Lebron James is one of those world class elite athletes whose performance on the athletic field has the power draw the eyes of the hard-core sports fan, the casual viewer, and just about everyone in between.  Few athletes in the past three decades have had that view magnetism. Three pop into my mind:

Be Like Mike

 Iron Mike

Iron Hitter Tiger (and alleged 6-Iron Hittee) 

It’s hard to come up with anyone else.  You could argue for a few NFL superstars–Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, and Barry Sanders come to mind—but I think football viewers are drawn to elite teams and the sport itself far above individual performances. 

Where Lebron has taken sports superstardom to a new level is in his ability to attract off-season attention.  ‘Ability’ is probably the wrong word.  Many athletes have had the ability to attract off-season attention, most always due to poor decisions—see Tyson and Tiger.  ‘Methodology’ is likely a better word.  Lebron and his advisors have brilliantly held the mid-summer weeks hostage not once, but twice, as he pursued free agency.  First, in 2010, which ended with ‘The Decision’.  Then came this July, culminating with ‘The Letter’.  The hype/coverage/speculation for both were off the charts.  This is even my 4th straight blog on him!

LBJ’s choice in both situations could be considered safe picks.  Four years ago, he chose the Heat for a relatively easy path to winning and championships.  Eight days ago, he chose the Cavs for a relatively easy path to positive popularity and elevating his image.  That move has a beautiful combination of homecoming, redemption, and underdog status to take the Lebron brand to another level.

But each choice can also be looked at as a huge risk.  By heading to the Heat, Lebron took a great chance of destroying his image not only by forsaking his home, but by also by both taking the easy way out to winning and taking a sidekick role to Dwayne Wayne. That roll of the dice paid off handsomely.  He got two rings to help his legacy, and his image had more than recovered from that previous plunge, due to both his amazing talents and class to which he has carried himself.

I will say that his move back to the Cavaliers is an even bigger risk. Championships seemed inevitable when he chose the crystal clear beaches of Miami.  In Cleveland, the forecast of bringing an NBA championship is as murky as the water of Lake Erie.  And that’s just looking at the Cavs’ current roster of youth and inexperience.  Adding on the heavy burden of Cleveland’s longevity of losing in all sports makes the journey all the more arduous.

But the enormous difficulty in Lebron’s upcoming NBA adventure in Ohio is why it was the right move.  I have to believe that LBJ’s ultimate athletic goal to be the G.O.A.T.—Greatest of All Time.  His move to Miami was the safe choice to elevate his status on the unofficial ‘top players in NBA history’ list because he would earn the multiple rings.  He likely will end up on the NBA’s Mount Rushmore (top 4 of all time–sounds like a good blog). But that safe choice also made the quest for Michael Jordan’s #1 spot pretty much out of reach.

Coming back to the Cavaliers puts the G.O.A.T. back on the table.  Ending the well-known Cleveland 50-year championship drought (my dad was at that 1964 win over the Colts!) would likely carry the weight of at least three rings anywhere else and all but eliminate the stigma of accepting the ‘sidekick’ role to win in Miami.

So Dan Gilbert and Chris Grant (Cavs owner and general manager, respectively), LBJ put all his chips on the Wine and Gold.  Now it’s your turn.  In Lebron’ first term, the Cavs’ shooting accuracy was worse than the a James Bond villain (I pat myself on the back for that simile.  By the way, think about how many bullets have missed 007 in the 24 movies he has been in).  Let’s do a role call of the Cavs off-targets:  Larry Hughes, Antawn Jamison, Shaquille O’Neal, Mo Williams, Ben Wallace, and my wife’s favorite:

Wally Szczerbiak!!!  Sorry, Wally, but in Beth’s eyes, you are a distant runner-up to this guy:

Not to mention this guy.

 

I don’t think even Brady Quinn can hang with 13-year-old me!

Sorry for getting off track.  Back to the LBJ/Cavs story.

So do you trade the potential of #1 pick Andrew Wiggins for the all-star talents of Kevin Love?  That’s a tough question.  The latest rumor is not only Wiggins but also last year’s #1 pick Anthony Bennett (who I think is going redeem himself this year due to much better health) along with next year’s first round pick.  I would stamp a big ‘NO’ on that ticket.  I know that 50-year drought is hanging in the air, but give it a little time, Cavs.  Don’t look desparate.  Try to play a little ‘hard to get’.  Cleveland has a hot hand right now.  Check out these two cards we picked up in the last few months:

   

I think the time is now to reverse the fleecing we took the last two times we were involved in superstar trades.  Do you remember what we got for these two Cy Young Award Winners?

Maybe Minnesota maybe take Anthony Bennett, Ira Newble and ‘Hot Rod’ Williams?  I can always dream!

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