CC Sabathia told The Post last night that he absolutely would like to see his friend LeBron James in New York, and said he would tell the future free agent that New York is a one-of-a-kind city to play in.
Sabathia, the Yankees ace and former Cleveland Indians star, was honored with five of his Yankees teammates at a star-studded Knicks-Cavaliers game at Madison Square Garden. Sabathia just finished the first year of his seven-year, $161 million contract with the Yanks.
“He’s seen both sides of the fence, being in Cleveland and now in New York,” James said before the game.
And Sabathia would like to see James in his new town.
“No doubt. This is it. This is the stage he wants to play on,” Sabathia said. “And I think he’ll be great here.”
Asked what he would tell James about what it’s like to play in New York, Sabathia gushed, “There’s nothing like winning here. There’s nothing like playing here. The fans and just the whole experience. There’s nothing you can compare it to. And I’m just happy that I made the right decision.”
There would seem to be two differences between Sabathia’s free agency and James’ — there’s no salary cap in baseball, so the Yankees could simply outbid every other team for Sabathia, but the Knicks,can’t just hand James a blank check; and while Sabathia hails from California, he wasn’t playing for a California team, yet James has spent his whole life in Ohio, going to high school in Akron, then playing with the Cavs in Cleveland.
Sabathia said he wasn’t sure if James will come here.
“I’m trying. I’m trying hard,” he said. “By doing these interviews and doing these different things, I’m trying hard.”
James is a big Yankees fan, and before the game he said he was in awe of, and grateful to, the Yankees who were expected to attend. Those who came were Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Joba Chamberlain and Melky Cabrera, all of whom were introduced to the crowd to a standing ovation after the first quarter.
“The fact that they would take time out of their schedule,” James said, “especially with what they just accomplished, to come see a basketball game, come see us play, come see the Knicks play, it’s humbling for me as an individual and it’s humbling for our team that you would come out and support us.”
James said he didn’t see the Yankees’ parade because he was sleeping.
“I heard it was great,” James said. “Congratulations to the Yankees.”