A City Without a King.
“If Jeezy’s is paying Lebron, I’m paying Dwayne Wade.” – Jay-Z “Empire State of Mind”
It looks like Jay’s going to have to change up some lyrics. After tonight’s wild culmination of the last two years of speculation, that line’s sounding a little more like, “If Riley’s paying Lebron… then… oh, Riley’s also paying Dwayne Wade… then…wait… Riley’s paying him too… hold on a minute… who am I paying?” Turns out Hova’s paying Travis Outlaw, but for some reason, that just doesn’t seem to have the same ring to it.
I don’t think anyone really feels bad for Jay-Z or Prokhorov or The Nets though. Jay’s probably pouring champagne on all three of their faces on Dwayne’s yacht right now (at 12:40am CST on July 9). Nobody should feel bad for The Knicks or The Bulls or The Clippers either for that matter. The Knicks might have Carmello next year and the Bulls will be good without one of The (New) Big Three. They had the most to gain (with a great young core already in place) and the least to lose (because that core is much more than the other contenders had after dumping major salary cap space). They’ll be alright, and maybe they won’t just be alright. Maybe they’ll be contenders. And the Clippers have Vinny, so they should be okay too, right? All of those teams tried with everything they had and they lost, but the city of Cleveland had the rug pulled out from under itself and it’s residents collective asses are feeling bruised and pretty cut up right about now.
At one time, as a lifelong Bulls fan, I had convinced myself that Chicago would have been the best decision for James to make. I’d tell myself and whoever would listen to me that, “The Bulls have Rose and Noah and if he actually wants to win championships, he and a power forward will come here.” And, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want him for The Bulls as recently as two seconds before “South Beach” left his lips on that stage. But I stopped believing that Chicago would have been the best decision around when “The Decision,” the hour-long, primetime, self-indulgent, unprecedented, ego (how could it get bigger?) inflating ESPN special was announced. I wondered if he was actually going to have the balls to go on television and announce to the world and to Cleveland, more importantly, in such a grand and tacky way, that he was out.
That’s about when I started to feel conflicted. I obviously wanted him on The Bulls, which with every minute over the last week seemed to become a longer and longer shot, which lead me to believe that it was an unrealistic wish, but I also hoped not to see Cleveland’s heart ripped out and stomped on. There was a lot of talk about the potential economic impact that Lebron leaving Cleveland would have in regards to bars and restaurants simply closing as a result of the stadium going from sold-out on a nightly basis to half-full on good nights without him. That’s also probably pretty presumptuous and doesn’t really say much about Cleveland fans, but I was sure there would be effects, the extent of which I don’t think anyone could really estimate.
Could he really turn his back on his hometown? Yes. But, he has every right to do it. What bothers me and I think most people is the manner in which it was handled. It was like a jumbo-tron break-up instead of an engagement. If Lebron had quietly chosen to stay or go (see Kevin Durant’s Twitter post announcing his contract extension, “Extension for 5 more years with the Thunder….God Is Great, me and my family came a long way…I love yall man for real, this a blessing!”(obviously he chose to stay, not to go, but I’m guessing the humility with which he handled his announcement would have been similar if it were a different announcement)), rather than inflating himself into something that was bigger than the game or the world and everyone in it, would have (probably) curbed Cleveland and the world’s reaction to his decision. I have to imagine that it is completely because of the way that the announcement became public that there will be no #23 jerseys or LBJ pictures hanging on the walls and in the hallways in Quicken Loans Arena tomorrow morning and is also what spurred the emotional (and crazy) open letter from Dan Gilbert which was posted on The Cav’s official web site not long after the announcement.
The bottom line is that underneath the façade and the royal nickname and the ego that may not fit inside of his new home, American Airlines Arena, Lebron looked scared. The questions from Jim Gray seemed to be built in to stall and to obviously give him more face time before most viewers turned a middle finger at the TV, turned it off and walked away as he became the most hated person in American sports, but they also seemed built in so he could stall until he had enough guts to say what he had come there to say. His eyes looked weak and the confidence that pours from him on the court seemed to have decided that “The Decision” may have not been the greatest forum for the type of announcement, and this specific announcement, more specifically.
But, what has been done has been done. The (New) Big Three are headed for the beach. Tonight, the James jerseys are burning in Cleveland and Gilbert’s fingers are probably aching like Kanye’s after typing so hard and in such aggressive CAPS. Tomorrow, the sun will probably be really bright in Miami and it might rain in Cleveland. Tomorrow, the Bulls will try to shore up a shooting guard and The Knicks and The Nets will scramble for what’s left. The Heat will have to figure out how to get nine other players and The Cavs will figure out how to fill seats. It may seem like this Dream Team is seemingly going to dominate the Eastern conference and the NBA forever, but dominance is never permanent and every King eventually falls.