Bulls best shot for James to achieve immortal status
Kobe 5, LeBron 0.
Put that on a billboard somewhere in Cuyahoga County.
In the summer of LeBron, it’s the only basketball scoreboard that means anything to royal watchers of The King.
The message behind my proposed billboard potentially affects James’ free-agent decision more than silly LeBron James Appreciation Day, Saturday in Akron, or any hokey tribute New York or Los Angeles or Chicago may be concocting.
One big, bold sign alongside an Ohio highway could help James realize the shortest, quickest road to start changing his NBA championship total and legacy goes through Chicago.
Kobe Bryant winning NBA title No. 5 for the Lakers over the Celtics drove home to James and the basketball world the biggest difference between the two players generally recognized as the best on the planet.
Kobe has five rings. LeBron has an entourage; Kobe has earned a reputation as the most competitive athlete in professional team sports. LeBron is known as the most connected; Kobe now has been on as many NBA championship teams as Magic Johnson. LeBron hasn’t been on as many as Jack Haley.
Forget James wanting to emulate hero Michael Jordan. LeBron never will surpass Kobe in the ongoing debate over who is better until he wins at least one championship. James may hold a slight edge on Bryant in terms of athletic ability because of age and the variety of ways he can dominate a game. But until he hoists the Larry O’Brien trophy once, he always will finish second in any historical comparison.
If you think that doesn’t matter to NBA superstars whose egos tend to be even larger than their salaries, you missed Kobe pointing out, unsolicited, in the postgame press conference at Staples Center that now he had “one more than Shaq.”
When pro athletes have a gazillion dollars like Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant and James do, title rings are currency. They use championships to measure respect instead of money.
James is 25. He still has the combination of youth and talent to finish his NBA career with more championships than either Bryant or Jordan. But you can’t win five or six until you win the first one. And you can’t win the first one until you are surrounded by a core of capable, complementary players just as young and hungry — like that of the Bulls.
It took Bryant four seasons to win his first title with L.A. It took Jordan seven with the Bulls. James will begin his eighth NBA season next fall.
If the trend continues, we will start talking about James’ career having more in common with Charles Barkley’s or Karl Malone’s than Bryant’s or Jordan’s: The greatest player who never won an NBA title.
If James decides to stay in Cleveland, I suppose nobody can begrudge a guy who wants to stay loyal to the hometown team. But James has to realize the comforts of home come would come at a price.
The longer James stays in Cleveland, the harder it will be ever to challenge Bryant as the greatest player of the post-Jordan era. Plus, the Cavalier approach to this decision would be contrary to what James said will matter most: the best chance for him finally to win.
Held to those words, James has no better choice than the Bulls. He could start over in Chicago alongside at least Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and whatever other quality free agent they may add alongside their maximum-contract guy. There’s no Pau Gasol, but that supporting cast around James would make the Bulls as competitive in the East as Bryant and the Lakers are in the West.
The Bulls also have a new coach, Tom Thibodeau, to be introduced Wednesday at the Berto Center, with credibility and experience game-planning in the NBA Finals. Thibodeau’s defensive strategy nearly allowed the Celtics to steal the series from a more talented Lakers team but, in the end, their shots stopped falling.
Not that I find myself often repeating the wisdom of Warren Sapp but, Friday on his Twitter page, the bombastic former NFL defensive tackle illustrated the type of peer pressure James may be feeling. Under Sapp’s nickname “QBKILLA,” he tweeted: “LeBron U Ever Gonna Get 1??”
As the kids say, LOL.
It’s the most relevant question surrounding James come July 1. The closest he can come to answering yes would be to sign with the Bulls.
Of all his options, that’s the best chance LeBron may have to stop Kobe personally from getting No. 6 next year in the NBA Finals.
Bulls best shot for James to achieve immortal status
Kobe 5, LeBron 0.
Put that on a billboard somewhere in Cuyahoga County.
In the summer of LeBron, it’s the only basketball scoreboard that means anything to royal watchers of The King.
The message behind my proposed billboard potentially affects James’ free-agent decision more than silly LeBron James Appreciation Day, Saturday in Akron, or any hokey tribute New York or Los Angeles or Chicago may be concocting.
One big, bold sign alongside an Ohio highway could help James realize the shortest, quickest road to start changing his NBA championship total and legacy goes through Chicago.
Kobe Bryant winning NBA title No. 5 for the Lakers over the Celtics drove home to James and the basketball world the biggest difference between the two players generally recognized as the best on the planet.
Kobe has five rings. LeBron has an entourage; Kobe has earned a reputation as the most competitive athlete in professional team sports. LeBron is known as the most connected; Kobe now has been on as many NBA championship teams as Magic Johnson. LeBron hasn’t been on as many as Jack Haley.
Forget James wanting to emulate hero Michael Jordan. LeBron never will surpass Kobe in the ongoing debate over who is better until he wins at least one championship. James may hold a slight edge on Bryant in terms of athletic ability because of age and the variety of ways he can dominate a game. But until he hoists the Larry O’Brien trophy once, he always will finish second in any historical comparison.
If you think that doesn’t matter to NBA superstars whose egos tend to be even larger than their salaries, you missed Kobe pointing out, unsolicited, in the postgame press conference at Staples Center that now he had “one more than Shaq.”
When pro athletes have a gazillion dollars like Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant and James do, title rings are currency. They use championships to measure respect instead of money.
James is 25. He still has the combination of youth and talent to finish his NBA career with more championships than either Bryant or Jordan. But you can’t win five or six until you win the first one. And you can’t win the first one until you are surrounded by a core of capable, complementary players just as young and hungry — like that of the Bulls.
It took Bryant four seasons to win his first title with L.A. It took Jordan seven with the Bulls. James will begin his eighth NBA season next fall.
If the trend continues, we will start talking about James’ career having more in common with Charles Barkley’s or Karl Malone’s than Bryant’s or Jordan’s: The greatest player who never won an NBA title.
If James decides to stay in Cleveland, I suppose nobody can begrudge a guy who wants to stay loyal to the hometown team. But James has to realize the comforts of home come would come at a price.
The longer James stays in Cleveland, the harder it will be ever to challenge Bryant as the greatest player of the post-Jordan era. Plus, the Cavalier approach to this decision would be contrary to what James said will matter most: the best chance for him finally to win.
Held to those words, James has no better choice than the Bulls. He could start over in Chicago alongside at least Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and whatever other quality free agent they may add alongside their maximum-contract guy. There’s no Pau Gasol, but that supporting cast around James would make the Bulls as competitive in the East as Bryant and the Lakers are in the West.
The Bulls also have a new coach, Tom Thibodeau, to be introduced Wednesday at the Berto Center, with credibility and experience game-planning in the NBA Finals. Thibodeau’s defensive strategy nearly allowed the Celtics to steal the series from a more talented Lakers team but, in the end, their shots stopped falling.
Not that I find myself often repeating the wisdom of Warren Sapp but, Friday on his Twitter page, the bombastic former NFL defensive tackle illustrated the type of peer pressure James may be feeling. Under Sapp’s nickname “QBKILLA,” he tweeted: “LeBron U Ever Gonna Get 1??”
As the kids say, LOL.
It’s the most relevant question surrounding James come July 1. The closest he can come to answering yes would be to sign with the Bulls.
Of all his options, that’s the best chance LeBron may have to stop Kobe personally from getting No. 6 next year in the NBA Finals.