushers logo on the front. The Crushers will offer $6 home box tickets to fans sporting Cavs gear and free tickets to anyone with the first name LeBron.
• Hockey star Mark Messier left his hometown of Edmonton, went to New York and became a Rangers legend, helping the team break its championship curse. He tells New York Post reporter Marc Berman James can do the same thing.
"It will be up to him what kind of challenge he needs at this point of his career," said Messier, who left Edmonton at age 30 in 1991. "I know he will be disappointed he hasn't brought a championship to Cleveland, that will weigh heavily on him. But the opportunity to play in New York City and being a champion for a storied franchise is also going to be tremendously appealing. There'll be other great offers from all the teams when he goes on tour, but in the end, I can't imagine it being better than New York."
• In what could be the most far-fetched idea I've heard so far -- and that's saying something -- Sam Smith of bulls.com writes about a scenario that could take James to Minnesota. For real.
"The talk is the Timberwolves intend to be very aggressive with their cap space and not accept some veteran or modest talent under the assumption no free agent would go there. As it was pointed out to me, Brett Favre went there because it was a better chance to win. And Favre left New York to go to Minnesota, whose sports teams, including the Twins, have a successful track record and supportive fan base.
"The thinking goes like this: The Timberwolves have three firsts and seem willing to part with Al Jefferson, a post-up inside player, or Kevin Love. Say Jefferson is in greater demand because he is a bigger scorer. They offer Jefferson and their three firsts, including No. 4, to Denver for Carmelo Anthony. Denver has an aging group with Kenyon Martin and Chauncey Billups and likely is headed down. Here's a chance to recoup fast at a time they easily could lose Anthony in a year. So they get a potential star center and a top five pick to build a better core. And maybe pick up something for their veterans as they seem to have peaked.
"And Minnesota has Jonny Flynn, Love, Darko Milicic and Corey Brewer and goes for LeBron and even maybe works a sign and trade by getting Ricky Rubio to the Cavs and also LeBron out of the conference.
"Far fetched? Sure, but you never say never in the NBA, and perhaps more significantly, it suggests the bidding for James is hardly going to be among just the four or five teams who gutted their rosters for cap room."