Like the Godfather sitting in his chair awaiting his subjects to bow and humbly present their needs to him, LeBron James is parked comfortably in Northeast Ohio as the teams drooling over him — Miami, Chicago, New York, New Jersey the LA Clippers — try to serenade him with sweet offers and recruit him to their teams. But it may be a waste of time since James has his mind already made up, media reports state.
Despite going through the perfunctory free agency motions, LeBron James is pretty much a Chicago Bull already, writes the New York Times.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an NBA executive says James has developed extremely strong feelings towards the Windy City as his next place of residence because of the irresistible package the team offers.
The Times reports that James loves the prospect of joining the team that Michael Jordan (and Scottie Pippen) built because of its strong, young nucleus of stars that include sensational point guard Derrick Rose and towering scrappy big man Joakim Noah. But what put the deal over the top is the soon-to-be acquisition of underrated and under-appreciated superstar Chris Bosh, a player who has been relegated to NBA purgatory in Toronto for the balance of his career.
“I think it’s a done deal,” the executive told the Times’ Johnathan Abrams.
James is going to proceed with meetings for teams in Akron, Ohio, anyway to “to be respectful to all these teams who jumped through these hoops,” to get James’ talents. Most notably is the New York Knicks, who traded up-and-coming stars like Jamal Crawford in a bold and very public attempt to clear salary space to acquire James’ services. The LA Clippers and New Jersey Nets have also unleashed their own multi-pronged campaigns to woo James.
But James made it clear he is making a basketball decision only. James disappointed the mayors and executives of cities when he declined to go to the cities in desperate need of him, thereby robbing them of the opportunity to woo him with the pomp and circumstance of their cities.
“[James] is going to make a basketball decision, so all that is unnecessary,” the executive said. “He just saved a lot of people a lot of money.” –terry shropshire
