Kevin Kleps: James’ loyalty should be to his Cavs legacy

Jul 02, 2010

By: News-Herald Staff

By Kevin Kleps
KKleps@News-Herald.com

Jason Miller/Associated Press Jill Riegelmayer of Cleveland holds one of about 20,000 signs that where handed out at the city’s Independence Day event on Thursday.

The updates are overwhelming and the hype unprecedented.

LeBron James is an unrestricted free agent. Maybe you’ve heard.

Thursday, the Nets and the Knicks were in town, which meant rap mogul (Jay-Z), Russian billionaire (Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov) and hobbled executive (the Knicks’ Donnie Walsh, who is recovering from neck surgery and is in a wheelchair) sightings.

Jay-Z reportedly left the parking garage as the Knicks’ motorcade was entering. No word yet on the song selections of the competing parties — but we do know James arrived and left in different SUVs, which can only mean he’s already changed his mind on his future destination.

At this point, even the diehards are tired of the circus, and that’s before the Bulls, Heat, Clippers and Cavaliers make their pitches in the next two days.

“If you guys want to go to sleep right now and not wake up until July 1, 2010, then go ahead because it’s going to be a big day,” James said to reporters — in late November 2008.

Nineteen months later, that date has come and gone, but the show goes on undeterred.

James reportedly will make his choice in the next week — an estimate that seems optimistic, since that would curtail the running time of “The Summer of LeBron.”

During the 2009-10 regular season, the popular sentiment was James would re-sign with the Cavaliers, who had secured the No. 1 overall seed for the second consecutive year.

Following a third straight postseason disappointment, most of us began to think James would leave — especially as the Heat, Bulls and Nets made salary-dumping trades that were praised only because the moves brought with them a chance to sign James and Chris Bosh (or in the case of the Heat, an outside chance of James, Bosh and Dwyane Wade).

The only thing we know for sure is James, even after opening himself up to the first real criticism of his career with his performance against Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals, is loving the attention more than Paris Hilton outside a Hollywood club or any member of “Jersey Shore” whose 15 minutes haven’t expired.

The longer this goes on, though, the more one thought sticks in my memory bank, which, as I get older, becomes more unreliable than Mo Williams in a meaningful game.

Loyalty.

Say what you want about James — and you’ve said plenty, such as, “Go away, LeBust,” and “Don’t let the door hit you …” — but he’s never hid his love of his hometown and Northeast Ohio.

He wanted to bring a championship to the Cavaliers, and in seven years, he has not.

I might be in the minority in that I don’t think the Cavs have ever given their superstar enough of a supporting cast to win a championship. You can bring up the 66 and 61 regular-season wins, but when the playoffs start, those carry as much weight as Mike Brown’s words to his team in Games 5 and 6 against Boston.

I am in the majority in believing Bosh will have a huge impact on James’ future. The 26-year-old forward might be James’ best chance to cement a championship legacy, all while retaining Undisputed Option 1 status. The latter might not be the case if LeBron opts to join forces with Wade in Miami.

The Cavs would have to get extremely creative to lure Bosh, should they convince James to stay, in a sign-and-trade with the Raptors.

If they don’t, they have to do something quickly to improve upon a roster that currently features Williams, Antawn Jamison, J.J. Hickson, Anderson Varejao, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon and Boobie Gibson.

Miami offers the chance to play with Wade and Bosh, but do you really believe James will surrender lead-dog status on any team? Not to mention the fact the Heat’s roster consists of Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers — and Beasley would have to be traded to free up salary-cap room to sign Bosh to a max deal.

New York will be tempting, but it doesn’t have the championship pieces. The Nets lost 70 games last season, which makes you wonder how much of their presence Thursday was a favor to James’ buddy Jay-Z.

That leaves the Bulls and Cavs.

If James is all about winning, as he has told us repeatedly, the Bulls — with Bosh — are the best option.

If he’s more about loyalty (how often has he told us he’s “a very loyal person?”) and legacy, he re-signs with the Cavs.

For weeks, I have believed he was headed to Chicago.

Now, I think he’s staying.

The roster needs a lot of work. James’ legacy will, too, if he fails to deliver a title as his career reaches double digits in years.

It’s a challenge he should accept.

But not before making us track three more traveling parties, PowerPoint presentations and downtown banners that make it look as if pleading with an Ohio idol is more pressing than the real problems we all face every day.

KKleps@News-Herald.com

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