Wine and gold? Red and black? Red and blue? Blue and orange?
The suspense has been on for more than a year. Most recently, the pending free agency of LeBron James has drawn as much attention as the Gulf oil spill, the 2010 World Cup, Wimbledon, and any other news headline. Finally, LeBron James will announce his decision Thursday night around 9PM on a TV special on ESPN. To LeBron's credit, he is using the extra publicity to raise money for charity.
Still, it is amazing how much attention he is drawing to himself. Yes, the hype has been built up with fellow 2003 NBA Draft picks Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, not to mention free agents Amar'e Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, Carlos Boozer, and David Lee, pseudo-free agents Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce, and a number of other players. At the heart of it all is LeBron James--aka "The King", "The Chosen One", "LBJ", etc. The pride of Akron and Cleveland finds himself in demand by everyone from Cleveland to Miami to Chicago to New Jersey to New York to Los Angeles.
Who could fault him for leaving if he joins Wade and Bosh in Miami? Imagine if Boston's Big Three of Pierce, Garnett, and Allen played together as long as Wade, James, and Bosh could. It could be more like the Big Three of Bird, McHale, and Parish or the Showtime Lakers.
In Chicago, LeBron James could rejoin Carlos Boozer and team up with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. He could also join forces with Luol Deng, who was the #2 high school prospect behind LeBron James in the spring of 2003.
With New Jersey, LeBron could join the super wealth of Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z, as well as rising players like point guard Devin Harris and young coach Avery Johnson, a championship point guard in his own right.
New York? Los Angeles? There is some talent there, but definitely lots of media and press time. Amar'e Stoudemire is replacing David Lee in New York, which would have normally generated more attention. However, NBA free agency 2010 revolves around the temporarily independent LeBron James. Then again, Los Angeles basketball revolves around five-time Lakers champion Kobe Bryant. While LeBron has won the last two NBA regular season MVP awards, Kobe has won the last two NBA Finals MVP awards.
So, where will it be? #23 is already retired in Chicago and Miami (both for Michael Jordan), meaning LeBron's petition to switch to #6 make more sense for either of those cities or Cleveland. The #6 of Bill Russell and "Dr. J." Julius Erving is not retired in any of these three cities.
However, as Kobe is the current #1 basketball player in L.A., M.J. may always be the #1 basketball player in Chicago, while Wade will remain the #1 basketball player in Miami until he leaves the team or retires. In Cleveland, LeBron James is the greatest. They could very well retire his #23 already while he wears #6.
At some time between 9pm and 10pm Eastern Time tomorrow, it will be revealed. So, where will it be? Which #6 will it be??? Wine and gold? Red and black? Red and blue? Blue and orange?
Here's hoping that #23 becomes #6 in the process of winning 16 postseason games in one postseason and bringing a coveted championship to Cleveland. Win it with Cleveland, LeBron. Win it with Cleveland!!!!!
The suspense has been on for more than a year. Most recently, the pending free agency of LeBron James has drawn as much attention as the Gulf oil spill, the 2010 World Cup, Wimbledon, and any other news headline. Finally, LeBron James will announce his decision Thursday night around 9PM on a TV special on ESPN. To LeBron's credit, he is using the extra publicity to raise money for charity.
Still, it is amazing how much attention he is drawing to himself. Yes, the hype has been built up with fellow 2003 NBA Draft picks Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, not to mention free agents Amar'e Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, Carlos Boozer, and David Lee, pseudo-free agents Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce, and a number of other players. At the heart of it all is LeBron James--aka "The King", "The Chosen One", "LBJ", etc. The pride of Akron and Cleveland finds himself in demand by everyone from Cleveland to Miami to Chicago to New Jersey to New York to Los Angeles.
Who could fault him for leaving if he joins Wade and Bosh in Miami? Imagine if Boston's Big Three of Pierce, Garnett, and Allen played together as long as Wade, James, and Bosh could. It could be more like the Big Three of Bird, McHale, and Parish or the Showtime Lakers.
In Chicago, LeBron James could rejoin Carlos Boozer and team up with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. He could also join forces with Luol Deng, who was the #2 high school prospect behind LeBron James in the spring of 2003.
With New Jersey, LeBron could join the super wealth of Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z, as well as rising players like point guard Devin Harris and young coach Avery Johnson, a championship point guard in his own right.
New York? Los Angeles? There is some talent there, but definitely lots of media and press time. Amar'e Stoudemire is replacing David Lee in New York, which would have normally generated more attention. However, NBA free agency 2010 revolves around the temporarily independent LeBron James. Then again, Los Angeles basketball revolves around five-time Lakers champion Kobe Bryant. While LeBron has won the last two NBA regular season MVP awards, Kobe has won the last two NBA Finals MVP awards.
So, where will it be? #23 is already retired in Chicago and Miami (both for Michael Jordan), meaning LeBron's petition to switch to #6 make more sense for either of those cities or Cleveland. The #6 of Bill Russell and "Dr. J." Julius Erving is not retired in any of these three cities.
However, as Kobe is the current #1 basketball player in L.A., M.J. may always be the #1 basketball player in Chicago, while Wade will remain the #1 basketball player in Miami until he leaves the team or retires. In Cleveland, LeBron James is the greatest. They could very well retire his #23 already while he wears #6.
At some time between 9pm and 10pm Eastern Time tomorrow, it will be revealed. So, where will it be? Which #6 will it be??? Wine and gold? Red and black? Red and blue? Blue and orange?
Here's hoping that #23 becomes #6 in the process of winning 16 postseason games in one postseason and bringing a coveted championship to Cleveland. Win it with Cleveland, LeBron. Win it with Cleveland!!!!!