The LeBron James Free Agent Saga is less than 24 hours from ending and I can't help but think about how one of my favorite songs by Kanye West seems to embody what this whole event has been for the sports world... Flashing Lights.
Motorcades with billionaires, Celebrity Owners, and CEO's all arrive at LeBron's Throne to woo him away to their team and be their savior. Press conferences and interviews held around his camp all trying to get a piece of information that will give us a head's up of where LeBron is deciding to play. Believe me, the lights have been flashing for a while.
While this free agency period has been the talk of the NBA for at least the last year, even I found myself jumping in to engage in any water cooler talk about where he might go. "He could be the man in New York" or "Would LeBron want to play in Michael's shadow?" but none of these arguments are anything but a matrix that LeBron has created and we have all taken the wrong pill.
All of the options out there seem intriguing; this is very true. Teaming with D-Wade and Bosh in Miami. Surpassing Jordan as a Bull. Becoming Mr. Madison Square Garden in New York. Even playing understudy to a Russian Billionaire while rubbing elbows with Jay-Z. But all of these choices come with grandiose expectations. As marketing bait the Chicago Bulls sent LeBron a pair of Air Jordan’s and asked him if he could fill the shoes of the Legend! They even went so far to send him 7 empty championship ring boxes and asked LeBron if he could fill them!! New York wants one thing and that is to win a championship. The situation is no different in Miami, but do you really want to have the same monkey on your back that Kobe had until he won a championship without Shaq? Not to mention that now with 2 Mega-stars that monkey is now a 600-pound gorilla.
No. I think that none of these options is as obvious as the fact that like in "Flashing Lights" the chorus plays; As I recall you really love to show off, but I never thought that you would take it this far. I have now realized that LeBron is just showing off right now. He is the movie studio and every NBA team with cap space is just an actor auditioning for a movie that he will never make.
He knows that he is the Chosen One and King James in his hometown of Cleveland, where he has no expectations to but to be LeBron. He steps on the court and throws the cloud of chalk in the air and he is cheered like a modern day spartacus. He is adored and Idolized for putting Cleveland on the map and he has to do nothing else to appease his subjects. No shadow to step into,no ring boxes or shoes to fill but his own.
He knows that he is the Chosen One and King James in his hometown of Cleveland, where he has no expectations to but to be LeBron. He steps on the court and throws the cloud of chalk in the air and he is cheered like a modern day spartacus. He is adored and Idolized for putting Cleveland on the map and he has to do nothing else to appease his subjects. No shadow to step into,
How fast would Chicago, Miami, or New York turn on LeBron if he never delivers the expectations that are placed on him? Would LeBron really take a full hour on ESPN to abandon the unconditional love that Cleveland has showered him with since he was drafted? I think not. LeBron has created a magnetizing drama, a work of art, and a masterpiece of foolery if you will. Flashing lights for us all to look at and be mesmerized by for the last year.
We all know how this saga will end. Hey Mona Lisa, Come home you know you can’t Rome without Caesar.
Written by Ralph Kimbrough IV
