CLEVELAND — The entire course of Cavaliers history was altered by the 2003 lottery when they won LeBron James in a game of chance. Had Detroit, Memphis or Denver (same odds as Cleveland; 22.5 percent) lucked into the first pick, Carmelo Anthony, or Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh would’ve wound up wearing maroon and gold . . . then what?
Does Dan Gilbert buy the team for more than $300 million . . . and then invest millions more into refurbishing the arena and building a $25 million state-of-the-art practice facility? Would his Cavs currently be $21 million over the luxury tax?
Winning the lottery was a shock to the system of Cleveland’s sports fans. This city is infamous for something always going wrong with its teams and each incident, it seems, comes attached with a nickname.
“The Shot” (Michael Jordan over Craig Ehlo); “The Fumble” and “The Drive” and “Red Right 88” — all are dramatic moments in Cleveland Browns disappointments. The Indians haven’t won a World Series since 1948. The last Browns title was 1964, pre-Super Bowl.
Art Modell moves the Browns and then wins a Super Bowl in Baltimore. The Indians’ Jose Mesa can’t get the Marlins out in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series — and they lose in 11 innings. The 1975-76 Cavs beat Washington in the semis and just before the Conference Finals vs. Boston, Jim Chones breaks his foot in practice. And then there’s the curse of Rocky Colavito.
Cleveland never seems to have the best player in any sport. Well, almost never; the one and only time it happened was when the Browns flaunted Jim Brown. So now, not only do the Cavs have the best player — he’s from Akron! He’s local!
In modern times, even going back nearly 45 years, it’s unprecedented that an NBA team’s luminary grew up in the vicinity. Previous to 1966, that was a common occurrence. A territorial draft gave the league’s nine teams an option to forfeit their first-round pick, and instead choose a player from the franchise’s immediate geographical (born or played college ball) area. The 1966 draft was the first that used the inverse order selection process.
Consequently, over the years, in short, Philly got Wilt Chamberlain, Cincinnati got Oscar Robertson, New York got Bill Bradley, Boston got Tommy Heinsohn; L.A. got Gail Goodrich; Detroit got Dave DeBusschere, Minneapolis got Vern Mikkelsen and Dick Garmaker, and St. Louis got Ed McCauley and Bob Ferry, whose son, Danny, oddly enough, is the Cavs GM.
League history boasts a profusion of preeminent players, but who won a championship for his hometown franchise? No, not Russell, Jordan, Mikan, Kareem, Duncan, Magic, Bird, Shaq, Kobe, Pettit, Walton, West, Willis, Frazier or anyone else that comes to mind.
The lone executor was Wilt, in 1967.
LeBron is on target to become the second.
That’s why people here get all wrapped around the axle when LBJ wears a Yankees hat at an Indians game. The city’s natural tendency is to protect and drive away all evil trying to take him away. Anything that has the veneer of a threat — no matter his intent — is a real threat, because that’s all these fans have ever known.
Six years ago, before James joined the Cavs, people wouldn’t cross the street to see them play. Now 20,562 regularly sell out Quicken Loans Arena. Yes, they had great crowds and passionate fans in the “Miracle of Richfield” days at the old Coliseum (Mark Price, Brad Daugherty and Larry Nance), but they didn’t have the best player. That was always Jordan.
The fretting over LeBron leaving or staying when his contract expires after next season has as much to do with the history of the city’s sports, where a black cloud engulfs every silver lining.
Magic Johnson remained enthusiastically accessible throughout his career, answering questions long into many nights. Michael Jordan started playing really hard to get after the Bulls first championship. LeBron sits in front of his dressing stall a half-hour or so after games and bestows quotable opinions and observations for about 10 minutes. Once on-deadline reporters disperse, the rap music is turned up, but the volume was respectfully lowered each time I requested some extra time.
Then I got greedy and gently pushed for a private meeting. We met before last Friday’s noon practice; he showed up an hour early the morning after a Cavaliers overtime win over the Blazers. Surprised to learn there had been a territorial draft, LeBron got excited at the prospects of him linking up in NBA history with Wilt Chamberlain.
By no means, was that the first subject broached, but that’s what happens when the subsequent question elicits an apparently revealing reply: Would a crown keep King James on the Cavs throne?
“I don’t know if it will keep me to stay or help me to leave,” he said. He then softened that a bit by adding he’s never looked at his free-agent situation that way. “I won’t know that until hopefully we win a ring.”
What is LeBron’s view? “I look at it as me being the face of this franchise, and we continue to get better over the years and our franchise continues to get better. I have never had any thoughts of playing anywhere else or imagining playing anywhere else.”
Sugar plum visions of teaming up with Wade or Dwight Howard dance in LeBron’s oblongata.
“But that doesn’t mean playing somewhere else,” he said. “I got that opportunity with the USA team and it was great. But I’ve never expressed a desire to play with another franchise. I really appreciate what this franchise has done for me and what it wants to continue to do for me, and I’m going to try to do what I do . . . and let opponents do what they can about it.”
For the life of me, I cannot fathom anything the Knicks (space prohibits me from cluttering conjecture with other pretenders) can offer a performer of James’ upper crust that would make him leave Cleveland — other than basketball’s most grandiose stage.
Producer/publicist Dan Klores says Paul Simon once told him he didn’t fully comprehend Bruce Springsteen’s energy until he got up on stage alongside him and experienced it. It’s easy to see how LeBron might be stage struck by Madison Square Garden. Who wouldn’t want the Masters of the Universe and entertainment’s monarchy genuflecting — and that’s on his worst day?
How cool and unaffected and self-assured is the person who can reject such unknown adulation. Especially when LeBron’s widespread marketability and the Internet attests to the fact you can become a global icon without being in New York.
Still, I understand ego is a huge part of greatness. If going to New York is about ego, I get it. Anything else is beyond my grasp.
“I think ego does make greatness,” James said. “Sense of team — worrying about your team first, individually second. That also defines greatness.”
LeBron mentioned Magic and Oscar Robertson as sacrificing their egos for the good of the team. They, as well as Jordan and Larry Bird, led differently than he does. They publicly would call out teammates, sometimes while the game was going on. Mo Williams said LeBron already could have compiled a triple double, but will always use “us” and “we” and never “you” when demanding a better effort or smarter play.
Scolding teammates publicly is something he tries to stay away from, James said.
“Basketball has changed a lot. I don’t know if I could throw a teammate under the bus like that,” he said. “During a game and in the locker room, I’ll get on my teammates every now and again. But I try to be more encouraging than bring guys down, because I know at the end of the day, I’m going to need them. When I do get on them, they know I’m trying to get them ready, not trying to hurt them for the game.
“It’s always been that way with me. I’ve always liked the success of the team. The individual accolades take care of themselves. When I was younger and played in an 8-to-10 league, we went 13-0 and won the championship. My coach [Frank Walker] gave everyone an MVP trophy. I’ll always remember that.”
So many other superstars talk out of one side of their mouths, then do just the opposite and eventually getting exposed. I wondered how James resists temptation. How does he not abuse his cosmic power, not get sucked in by his celebrity status and its accompanying illicit inducements?
“It has to do a little with your upbringing,” he said. “My mother and other people in my life [coaches], were mentors, they put me on the right path. Also, using my instincts, knowing the difference between what’s right and what’s wrong. At times it has to do a lot with being able to shield myself from temptation and wrong doing.”
I know what’s out there and what’s available. How is that possible?
“You have to have a good supporting cast around you, especially when you get in the position I’m in. I have friends, people that work for me, my family. We do a great job shielding that away from me.”
Does LeBron actually have someone on guard sifting through the rubble that’s constantly trying to infiltrate and manipulate?
“Do we have a guy, no,” he said. “Do we have common sense, yes. I think we all know what’s at stake here. People around me know. Everybody represents all of us. When I go out, I know I represent family and legacy. Everyone around me has that same feeling.”
I appreciate LeBron’s stance, but I’ve heard it so many times from other hallowed ambassadors of the game and they turn out hollow.
“Who am I to say I know all the answers,” he said. “I don’t. If I did, than I would be inhuman, I would be perfect. I can’t sit here and tell you I may go my whole career being mistake-free, I can’t say that.”
I didn’t mean getting ticketed for driving 100 miles an hour or wearing a Yankees hat at an Indians game, which, by the way, he admits was “a bad decision.” I meant compromising himself, creating an unholy, front-page spectacle.
“I will not put myself in a position to embarrass myself. I don’t look at it as embarrassing LeBron James,” he asserted. “It’s embarrassing my two sons, my girlfriend, my mother, my team and the people I represent and surround myself with. I carry that type of responsibility every day I leave the house.”
Where did this guy come from? How is it possible to be so mature, poised and confident off the court as well as on? Has James ever doubted himself?
“No, I’ve questioned a few plays here and there, or a situation here and there, but I’ve learned from it. I’ve never really doubted how I approached the game, or my IQ about the game, or who I am as a person.
“The confidence comes from my mom, man, my mom,” he said. “Now I have my family. I have two kids, have my girlfriend there, and now . . . you know, come to think of it, my mom did it all herself. She was a sophomore in high school, pregnant with me, and raised me basically by herself. Wow! And that age, in ’84, 16 years old, phew! They say women are the strongest people on the planet.”
I asked LeBron if he had considered what leaving Cleveland would mean to the city’s economic and emotional stability.
“Is it a burden? I don’t know,” he said. “Do I like that people are depending on me to do the things I do? I accept challenges. I grew up 30 minutes from here, so I know the history [see above recital]. So, I know the fans of Cleveland, and not just Cleveland, the whole state of Ohio, and I embrace it.”
By all Cavalier accounts, LeBron gets it! This is not an act or a script. He’s following his own internal compass, and it’s guiding him simply to be true to himself.
“I’ll tell you what,” a member of the front office underlined, “LeBron is such a good kid, if he winds up going somewhere else, I wish him nothing but good luck.”
LeBron James was born Dec. 30, 1984. He was aware of sharing a birthday with Tiger Woods, but unaware of Sandy Koufax, Bo Diddley and Rudyard Kipling. His poem “If” concludes with the below stanza . . .
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings — nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run —
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And — which is more — you’ll be a Man my son!