Annoying as it was, LeBron James and ESPN hooking up for a one-hour special for the purpose of James selecting his NBA destination was a sign of the times as much as anything else.

Xavier Henry made his college choice not once, but twice, on national TV. He announced he was attending Memphis on one of the gazillion ESPN channels. After coach John Calipari took his talents to Lexington, Henry told a national TV audience he was headed for Kansas.

That fling between Henry and Kansas worked out fine. He started for a team that went 33-3, but since KU lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the memory of Henry playing in Allen Fieldhouse will seem distant 10 years form now.

The Miami Heat count on James making memories that won’t fade. Signing James and power forward extraordinaire Chris Bosh to team with Dwyane Wade — the man who has had his first name misspelled more than any superstar in history — makes the Heat the team to watch. But the team to beat?

For the answer to that, we consulted 15-year NBA veteran Danny Manning last week during an interview about his first charity bowling tournament to take place Sunday, Aug. 15, at Royal Crest Lanes from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Your $75 will help Lawrence Community Shelter, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Children’s Miracle Network. Visit dannymanning.org to register.

Be forewarned: Manning owns his own bowling ball. Upon further review, that doesn’t necessarily make him a bowling hustler.

“It’s hard to find bowling balls that work for me with my hand size,” Manning explained.

Basketball, like bowling, requires that one ball at a time be put into play. Will that work for the Heat?

“I hope it works,” Manning said. “You go back over time and you look at the teams that have won, and this seems to fit the pattern of having that championship nucleus.”

Manning then rattled off some winning combinations.

“Michael Jordan was arguably one of the best players of all-time and he still had Scottie Pippen, one of the all-time greats, playing with him. He had Dennis Rodman, another great player, playing with him,” Manning said. “Magic (Johnson) played with Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) and (James) Worthy. (Larry) Bird played with (Kevin) McHale and (Robert) Parrish. I think LeBron is a student of the game, and I think he realizes that multiple weapons are needed to compete for championships.”

The negative fallout from LeBron’s decision took Manning by surprise.

“I find it funny people out there are giving him a hard time and ripping him a little for his decision,” Manning said. “He accepted less money, went to a team where he is going to have to share the limelight. He did something that in my eyes is unselfish, and people are knocking him for it. If this was your child and he sacrificed himself for the greater good of the family, so to speak, wouldn’t you be proud of him for that decision? I hope they do very well.”

Here’s hoping the bowling tourney does very well. Bowling, unlike basketball, is an individual game, which is probably a good thing. Passing around a bowling ball while running at high speeds could get extremely dangerous.