EwingsGlass wrote:To add my over-analysis of his statements, I focus on the statement about a thriving NY basketball team being good for the NBA.

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.

good point. NBA more marketable = Lebron more marketable

JohnWallace44 wrote:

Moonangie wrote:

JohnWallace44 wrote:I think that he can make a ton more money if he's playing in New York. Over the course of his lifetime he would just be a much bigger star if he came to New York and won.

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.

Beck covered this story in the Times today, and basically said what JW did above: If he comes to NY and doesn't win, it will hurt his brand. And the MOST important thing to Lebron IS his brand. The article also mentions that Lebron would not really increase his earning power by playing in a big market.

Here's the article:

Nice work Moonagie...

I do think that the value in winning in NY is over your lifetime. Who's getting more advertising dollars at this point in their life, Earl the Pearl Monroe or Dennis Johnson? Both won championships. Earl the Pearl won here, and he still gets major endorsement deals.

The Admiral, Drexler, Wilkins... these guys are not making big money these days, but if they had done the same thing in NYC they would still be making bank.

At the time, it probably didn't matter where they were.

You guys really just need to come out and get loaded.

tkf wrote:

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. Lebron is already big enough - he doesn't need NY. Sure it would be great, but I have yet to read an argument that really sells why Lebron would bolt from Cleveland to come to New York. Not to mention our franchise is light years away from reaching even 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?

Lebron is from Akron.. not cleveland... he is also a business man who wants to win and market himself to the max.. him being from Akron shouldn't affect if he wants to play in NY or cleveland..

Ok Akron is about 45 minutes from Cleveland so I don't really get your point. That's like saying because someone grew up in Westchester or Long Island doesn't mean they would want to play in NY. If you were watching the game Mark Jackson just called him "Mr. Cleveland" and Van Gundy responded "he is from Akron" - Jackson's response "are you serious?!?" in a that is a pretty poor argument against him staying in Ohio.

He may be a great marketer, but he certainly does not need NY as much as NY needs him, that is a fact.

Now I love my Knicks but this franchise is terrible. Why on earth would the best player in basketball (outside of Kobe) leave a winning team to come to an awful team? Sure we might get another max player and that would help turn things around, but I think we need to be realistic otherwise we will all be extremely disappointed if he doesn't come.

This franchise couldn't convince Brian Grant or Dampier to sign so please forgive me if I am a little pessimistic about our chances of scoring Lebron.

OasisBU wrote:

tkf wrote:

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. Lebron is already big enough - he doesn't need NY. Sure it would be great, but I have yet to read an argument that really sells why Lebron would bolt from Cleveland to come to New York. Not to mention our franchise is light years away from reaching even 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?

Lebron is from Akron.. not cleveland... he is also a business man who wants to win and market himself to the max.. him being from Akron shouldn't affect if he wants to play in NY or cleveland..

Ok Akron is about 45 minutes from Cleveland so I don't really get your point. That's like saying because someone grew up in Westchester or Long Island doesn't mean they would want to play in NY. If you were watching the game Mark Jackson just called him "Mr. Cleveland" and Van Gundy responded "he is from Akron" - Jackson's response "are you serious?!?" in a that is a pretty poor argument against him staying in Ohio.

He may be a great marketer, but he certainly does not need NY as much as NY needs him, that is a fact.

Now I love my Knicks but this franchise is terrible. Why on earth would the best player in basketball (outside of Kobe) leave a winning team to come to an awful team? Sure we might get another max player and that would help turn things around, but I think we need to be realistic otherwise we will all be extremely disappointed if he doesn't come.

This franchise couldn't convince Brian Grant or Dampier to sign so please forgive me if I am a little pessimistic about our chances of scoring Lebron.

Without LeBron, Cleveland is not a winning team. O'Neal is close to done. Mo Williams is the only other good starter on the team after LeBron.

JohnWallace44 wrote: Who's getting more advertising dollars at this point in their life, Earl the Pearl Monroe or Dennis Johnson?

Considering Dennis Johnson died in 2007, I will answer Earl the Pearl.

kam77 wrote:

sebstar wrote:For all the cats that think him re-signing with the Cavs is some sort of a slam dunk, why hasnt he done it yet? If he didnt want to mess up his "Q" rating, and he could make more money with Cleveland, why not avoid the hassle and sign?

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.

I agree.

i think he plans on keeping his options open just like any bigname FA does... ARod did the same thing w/the Yankees when he opted out of his contract, but he ended up re-signing w/us so u can't jump to any conclusions as to what Lebron will do based on him not already having re-signed w/CLE... i think Lebron wants to see how this season turns out & how he feels about his team going forward... like another poster mentioned, w/o Lebron that CLE team just isn't all that good... if they fail to win a ring this year & Lebron sees Shaq breaking down & more overweight, Big Z getting even slower, Delonte West going Columbine on some cats after loading a bazooka into his guitar case & taking a cruise on his motorcycle, etc., then i'm pretty sure he wouldn't wanna stay in CLE either.

that doesn't mean he'll automatically wanna come to the Knicks either... he's gonna see where we're at as well & determine if Walsh is gonna make the right moves to build a championship team with & then decide... that doesn't mean he won't come here in 2010 if we can't guarantee he'll win one that same year... but don't think Lebron doesn't also know that the Knicks will have another $17 mil in salary coming off the books in 2011 also... so even if we can't sign 2 max FA's in 2010, that doesn't mean he won't look at the big picture & think the Knicks have set themselves up nicely w/longterm cap flexibility & decide that coming here wouldn't be such a bad idea afterall.

bottomline is none of us has any idea what Lebron will do in 2010 & he probably doesn't even know himself.