LeBron James might want to learn from Mark Messier’s experience.
Messier left his hometown of Edmonton, where he both grew up and led the Oilers to five Stanley Cups, for the Garden stage. As a result, Messier turned into a Rangers legend, helped the team break its championship curse and became an iconic sports figure.
All because he left his hometown.
Messier believes James, no matter where his free-agent tour takes him, will not get a better offer than the Knicks can present to him in nine days.
“It will be up to him what kind of challenge he needs at this point of his career,” said Messier, who left Edmonton at age 30 in 1991. “I know he will be disappointed he hasn’t brought a championship to Cleveland, that will weigh heavily on him. But the opportunity to play in New York City and being a champion for a storied franchise is also going to be tremendously appealing. There’ll be other great offers from all the teams when he goes on tour, but in the end, I can’t imagine it being better than New York.”
In his third season after arriving in New York, Messier led the Rangers to their first Cup in 54 years. The Knicks’ title drought is 37 years and counting. `
“I would say for myself personally, it was more than I ever dreamt it could be,” Messier said on Ian O’Connor’s ESPN Radio show yesterday. “What I find amazing now is New York is part of my home. My love and passion for the area, I don’t know if I anticipated it coming there. I’m sitting here anticipating to see what will happen.”
Messier, who moved his family back to the area a few years ago, likely will be part of the recruiting pitch to get James, who will become a free agent July 1 and has admitted Cleveland, close to his hometown of Akron, Ohio, has “the edge.”
“I never understood that magnitude of the Stanley Cup at the time,” Messier said. “Now 17 years later, I’m still getting thank-you’d on the street by men and their sons. It really gives you a tremendous understanding what it meant to play in a market that size.”