“The Decision” tonight on ESPN 9 p.m. ET. I was under the impression that he would announce his plans at the end of the special, redefining cruel for Cleveland fans if he didn’t stay. But he’s announcing it within the first ten minutes of the show. He’s backed himself into a lose-lose situation, if he stays he’ll be the king of drama and only that until he wins a title, and if he leaves he’s given up on his home and dragged the Cleveland fans through the dirt with all the free agency shenanigans.
I made the mistake of reading the comments on that ESPN article. Some say it’d be bad for league popularity if he joined Miami to create a super team. People love super teams: for recent references, look at the ’08 Celtics and the 18-0 Patriots. If I learned anything from the ’96 Bulls or ’98 Goldberg, it’s that people are interested in dominance. One comment I did like was someone pointing out that if the Miami Super Heat ended up winning multiple championships, he would always have one fewer than Wade. Hey that’s still be better than zero. I want to see him on the Bulls (because I fancy them and LeBron/Rose vs. Wade/Bosh in the Eastern Conference Finals every year would be awesome) or the Knicks (because I want to see what it’s like for New York to have a good basketball team when I’m older than twelve).
Also, anyone that says ESPN should stop covering this so much just needs to watch a different channel or go to a different site. It’s July; what do you want, more web gems? Bill Simmons and Kevin Wildes discussed something similar on the B.S. Report last year: people seemed tired of Brett Favre last year, but the NFC title game got huge ratings. People love Favre! Or at least find him compelling. LeBron’s free agency is certainly compelling, and it’s gonna get big ratings. (I’m gonna put my credibility on a limb here, guys, and predict that it will garner ESPN’s highest ratings for a July 8 broadcast.) Ratings are what TV’s about. Great touch by ESPN to call it “The Decision” so that it can join The Fumble, The Drive, and The Shot.