Does he stay or does he go? Bet on the City.

[-Ariel-]

New York has assembled a committee of Donald Trump, Spike Lee, Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Charlie Rose, Mark Messier, Boomer Esiason, Willis Reed, Whoopee Goldberg, and Alec Baldwin to recruit Lebron James.

Cleveland paid homage to Lebron, with the hopes of enticing him to stay, by presenting a professional dance act exhibited in his honor, at a local Cleveland shopping mall.



David Geffen the owner of the Clippers can offer marketing, more entertainment, and an inside track into making Lebron into a larger media giant than he already is.

Miami has Duane Wade, and Pat Riley and the city is trying to seduce him into picking them.

It appears to me, that Lebron does not quite have the same dominant, media seductive personality as Jordan, however in a more interconnected, world where marketing has become more pervasive, this athlete is getting treated more like a greek god in classical greek culture. The interesting take, by Gladwell describing how this is more like a job interview and less draft like, in that each city is courting Lebron, and marketing their city to his personality. It's an interesting phenomena as each city/owner pleads for this relationship.

New York, New Jersey, Miami, Los Angeles, Miami, ensnare him.
July 1 it all starts up and he will probably make a decision within that month. I'm curious...

Where do you think Lebron will end up? The bookie event will be up soon.

Here are the Odds.
LeBron James

Cavaliers -150
Bulls +125
Knicks +250
Nets +400
Heat +600
Clippers +1000

 

[bakemeacookie]

Whoever pays him more. This is alos called a "bidding war". Athletes and agents love this shit lol.

c

 

[nimbus]

i'm not saying they're even close to being the front-runner, but you need to include chicago in your poll

 

[-Ariel-]

Whoever pays him more. This is alos called a "bidding war". Athletes and agents love this shit lol.

c

Thing is, With the cap, Money may not be that large of a determinant. He can only make a certain amount. What makes it interesting though, is what are his criteria?

Championship asap, or would he be more willing to play in a city that offers extracurricular's like marketability, status, and entertaiment? What are the degrees of ratio in his motivations?

Anyway, He's getting as much run, if not more than the Iphone 4?
In the marketable atmosphere that we live in it's kinda interesting.

 

[calveless wonder]

Whoever pays him more. This is alos called a "bidding war". Athletes and agents love this shit lol.

c

need to learn about sports bro

there's a little something called a collective bargaining agreement

all teams with cap space can pay him the same, which is the max for a player of his tenure, except cleveland whichcan give him an extra year and a modest bump in yearly salary.






He's not staying in cleveland. i bet you that.

The bulls seem to be the favorite by the media but they are just pulling shit out of their ass. It's true chicago has the best existing team out of the suitors, but that doesn't mean it's a good fit for him. Rose is a ball control point guard, and james is best with the ball in his hands. That's why dwayne wade and lebron isn't an ideal match. Could they figure it out? probably...but you need to match up lebron with someone who's good off the ball like Bosh or joe johnson...stoudemire also, but not as much as those two guys.


I think bosh goes to miami to play with wade. Lebron? I don't see him going to the bulls to live in the shadow of jordan. He could win 7 rings and still not be as revered as him.

It's not inconceivable that he goes to chicago. I'm going to be a total homer and say the knicks, but i also believe he loves new york and he'd be bigger than derek jeter if he restored basketball in Manhattan. If he wants to be a billionaire, new york is the place to do it.

he is NOT going to the nets. i hear the media saying they have "great pieces" in brook lopez and devin harris. the same guys who won them 12 games last year. If they were in brooklyn NOW....maybe. but it's going to be 2, maybe 3 years before they make that transition. They also didn't help their chances by not getting john wall or evan turner.


So I say the knicks. The bulls a very likely possibility (assuming he doesnt care about being in jordan's shadow, which i dont see), and then the heat.

I also don't see him wanting to play with dwade and sharing his shine. but they have pat riley and miami is the place to be for a millionaire athlete. So i wouldn't be stunned if he signed there.

 

[calveless wonder]

btw david geffen doesn't own the clippers. he wants to buy them but Donald Sterling is not selling the team. and donald sterling is probably the worst owner in sports.

no way does lebron go to LA's second fiddle embarrassment of a team to go compete with kobe. they shouldn't even be in the conversation. I don't even think they have a coach right now

the knicks, nets, heat and bulls are the only team with any sort of chance to sign him.

 

[nimbus]

this whole "jordan's shadow" thing is totally overplayed imo. dude is watching kobe get all these championships and is gonna blow a fuckin gasket if he doesn't get one soon. i think he's off to wherever he thinks he's most likely to get it

 

[-Ariel-]

i'm not saying they're even close to being the front-runner, but you need to include chicago in your poll

Weird I cut and paste this from the copy in Bookie section, which has chicago...

Nimbus you got such an eye for detail. Even with us both running on changeof schedule, latenight/early hour fumes, you spot that shit.

Hell, yeah Obama even pimped that out.

Thanx bro.

 

[bakemeacookie]

need to learn about sports bro

there's a little something called a collective bargaining agreement

yes & no. there are "ways" to offer someone outside the league restriction. Every agent, team and their mother knows how to legally work around those restrictions whne it comes to 100-page contracts

Besides, if every team could only do "$10m per year max" what would the purpose of bargaining. There'd be nothign left to negotiate. He's going to see what team offers him the BEST package all around (# of years, salary, upfront cash, performance bonus, perks, stocks, money to family members, ancillary income, ownership, approval on team decisions, private jets, etc. etc.). THOSE can add up!

c

 

[-Ariel-]

need to learn about sports bro

there's a little something called a collective bargaining agreement

all teams with cap space can pay him the same, which is the max for a player of his tenure, except cleveland whichcan give him an extra year and a modest bump in yearly salary.






He's not staying in cleveland. i bet you that.

The bulls seem to be the favorite by the media but they are just pulling shit out of their ass. It's true chicago has the best existing team out of the suitors, but that doesn't mean it's a good fit for him. Rose is a ball control point guard, and james is best with the ball in his hands. That's why dwayne wade and lebron isn't an ideal match. Could they figure it out? probably...but you need to match up lebron with someone who's good off the ball like Bosh or joe johnson...stoudemire also, but not as much as those two guys.


I think bosh goes to miami to play with wade. Lebron? I don't see him going to the bulls to live in the shadow of jordan. He could win 7 rings and still not be as revered as him.

It's not inconceivable that he goes to chicago. I'm going to be a total homer and say the knicks, but i also believe he loves new york and he'd be bigger than derek jeter if he restored basketball in Manhattan. If he wants to be a billionaire, new york is the place to do it.

he is NOT going to the nets. i hear the media saying they have "great pieces" in brook lopez and devin harris. the same guys who won them 12 games last year. If they were in brooklyn NOW....maybe. but it's going to be 2, maybe 3 years before they make that transition. They also didn't help their chances by not getting john wall or evan turner.


So I say the knicks. The bulls a very likely possibility (assuming he doesnt care about being in jordan's shadow, which i dont see), and then the heat.

I also don't see him wanting to play with dwade and sharing his shine. but they have pat riley and miami is the place to be for a millionaire athlete. So i wouldn't be stunned if he signed there.

I couldn't agree with U more. There is an article by Gladwell that you would love on evaluating talent through statistics in the NBA...hold on I'll dig it up. I think you are right, he's going back and forth mentally on whether he can play with wade and bosh in Miami. He can play with Bosh, but not Wade.
He's gotta know better. They are very close though.

I agree completely. If I get that article lata, I will send it 2 ya.