| 30 December 2009
It’s the story that’s not really a story, but still kind of is a story, that everyone feels dirty for talking about, but still can’t stop talking about anyway.
It’s led to the sabotagization (Yes, I just made up that word, how do you like it?) of the New York Knicks for the last 18 months and counting, and even led LeBron James to get a temporary restraining order against the media.
It’s the NBA’s, “Summer of 2010.” And much like the commercials, it’s apparently where, “Amazing Happens.”
During this summer, an unprecedented group of superstars will become free agents, possibly changing the landscape of the sport forever. In no particular order, here are some of the guys who will likely be available to the highest bidder:
Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Ray Allen, Manu Ginobili, Joe Johnson, Tracy McGrady, Rudy Gay, Richard Jefferson, and yes, even Kwame Brown and Louis Almundson. That’s a lot of guys who could make a lot of difference in a lot of ways.
But ultimately, they’re all chips that are going to fall into place after the biggest dog gets fed.
And that’s what we’re all waiting for: Where will LeBron James end up?
We’ve all heard all the scenarios, so I’m not going to waste a lot of time on them. But again, in no particular order, here’s how the LeBron James 2010 Sweepstakes could shake out:
The New York Knicks can offer LeBron a ton of money, plus the cap space and roster flexibility to pretty much put together a supporting cast of his choice. Not too shabby. Plus, he can do it in America’s biggest city, and in the world’s most famous basketball arena.
The Miami Heat can offer LeBron a whole lot of money to play alongside one of his best friends, and one of the game’s best players in Wade. There’s no income tax in Florida, plus LeBron would be playing in, well, Miami. And if the city is anything like the Will Smith song of the same name, who could blame him? (Ok that’s a little bit of an exaggeration and a joke, since I’ve been to Miami, and can most definitely confirm that the city is indeed like the Smith song, except about 42,000 times cooler.)
LeBron can go to the Clippers and play in Hollywood, with a group of fun young players (Eric Gordon anyone? How about Blake Griffin?) and an excellent point guard in Baron Davis, who just needs a swift kick in the butt every once in awhile to get him going. And for LeBron, a guy who already has some Executive Producer movie credits on his resume, being in Los Angeles might be a bigger deal than you think.
Finally, of course, LeBron can stay in Cleveland, win a lot of games for a long time, and hope and pray that his front office somehow figures out how to put together a better supporting cast. Staying in Cleveland of course is a most definite possibility for James, who grew up just a few hours outside the city in Akron.
All these cities and scenarios sound feasible, and again, I’m not going to waste our time speculating, since neither, you, I, nor virtually anyone else knows how LeBron is leaning. However, there is one scenario that I haven’t discussed, and purposely left out, because it has zero percent chance of happening.
I hate to say it Nets fans, but it’s true. There’s no way LeBron is coming to New Jersey. Nada, zip, none, and maybe even less, if there’s a percentage smaller than zero that I’m unaware of.
Now look, I didn’t write this article just to knock a franchise when it’s down. I’m better than that, and so are the Nets, who quite frankly aren’t as awful as they may seem to outsiders. But someone needed to say it. Which is what I'm here to do.
Right now this organization is just a mess. They’re currently in the midst of being taken over by a new owner, Russian billionaire, Mikhail Prokhorov, and nobody’s quite sure what direction he’s taking this team. All we know is that he is apparently a basketball aficionado, who was unaffected by the global recession of the last few years, and thus will seemingly be unafraid to spend money. Which is more than most NBA ownership groups can say at this point.
But he’s also bought into former owner Bruce Ratner’s plans to revitalize a part of Brooklyn, with a new arena for the Nets at the center of the construction plans. Which isn't necessarily a good thing, since with all of the zoning and eminent domain laws involved in the project, it’s unsure when, if ever, anything (including the arena) will get built. The Nets were planning on being in Brooklyn by 2011, a date that is all but impossible at this point.
Which means that for the foreseeable future, they’re stuck in the Izod Center, which I promise you folks, is a big problem.
For those of you who’ve never been, there is no nice way to put it, the place is a dump. It's old, dark and antiquated, and to say it’s dead is an understatement. I’ve been to funeral homes that are livelier. 
It’s located in the middle of the swamp and isn’t particularly easy to get to. There aren’t many fun things to do around the Izod Center, unless you consider a trip to T.G.I. Friday’s a night out on the town, meaning no one will ever make going to a Nets game, a “boys night on the town,” the way they might for a Knicks game. The location is so bad, that even when the team was winning they didn’t draw well (attendance ranked 23rd in the NBA in 2002-2003, you know, when the team made the NBA Finals). Plus, come on, the place is called the “Izod Center.” Does that sound like the home of the world's greatest basketball player to you? Because to me, it sounds more like a strip mall in Des Moines.
And when you factor in the poor location of the arena, a team playing on the fringes of New York City, and how bad they’ve been recently, going to a Nets game definitely has a “minor league,” feel to it. I went to the Nets-Thunder game Monday night (and only because I got free tickets), and the Izod Center was nothing short of depressing.
The arena was empty right up until tip-off, and for the most part quiet the entire game. The only time anyone showed much life was when cheerleaders were throwing free t-shirts into the crowd, or when they showed Vinny from Jersey Shore, doing a fist pump. And even that caused more murmurs than cheers, nobody quite sure how to react.
There was a weird wolf mascot who did back-flips during timeouts and whose presence even now, 48 hours later, I’m still a little confused about. The female dancers were nice enough I suppose, although their male cheerleader/dancer friends looked like they weren’t even old enough to drive themselves to the arena. Honestly, how are we supposed to take a professional basketball team seriously that not only employs male cheerleaders, but employs ones that aren't even old enough to shave?
Even the PA guy seemed amateurish, and sounded like he was borrowed for the night from a strip club. He spent the entire game pushing stupid nicknames on the crowd, like “Yi-Normous” (for Yi Jianlian) and “Supreme Court,” for Courtney Lee (Honestly, doesn’t that sound like something you hear an announcer say at a Gentlemen’s Cabaret on a Saturday night? Guys, get your hands together and your single’s ready. Up next on Stage No. 2, it’s Yiiiiiiiiiii-Normousssss!!!!!! Not that I go to strip clubs or anything, I swear).
Even the girl I was with noticed the desolate atmosphere, commenting afterward that it seemed like the guy who worked the crowd during timeouts was “Trying a little too hard.”
Speaking of timeouts, during each and every one, they promoted, and practically begged fans to check out tickets for future games, almost like an overzealous Girl Scout who hasn’t met her cookie quota for the month. I know every team does this, but it seemed especially desperate Monday night, with some of the ticket packages so cheap that it would have felt like stealing to buy one. Which is saying a lot, especially for a guy who was only in the arena because he got free tickets, and even then almost still didn’t go.
In the end, what ultimately may be the Nets only saving grace is that they actually do have some good talent.
Nobody you can build a championship around, but still good. Devin Harris was an All-Star last year, although having seen him in person a few times now, I’m not sure he’s anything more than a super-quick guy who throws up crazy shots trying to get fouled on every possession. But it’s a start though I guess.
I’ve got to admit that Yi was way more impressive than I ever thought he’d be, and used a nice variety of post moves and underrated athleticism to lead the Nets in scoring Monday. Brook Lopez is a good building block down low. And Courtney Lee, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Terrence Williams are nice, young, athletic role players, who should never be asked to do as much as they’ve been asked to do for this Nets team. Everyone else pretty much comes of the books after this year, meaning the future isn’t as seemingly as bad on paper for the Nets as it is in person.
But it still doesn’t mean LeBron is coming. Not to an organization with so many question marks, and to a team that’s not even sure where it’ll be playing two years from now, let along five or six.
For the Nets, I see them playing the game that a million teams before them have done in their approach to LeBron: They’ll make the pitch to the big name to say they “tried,” while secretly lining up a second-tier free agent, to play with whatever’s left of the current supporting cast. There’s a reasonable chance they’ll overpay for someone, but under the conditions I just laid out, would you want to play for the Nets for any other reason?
Think of it like the baseball off-season two years ago, when the Washington Nationals made a push to get Mark Teixeira. Sure, it sounded good on paper, but Teixeira was never going to play in Washington just like LeBron isn’t coming to New Jersey.
For Nets fans there’s solace. Things can't get much worse than they already are. Once you hit rock bottom, you can only go up.
Unfortunately still, while 2010 and beyond might be better than 2009 in a lot of ways, one thing will stay the same.
When the King is in New Jersey, it will only be as a visitor.
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