LeBron James' baseball team celebrated their 27th championship this afternoon with a Canyon of Heroes parade around Manhattan. This was good timing for the Knicks.
The Yankees' parade coincided with James' only appearance at Madison Square Garden tonight, and that can only be a great thing for the NBA and one of the flagship franchises in basketball.
It's a unique recruiting tool to convince James to play in the Mecca of basketball rather than playing in purgatory in the view of New Yorkers.
The Cavaliers' superstar saw the parade on television, and there's no question he is envisioning what it would be like celebrating in the city than his own hometown.
Who can blame him? Any great athlete envisions those things.
There's something special about winning in the Big Apple, and that's why Clevelanders and basketball fans around the country need to be frightened about the possibility of James being a Knick next year.
From this writer's perspective, he expects King James to be a Knick next season for so many reasons.
For one thing, the league will see to it that it happens. They orchestrated the hiring of Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni to run the Knicks operation, so who's to say they can't do the same in arranging a deal for James to come play at 34th Street and seventh Ave.
David Stern bemoans about the Knicks struggling for years so that's a sign he will play a role even if he denies it.
Second of all, no player showed any interest of playing in Cleveland even with James being there. How is James going to win a title when this happens?
Players are willing to play with James for less money in New York than in Cleveland. The Knicks gain advantage over that with the Cavaliers.
Finally, what does James need to prove in Cleveland? He made his hometown relevant by giving some great years to his hometown team which features the Cavaliers making a trip to the NBA Finals in 2005.
It's hard to win a championship to begin with so in that regard, it's an accomplishment what he did over there. He doesn't owe those fine folks anything other than playing hard and getting his team as far as they can.
The pros of playing in New York outweigh the pros of playing in Cleveland whether basketball fans like it or not.
The hope is that he stays in Cleveland. It would be neat to see star players finish their careers with one team.
Those are the good old days unfortunately. Sports turns out to be a business now with stars trying to maximize their profits and increasing their exposure.
Cleveland can't keep up with what New York has to offer.
Clevelanders know that theory by experiencing that with CC Sabathia. Sabathia showed no intention of wanting to play in Cleveland since he knew he could make a name for himself in New York while winning a championship.
Sabathia and James are buddies, and don't discount Sabathia's recruitment to get his buddy to come play here.
The Yankees made baseball fans miserable by winning a championship on Wednesday night.
This coming summer, it will be the Knicks' turn to make basketball fans miserable.
We're going to send you the most entertaining New York Knicks articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
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