When It Comes to LeBron James Free Agency, A Source For Everyone
Earlier this morning a 20 something year old sales rep(lets call him Mike) pulled quickly through a south Chicagoland McDonalds to grab breakfast before landing in the same spot he’s worked from for the past four years. Back to the all too comfortable office chair which has doubled as his NBA insider headquarters throughout the ride that has been Lebron James free agency. A few droll hours have passed when looking quickly over his shoulder Mike sees his supervisor has left for an early afternoon meeting. A feeling of relief sweeps over him… its game time. His computer monitor quickly changes from sales spreadsheets to ESPN insider pages. The next hour is spent scouring the internet for any new information that might point to his beloved Chicago Bulls landing James this Summer. After a few Google search combinations he’s finally found it, another piece to the puzzle. An NBA executive has reportedly declared Lebron and Bosh to Chicago a done deal. Pure elation ensues and the rest of the day is spent maximizing and minimizing Firefox windows between his now returned Boss’s bathroom breaks. He can’t help but declare to fellow Bull fans via text that it’s finally a done deal. Surely this means Chicago is now Lebron’s favored destination.
Meanwhile hundreds of miles East sits 42 year old Devin of New York City. Devin’s eyes, underlined by dark circles that have likely resulted from years of Knick letdowns, stare intently at his company paid HP laptop. He is knee deep in articles on ESPN’s New York page debating Lebron’s potential to pick up and take his craft to the Big Apple. It was only a year ago that Devin’s days were filled with finding tangible clues pointing towards James becoming a Knick. Today isn’t much different, yet he can’t help feeling uncomfortable in that he must now sift through journalism with titles like “Lebron to Chicago a Done Deal?” and “Lebron and D Wade in Long Beach Imminent”. But selective preference prevails as he finally settles down to a light read on how Lebron’s plans to meet in Ohio with the Knicks before other suitors. Surely this means the Knicks are his overall favorite choice.
Devin hops into the comments section of the online report to give his view on the news. His smiles turn quickly to a sullen frown as he reads what he finds to be a quite obtuse and illogical post by user name ‘southbeachryan’. It is once again hundreds of miles away that ‘southbeachryan’ types, “Sorry boys but Steven A. Smith reports that Bosh and Lebron will be landing in Miami to play with D Wade”. Ryan, a real estate agent who at the moment hasn’t had much luck in selling property due to the current economic climate, is spending his afternoon spreading the ‘news’ that Steven A. Smith of all people has finally given us the truth. Ryan’s dream of seeing Lebron, Bosh, and Wade dominate the league has finally come to fruition. He reads over and over again the report from Smith and lavishes in the beauty of seeing the rumor blow up across various hoops news websites. Surely this means Lebron is now headed for Miami.
Surely.
Well I can only be sure that there’s a Mike, Devin, or Ryan; axe that, thousands of Mikes and Ryans, and perhaps even millions of Devins across the country. You see it’s the magnitude of possibilities that make the Lebron James free agency such a unique spectacle. Everyone has a shot, everyone has a source, EVERYONE has a stake in this thing. It’s almost as if each invested fan represents a reason for Lebron to join each prospective club. Not as in the quantity of fans hoping he lands at any certain destination but rather the reason for LBJ to consider each city. The Cleveland fan represents loyalty and commitment, the Chicago and Miami fan winning, the New York fan fame and glory. Each view and reason exists whether its counterpart likes it or not, and to the distain of winning, loyalty cannot be discounted, to the distain of fame winning cannot be written off. Each and every fan’s desire can be reaffirmed at this point by some reported source, statistic, or demographic. We’ve filled the kettle so full of these ‘reports’ that it would almost seem most likely that Lebron will choose all the teams in question somehow suiting up for over 300 games next season. The media, fans, and even Lebron himself has fueled the fire that lead to the creation of alternate realities through the pure mass of interest in James’ decision. Do yourselves a favor and sit back, stop looking for ‘facts’ to back up what you want to happen. While all the energy we’ve put into this thing as fans and journalist has amounted to a massive phenomenon, soon it will dissipate to one real and definite outcome. Which is the true beauty of sports, when the final seconds pass, you know who has won, and who has lost. Lets just hope this game doesn’t go to overtime.
