LeBron James Will Join Knicks for Their Health, Not Their Wealth

The New York Knicks are playing a dangerous game of chance with LeBron James. The moves they have made over the last week have been a clear sign that the Knicks have begun the process to ensure they will be able to offer LeBron the maximum dollar contract the league allows when he becomes a free agent in the summer of 2010.

If it's money LeBron is after, then the Knicks are a shoe-in to swipe him away from the Cavaliers. While the Cavs can offer him more money than the Knicks can just to play basketball, they can't offer him the same type of exposure and the lucrative business opportunities that the city of New York can.

Indeed, few cities in the world have the appeal that the Big Apple does.

LeBron once said that he wants to become a billionaire. If that is still a career objective, it will be easier for him to achieve that goal in New York rather than in Cleveland. While it's an unusual target that few athletes can actually aspire to, for him it would seem to be within reach.

However, watching the Cavs blow the Knicks apart 119-101 Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden showed that the Knicks may be overlooking something that should become more important than just dollars and cents.

The state of the Knicks organization and the direction it is heading in should outweigh the idea of how much money LeBron could make. It should be the first factor James considers when making his decision.

When the summer of 2010 rolls around, he'll be entering his prime and will no doubt be looking to join a team where he'll be able to compete for an NBA championship immediately, and for many years to come.

If the Knicks are hoping to go from bust to instant championship contenders when they sign King James, then they are dead wrong.

The recent trades of Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph were done to lessen financial commitments, but will they incur a greater cost down the road? Tim Thomas, Cuttino Mobley, and Al Harrington all have talent, but the trade hasn't been perceived as a move to strengthen the immediate core of New York's squad.

LeBron wants to play for a team with demonstrated title aspirations of their own. He is looking for a franchise with playoff experience that has traveled along a similar path that James has. Right now, the Knicks' current roster doesn't have that and it's unlikely that will improve to the point where it will have done so over the next two seasons.

LeBron is undoubtedly gifted but, as he has experienced first hand from the last two seasons' playoff defeats to the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics, he is stoppable. At least his team has been. Whether opponents stop James or just expose the weaknesses of his teammates, either way, LeBron knows that he can't win a championship by himself.

Not yet anyway.

Despite what's been written and said, nobody knows for sure what LeBron will decide to do in approximately 19 months time, simply because he hasn't decided yet himself. He hasn't given any hint as to which way he is leaning either, and he would be foolish to do otherwise. He's aware that anything he says can be interpreted in numerous ways depending on the author's angle.

It's also unlikely that the current economic downturn will personally affect him, but if it does, fortunately it seems that there are plenty of organizations willing to chip in a few bucks to help him out.

For too long now, the New York Knicks have been irrelevant to the NBA. The only headlines they've been making have been the wrong ones. It's not good enough for one of sport's best known franchises. Loved and loathed equally, it's important that the Knicks do well, because in the basketball world, they matter.

This is going to be a big test for the Knicks organization and they have to get this right. They can't afford another embarrassing error that leaves them open to ridicule. While LeBron won't be the only high-profile player heading into free agency in 2010, he will be the most recognizable.

Through his various sponsorship and endorsement deals, especially with Nike, James' face has been plastered on billboards all around the world.

It's for this reason that LeBron would seem to be a perfect fit for the city of New York, just as New York seems a suitable platform—perhaps the only platform large enough—for the self-dubbed "chosen one."

Ever since he was a scrawny kid dropping 50+ point games at St. Vincent-St. Mary's High School, James has lived up to his massive hype and expectation. Living up to expectations is the hardest thing to do in sports.

Now matters get even more difficult for James. His phenomenal skills and breathtaking plays draw him into never-ending comparisons with Michael Jordan. It's no good if he doesn't like being marked against one of the greatest ever, because he chose to wear No. 23.

He started it.