There’s a simple, make-everyone-happy solution for LeBron James, whose rock and hard place go by the names of loyalty and losing. James, who hails from Akron, Ohio, should sign a one-year contract with the incumbent Cleveland Cavaliers, even though the National Basketball Association’s labor contract allows for a six-year deal. That would be his gift before the goodbye, if needed.
Give the Cavaliers one more season, one more chance. Make it clear that, absent a National Basketball Association championship, there won’t be another reprieve. Fans, local celebrities and elected officials shouldn’t bother asking, pleading or singing hokey songs. It won’t work. Nothing will.
Win or leave home.
Give team owner Dan Gilbert, whose heartache for the downtrodden fans of Cleveland seems sincere, one last opportunity to prove that he and management can figure out what it takes to accumulate the requisite 16 postseason wins. Gilbert understands now that the playoffs are different, and that regular-season wins mean little.
Give one more season with this group and there won’t be a level-headed Ohioan who would label James a turncoat. They would have to understand, looking back over eight years of almost and not quite, that basketball’s best young player had to try something else by going somewhere else.
They will have to understand that maybe Kevin Garnett, who got out of Minnesota just before his expiration date, was right. Maybe allegiance is a character flaw in a professional athlete trying to balance loyalty with an insatiable desire to win.
Meaningless Wins
And not just regular-season games. The Cavaliers have mastered winning lots of those. But they’re meaningless victories to a 25-year-old, two-time Most Valuable Player whose trophy case is filled with individual accolades but no gaudy diamond reminder of being the last team standing.
James understands well that legends are born and legacies created when banners and rings and parades hinge on the outcome.
James knows there is no excuse or explanation for what happened in Game 5, at home, against Garnett’s Boston Celtics, who are old, yes, but not too old. There’s a difference.
The Cavaliers management built a roster capable of beating the Orlando Magic, who ousted Cleveland from last season’s Eastern Conference final. Shaquille O’Neal was Cleveland’s answer to Dwight Howard, who, as it turns out, has no answer for the Celtics.
Old Fogies 2, Young Guns 0.
There’s no downside to James signing a one-year contract. Surely the Cavaliers, with James, would contend next season.
Cleveland’s Mistake
Cleveland’s mistake this season was dismissing the Celtics. Blindsided by Boston is the season’s subtitle.
They’re lining up to woo James, who can sign a five-year contract with any team other than Cleveland. The salivating suitors are on hold until July 1, which is when teams are permitted to contact free agents.
There’s so much hype around the Jamesapalooza Stay or Go Tour that Commissioner David Stern joked that he’s going to avoid the hysteria by spending July hiding in his office.
If James re-signs for one year, you can bet there still will be plenty of teams lining up again next season.
Surely James can guard against a career-ending injury with an insurance policy.
The only drawback, albeit minor, to the one-year plan is the NBA’s labor contract, which expires after next season. Owners are going to push for salary constraints, and maybe even a football-style salary cap, which means James, who is paid about $42 million a year in endorsements, might have to settle for less money.
Winning Wisdom
James has made it clear, though, that he’s more concerned with championships than chump change.
The only reason for a professional basketball player to sign a long-term contract is financial security. James, who enjoys a $90 million contract with Nike Inc., already has that.
From purely a winning perspective it would be wiser for James to sign a series of one-year contracts instead of committing to one team. If something goes wrong, if team chemistry proves more combustible than cohesive, then he’s free to flee.
Things happen in sports. Quickly. Players get hurt. Coaches get fired. Teams move. Owners sell. It seems silly to commit the prime of your career.
This is about one man and one landscape-altering decision. It’s about, in alphabetical order, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles (Clippers), Miami, New Jersey and New York vying for his services.