LeBron James To Make His Decision On Thursday

LeBron James is planning to announce the team with which he will sign during a one-hour special on ESPN Thursday night, ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard has learned through independent sources.

ESPN would only confirm that active discussions for the special are ongoing. But sources tell Broussard that representatives for James contacted the network, proposing that James makes his announcement during a 9 p.m. ET special.

Those sources said that James' representatives requested they be allowed to sell sponsorship for the one-hour special, with the proceeds going to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and that ESPN agreed to the proposal but had not been told what James has decided.

The NBA's most prized free agent opened a Twitter account on Tuesday and posted his first message on the social networking site.

"Hello World, the Real King James is in the Building," said the tweet on the kingjames feed, which by 9 p.m. ET had more than 167,000 followers.

 

Damn...Brett Favre must be kicking himself for not thinking of that first

 

What a joke this has become. A one hour special for a free agent to announce where he is going, gimme a break. He must be doing since he missed out on college recruiting by going straight to the NBA.

 

At least the coin for the advertising is going to a good cause...otherwise this is freaking rah-tarded.

 

hes probably the biggest FA signing ever in the sport....this isnt exactly an outrageous idea

 

Sure, it's interesting from a sports standpoint where he lands but this 3 ring circus is all the things that are ridiculous about the off court/field drama in sports.

"Hello World, the Real King James is in the Building,"??? :icon_smile:

He hasn't won a title, he's a potential bad decision away from what team he chooses that'll probably help keep him from one, or a bad injury away from being one of the biggest "What if...?" stories on record.

I'll just wait for the on court result & leave the "Prime Time' Specials' to others...

 

bosh is reportedly joining wade in miami....if they trade beasley away and sign james they will overthrow the NBA for the next 6 years, they will make the lakers and celtics look like JV teams


**********Automerged Doublepost**********

lebron is better than wade, bosh, and amare...but he HAS to know that wade and bosh>lebron and amare on a crapbag NY team

 

Charley Rosen probably says it best in what the different styles would be like together instead of me trying to make it sound coherent. I 100% agree with his take:

Dynamic duos don't always produce titles

To be honest, I'd much rather see this Prime Time Special aired about the goings on in Cleveland.

http://msn.foxsports.com/video/NBA?vid=ab95a2ed-4d25-4a3f-918d-8c17313163f3&from=foxsports/home/moresports

 

its so much different in basketball though especially. he was a one man team in cleveland. they failed to build a team around him because they were always in contention but never got over the hump with JUST him. If he were to go to NY by himself he would instantly catapult them to relevance and within a year they would be in the playoffs but they wouldnt dominate in them just like he was in cleveland. which is why i thought he would certainly team up with bosh or wade to create an elite team, but the thought of all 3 is ridiculous, they wouldnt lose. i think a team of lebron and either one could win 65+ games, but a team with all 3 could be looking at an 80-2 season.

i honestly think/thought that chicago was the best fit for lebron+1 other. you get the best player on the planet, an elite counterpart, derrick rose would break the all time assist record and they have alot of role players there needed to be dominate.

now IF its true about wade and bosh in miami and they dont trade away beasley to get james in there i still think teaming up with rose would be his best bet rather than going to NY and teaming up with amare. lebron and rose=the s*x and i think the bulls are a team that could build greatness around him, soomething that clevland will always be known as a failure at doing

 

NY won't be relevant as long as D'Antoni is the coach of choice & Amar'e showing up just cements it. I don't care what other 'star' they can possibly lure, even James (tho that definitely won't happen IMO) cuz they will always be a defensive nightmare. Besides, Stoudemire will be half of what he was with the Suns just by not having Nash create for him

From an offensive standpoint, it's intriguing but the bottom line is that there's still the problem with meshing the egos especially in crunch time when James AND Wade would want the ball. The only coach proven to be able to tame today's basketball egos still resides in LA & Miami certainly doesn't have the HC to work that magic with a young Erik Spoelstra IMO.

Defensively, just having James/Wade/Bosh wouldn't turn Miami into a defensive juggernaut. Defense still wins games & while none of the 3 is piss poor in man to man (Bosh I'd say was the best), none are world beaters. Having them on the floor at the same time would be better but not any guarantee especially come playoff time when offenses struggle more in the half court & stronger defenses take over games.

80-2? Never happen IMO either. I'd expect a lot of regular season wins but high 60s/low 70s tops. Once again tho, come playoff time is when the chinks in the armor shows.

I'd agree with you here except the Bulls still have front court woes to address. Key element tho is your assessment of the role players. Chicago does have a chemistry there that quite a few teams lack.

I'm a Bulls fan so I'd love the idea :icon_smile: but I still wonder if James, while having the ultimate respect for MJ, would ever really want to play in his shadow. Besides that, there's more money in Cleveland.

Thinking Cleveland still has the best chance. James may want his 'Court' to be his & not share it with anyone else.

 

i think hed rather share personally. i think he might do a sign and trade with cleveland but i am very confident that he wont play another game for them. he doesnt leave his home team high and dry with a sign and trade and he makes more money...makes sense to me.

i think the ego thing is overrated, wade and lebron would both clearly know that if the ball wasnt in their hand in crunch time it would be in the hand of an all-world basketball player.

james cant do it alone, i am confident in saying he is the best right now and may very well be the best ever but even jordan needed help and kobe was CRAP without shaq and didnt do a damn thing without shaq until gasol came to town.

james is at a point in his career (which is still very young so this is weird to say) that all he wants to do is win, which is something you say about older players who are great but never won a ring.....but james (imo) wants to avoid all that mess and just do it now and dominate....if he signs with the bulls or the heat hes well on the way, if he signs with cleveland or the knicks hes setting himself up to contend but never win...again

i hope hes in chicago or miami personally, im a big james fan as you can probably tell...

 

He's staying.

 

wishful thinking.

btw the proceeds of this primetime special go to charity

 

No freaking way he breaks our hearts on live national TV the state of Ohio will burn to the freaking ground if he does

 

lol i think hearts are gonna be broken. its the cavs fault, they failed to build around him at all. winning regular season games riding james was good enough for them

 

We made so many damn moves to build around him brought in so many players you can't put it on Dan Gilbert dude is an amazing owner

 

come on...like ben wallace and shaq on a clear decline?

 

It's not just an ego thing as much as it's also the style of play. Neither plays well without the ball. They've always had the ball based on their talent wherever they've played but it would drastically change in this scenario. Bosh knows he's a role player which is good but even he's got the talent to expect more of the ball than he'd be getting with James & Wade on board.

I'm afraid egos would play a part in this one down the road.

:icon_eek: :icon_smile:

I'd say let's let him win something before we start that debate. Individual stats are fine but he's still behind some superstars in some key catagories too. Time will tell...

As far as do it alone? There's never been a superstar whose won anything without a 'sidekick' & a decent team around him. James, of course, will need that too. I'm just not convinced that Wade could be that one.

 

I dont think he goes anywhere either. He'll convince another one of the free agents to come to Cleveland but it wont be one of the big names. Then we'll wait and see if Cleveland has enough for a championship.

 

i was more on board with bosh following james than a wade/lebron tandem anyway.

and i dont mean to start the debate there but i do think when its said and done he may very well be the best ever