Is LeBron James Going to the New York Knicks?

Will LeBron James be in a New York Knicks jersey next season? That question was being asked even before the Cleveland Cavaliers were unceremoniously trounced by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Celtics won the last three games of the series to send James home for the season, ending his bid to win a first NBA championship and opening up the floodgate of mindless banter on the subject. Alas, mindless banter is one of my specialties so I too will join the maelstrom and talk a bit about where Lebron might end up next year.

In Cleveland, LBJ has created a doomsday clock counting down to July 1, the beginning of free agency, that has stoked more fear than the presidential campaign commercial for that other LBJ in 1964, featuring a girl picking daisies before a countdown is aired and a nuclear explosion goes off in the distance.

Putting Failure in Perspective

As great as LeBron is, he has found out the hard way that in the NBA a single player cannot win a championship. He could look to Allen Iverson, Kobe in his between Shaq and Gasol years, good buddy Dwayne Wade now Shaq-less in Miami, and more in the last decade alone for verification of that simple fact.

There was no choking by LeBron during the playoffs, there was no failure to perform or colossal no-show on his part. The man averaged 29.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 50.2% shooting from the field.

In the series against the Celtics, where the world freaked out because he had a bad shooting night or two, he still averaged 26.8 points per game, 9.3 rebounds and 7.2 assists with 44.7% shooting. Wow, if only every other superstar in the league could have colossal no-shows like he does.

LeBron to the Knicks?

One of the assumptions that many in the media has taken for the past year is that the pull of the Big Apple and its massive media market and basketball culture will inevitably bring LeBron to New York.

Coupled with the fact that New York has cleared enough cap space to bring in not just LeBron, but another major free agent as well, and Knicks fans have been waiting to celebrate. They even took to cheering James when he annually trounces the home team at Madison Square Garden once or twice per season. Every Yankees cap that James wore, every comment about loving the Garden, it all fueled the speculation that this inevitably would transpire.

But I don't buy the whole "big market" argument. I'm sorry, but is LeBron James not the biggest star in the NBA right now? Is there any sporting fan, or consumer of sporting goods, men's athletic shoes or so forth anywhere in the United States that does not know who LeBron is? Will he somehow earn more money from Nike by playing in New York?

The guy signed a $90 million shoe deal before he ever played a professional game. The guy is an icon, we are all just "witnesses", remember? So while LeBron might be drawn to the lifestyle of New York, a massive media market and increased earnings has absolutely zero to do with anything.

The number 1 issue for LeBron is being someplace he can win, as he has recently said himself. The best chance he has for winning is certainly not in New York, where even if two max contracts were brought in with LeBron and say, Chris Bosh, there wouldn't be enough money left over to get me playing at point guard.

His best chance to win immediately probably is with the Chicago Bulls. However, I do not think LeBron wants to be there, carrying on and battling the legacy of Michael Jordan, instead of forging his own.

That leaves staying in Cleveland as the frontrunner in my mind still. But Cleveland will need to find a way, through a sign and trade or another clever deal, to bring in a big flight free agent to join him, whether it's Dirk Nowitzki, Joe Johnson or another player that could complement James and is ideally a superb number 2 option as opposed to the standalone player on a team.

As for the New York Knicks? Get ready to overpay for your second or third choice, as per usual. You'll land a big free agent this summer, but it will not be LeBron James.

Sources:

Stats from ESPN.com, http://espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=1966

Daisy TV Commercial, http://www.conelrad.com/daisy/interview.php

Lebron's Nike Deal, http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2003/05/26/daily38.html

Lebron to New York Rumors, http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-100513/daily-dime