"Lebron James Declines Knicks Offer"

The serpent played tricks run game like the Knicks
Build you up just to lose the championship

-Lauryn Hill

As a Knicks fan I know that the headline above is supposed to be my worst nightmare. It would mean that everything that Donnie Walsh and his staff have done has gone for naught. I am supposed to be excited by the team's recent moves which puts them in better position to contend for 2010's vaunted free-agent class that includes, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, and Lebron James. Trades that sent the team's top two scorers, Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph, to the Warriors and Clippers respectively were to be readily accepted because in two years, Lebron James might be donning a Knicks uniform. So what if it means that hard-working Knicks fans will have to stomach two years of watching a rotating cast of lame-duck players--in two years we may get a chance to bear witness to King James on a nightly basis. And of course since sportscasters, other NBA players, and many sports writers see it as a foregone conclusion that Lebron James will be a Knick in two years, all of this maneuvering by the Knicks makes sense--and not only does it make sense for them, but it also makes sense for the league because the NBA's marquee franchise in its marquee city will be home to its marquee player.

However, as a basketball fan, nothing would make me happier than seeing James resign with the Cleveland Cavaliers. For one, all that a person needs to do is look at Yankees star Alex Rodriguez to see what happens when a superstar moves to New York. Superstars don't start winning championships overnight. Instead what happens is that their personal lives suddenly become fodder for the endless media outlets that their agents and marketing reps told them they needed in order to expand their brand reach. As a matter of fact, isn't the whole idea that one needs to be in either New York or LA to be more marketable a dated concept?

The other story line is that James's arrival would restore the Knicks to glory? What glory? Last time I checked the rafters, the Celtics and Lakers were the NBA's winningest franchises, and even less "storied" franchises like the Bulls, Pistons and Spurs have more championships than the Knicks, many of them coming at the expense of the Knicks. Lest we forget, Michael "Double Nickel" Jordan, the player to whom James is often compared solidied his legend by repeatedly downing the Knicks, often on their home court. Moreover, as any basketball historian can attest, there's a thin line between Bob McAdoo and Michael Jordan. A phenomenal player in his own right, tafter an auspicious start with the Buffalo Braves, McAdoo was beset by injuries during the latter half of his career which included a stint with the Knicks.

And as tonight's game between the Cavaliers and Knicks will undoubtedly prove, basketball fans don't need Lebron James to be a Knick in order to get reinvigorated by the NBA, what we need is for the Knicks to be better so that there's more drama when Lebron, Kobe or D-Wade comes into town and beats them at the garden. Sure, given their current plan, James's arrival would make the Knicks better, but I'm far less certain that it would make Lebron any better.

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Comments

[Ferentz]

Nommo, I can't believe that you don't think Guy Ritchie II, ahem, I mean A-Rod isn't a marquee player. He's the quarter billion dollar man. The future home run king.

I'd trade him for some pitching and a third baseman too...in fact isn't that what all his former teams have done?

[Nommo]

LOL! Are you suggesting that George stayed a couple of years too long? As for all those homeruns,
they've been hardly noticeable. For all his marqueeness, how much has he done that is memorable? He doesn't even have a Bucky Dent moment! A Jeter flip. Gooden and Strawberry did more in their short Yankee time. Ferentz, fandom is a mysterious thing, some go this way and some go that way, but ARod fans gotta go all the way. That level of fandom requires some reaching.

For all that moolah, he should have at least one Guidry '78 season. Just one.

[Ferentz]

Nommo, I think the Rodriguez analogy is viable. Granted, an individual player does not have as much power to impact a baseball game as a basketball game, so in that sense Rodriguez's prowess as a stat machine, as well as has hit notable post-season flops mean that he's no Lebron. That said, Rodriguez and James do compare very well in that they are their game's marquee players and were a James defection to NY to happen, they both would have arrived in NY during their primes.

I agree with you that this Knicks management still has a long ways to go before they could prove themselves as competent.

Moreover, what few people are talking about is that the only time in recent memory that this build a franchise overnight approach has worked in the NBA is with Shaq when he bolted for the Lakers in '96 and again when he was traded to Miami in 2005. In both cases he was joined by superstars Wade and Bryant. I'm not convinced that a Lebron/Bosh or Lebron/Amare duo will automatically put the Knicks over the top in 2010--especially if the Lakers are rolling out Kobe/Gasol/Bynum.

Even players like Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett joined teams that already had at least one all-star player.

[Nommo]

Let me just state that at no time was Rodriguez a marquee player. He is not one now Baseball is full of clutch and exciting players who rise to the moment. He has been a waste and I'd just as soon see his salary pay for a real third baseman and a couple of pitchers. There is no way he compares with LeBron in any context, Lebron does not boot the routine play.

I'd just as soon see LeBron getting the kind of help that the Cavalier's management seems to now comprehend that he needs. I would hate to see him get caught up in the MSG shenanigans. I saw him drop 50 on the Knicks last season at a relatively empty and quiet MSG and would love to see him play here, no question. Just not with the current ownership or management.

By the way, I am not looking for the overnight turnaround.

[Jalylah]

I used to be a Knick fan, back in the days of John Starks, but Patrick Ewing always blew his damn fade away shot at the end of their battles with the Bulls. He was like the anti-clutch player and since then I could give a damn about the Knicks 'cause they have proven time and time again that they ain't got heart.

Lebron, I love, and I think it was the smartest move ever to stay home and play for the Cavs. Why not rep your community!?

[Nommo]

I am not so sure that the Alex Rodriguez analogy works here. It isn't as if he had done anything but compile stats before he came to NY. He did not win in Seattle or Texas, folded under pressure in those places as he has done here. The Knicks suffer from stupid management from the top down. That is one reason that LeBron should stay in Cleveland, or at least not come to NY. I don't have any doubt about his thriving in NYC, he has certainly shown a lot for a player right out of high school. You'd just hate to see all of that wasted on that sinkhole that the Knicks have become.

To be sure, I am a life long Knick fan.