"There will be a lot of intensity, the fact that we only play there Once,'' King James said.

"July 1 is right around the corner, so it will be exciting. I'm looking forward to winning an NBA championship here. It is going to be a long season and I can't think about what is going to happen July 1 or after that or what I'm going to do."

"I don't tease, I've never teased the New York media my saying I was coming to New York or playing for the Knicks,'' James said. "I saw the same thing every time. When July 1 get here, I'm going to approach it like a business man and approach it for the best fit for LeBron and his family. I've been a Cav for seven years now and I've never given any indication I was leaving. For me to say I'm not going to be a Knick, I'm going to be a Cav or I'm going to be a Knick, I'm not going to do that. I did the three-year contract for a reason, I'm going to leave my options open.''

"We'll see what happens, I've never given any indication I'll leave Cleveland or be somewhere else. It doesn't matter where I'll be, I'm good enough to help a team win basketball games.''

And no Yankees parade for James tomorrow. "No, my parade starts at eight tomorrow night,'' he said.

"You look at history. It is like the Yankees. The big time franchises that have a lot of history, it is hard for the fans to look at what they've been looking at the last few years,” he said. “Because they know the history of what has gone into the Garden. So I can understand that as a fan and I know because I know the history of the game. I think the league is doing just fine, but with the Knicks being good, the Celtics being good, the Lakers being good, it makes the league that much better. I'm talking as a fan now, please understand.”

It's exciting but we won't know what he does till July 1st....and her did say he's "good enough to help a team win basketball games"...so the stat of the knicks doesn't matter.

funny the sign says 16 million, lol....thats how much Lebron would be making as a Knick.

OasisBU wrote:I really don't see why people are reading into this so much - Cleveland can offer more money and it is where he is from.

Cleveland could offer more money this summer than the summer of 2010, but LBJ decided to wait. He threw millions of dollars away this summer. IF he just re-signs with Cleveland that will have been a dumb move.

Cavs status - in my mind they are a decent club but not going to beat the elites. So why would he leave that to go backwards and step into a spotlight that has chewed up and spit out up many star sports players?

You can get stuck at "decent club" level for the next 10 years if you're LBJ (see Ewing, Patrick). Why not look for a situation where there are young players and flexibility to sign another Max FA in 2011?

The risk that nobody talks about is what he's risking by coming to New York. If he comes here and the team isn't at least a 2nd round playoff team immediately and doesn't progress from year to year, and doesn't win a championship... then he's risking a change in his perception where he would lose a lot of value as a brand.

I agree that the chances aren't great he comes to NY but I can't see how anyone can say he's 100% staying there either. For me it boils down to several things -

(1) Let's start with that quote: "It doesn't matter to me where I'll be, I'm good enough to help a team win basketball games." Now to me, and it should be obvious to everyone else as well, he means ANY TEAM. I think that's exactly what he's saying. And I agree with him - that supporting cast he's got there with him right now just isn't that great, even with an over-the-hill Shaq. Come on now. He makes that team go out there all by himself basically..In a side by side comparison of the two teams over the next two years, I made a case the other day that it's the Knicks that are actually in the better financial situation. Over $23 million dollars available next off-season with an addition $17+ million coming off the books the following year...As with anything in life money talks. Money fixes things very quickly, which is why I respectfully disagree with guys that constantly try to douse out the LeBron fire like OasisBU above. OK I understand he's set to make a million or two more by staying in Cleveland by league rules, but come on now, that's chump change for this guy. That couple of extra million is the furtherest thing that will convince him to stay. That finacial "edge" Cleveland supposedly has there isn't enough in the scheme of things to be relevant. It's a complete non-factor if you ask me... If he came and got most of the tri-state area's population pumped up and on board (it's by far the most densely populated area centered around 1 city in the entire world), the money this guy will be set to make with Nike and any other companies he'd affilate himself with will be off the charts!! Shoot, I even made a point that I wouldn't put it past him to even concede a little money in his 1st or 2nd year when we do step into the finacial relief to help us do even more. Like I said the other day, if he really wants NY, is it that much of a stretch to see him start out $14, $15 million or structure a deal to take $14-15 mil. his second year to open up even more room? I wouldn't think so. I just feel it's not all about the money with him - I really believe deep down he really may want us. We'll have to see. I'm not crazy, a lot of signs have been there...

(2) Coach D'Antoni -- look, this guy's done stuff so far that's made most of us scratch our heads on a nightly basis but the bottom line with coach Mike is he simply doesn't have the talent right now and he's trying to do a lot of this with smoke and mirrors (the crazy 3 pt. bombing offense, etc..).. Not trying to make excuses for him really (I for one question his style right now, not having the pieces in place yet shouldn't have anything to do with a complete lack of discipline for one thing) but there's certainly a lot of truth to it. He doesn't have a center, he doesn't have nearly a good enough starting PG, he doesn't have a big SG for the future with potential, there are selfish players, players playing out of position all over the joint..It now looks like he doesn't have a lot of things you need to even be semi-competitive. What he and the GM do have however is big cap room over the next two years, more cap room than this team's had since I can remember, to instantly help correct some of these problems. You get D'Antoni a star or two and fill in around him wisely where now he can put his smoke machine and mirrors back in his closet, he'll be OK. He was brought here to help recruit in the beginning of this recovery process - NBA players do love the guy. We'll see now if he can help do that.

(3) I talked a lot about the Cavs team moving forward the other day and today Tommy Dee's got a nice blog up now talking about a lot of the same things. As always Tommy's got an interesting take on things - I happen to agree with what he's saying here and gave a similar opinion the other day. I for one think he's got something here -- how is that Cavs team equipped right now to even win one championship, let alone in the position to form some kind of dynasty there?? Check it out:

http://www.theknicksblog.com/2009/11/06/how-can-the-cavs-ensure-multiple-rings/

(4) Perhaps the biggest thing right now is this main question -- why hasn't he signed an extension to stay there already??? If he's from the area and they can offer him the most money by league rules, why not sign on the dotted line already and be done with it? I give him a lot of credit, for a young dude I think he's got a good understanding on a lot of things -- how good he is and the impact he'll have on even a marginally-talented team at first, what his team and a team like the Knicks can offer him initially and then in his second year, etc...I've speculated as such but now with some of his intelligent & confident chatter, I now believe the man has a very good understanding of the differences between the Knick's current roster, what it will look like his first year and then what it could look like only a year or two after that. Bottom line is that with the huge financial flexibility coming up and with LeBron on board, provided we dispersed the money smartly, I see no reason why we couldn't go from a 30-someting win team to a 55, 60 win team in only a couple of years. I really believe that. That's how good this man is and that's how good I feel about this cap relief that we're on the verge of stepping into soon. Judging by some of LeBron's comments now, I think he may understand this as well...

There is a good chance he will come. I wouldnt put any sort of percentage on it, but its obvious he's very interested in playing for NY...we'll see.

Douglas
James
Gallo
Bosh
Darko

with Nate and Hill on the bench.

BRIGGS wrote:It seems like Lebron has some kind of huge money deals lined up if he comes here. The more he speaks the more I think he will come here. I would like to see the Knicks win a championship before I'm dead and while I don't like the idea of getting LBJ in a way by default--as in just because this is NY-because the team[especially the owner] has done nothing to deserve it ---I will take it anyway. And just wait---Mr Dolan will jack every ticket up to take every last C out of fans pockets--believe me.

lebron to the knicks is a good thing.

ny sports fans only have the yankees. lebron will re-invigorate the city and will have it buzzing in the winter. and you would think with a true top flight superstar in town, the team will spend like nobody's business to bring a championship to ny.

you are right tho, ticket prices will be a premium and almost unattainable unless you got the $$$'s to back it up.

i would be happy b/c we can all finally end the debate on who's the best #1 pick in the league between lebron and bargs.

If he ends up in Lakerland, he would be closest to winning a title(titles?). And if that is his priority, then the Lakers could be a valid option for him to consider. But I think this would hurt the NBA in my opinion.

skeng wrote:also, people talk about Lebron losing his "Q" rating for being disloyal. If his intention is winning a title and he sees he can't do it in CLE, then I don't think he'll lose credibility or popularity. Look at Garnett when he came to Boston - I know it wasn't a FA signing, but still. He was going nowhere in Minnesota. He was, like what, 12 seasons in MIN?

And when KG finally got to the West finals, the Wolves were too injured to compete with the Lakers.

He already knows that his marketability is high, at least as high as an NBA player can achieve. He also is correct that any team he is on will be better and competitive on a championship level.

But, in order to make his star shine brighter, he needs the NBA as a whole to take a more prominent role on the world stage.

That statement that NY thriving being good for the NBA makes me believe that he knows he is as marketable as he can be in this NBA. So, if he wants to his stardom to the next level, he needs to make the NBA itself more marketable. Then he can be even more of a global icon.