CLEVELAND -- The King has spoken to Larry King.

LeBron James, the NBA's two-time MVP on the cusp of free agency, taped a sit-down interview at his home near Akron on Tuesday with King. The segment will air Friday on CNN's "Larry King Live," capping the program's 25th anniversary celebration on the network.

Other than his postgame interview, James has not talked to the media since the Cleveland Cavaliers were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics, who then knocked off Orlando and will meet the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals.

It was not immediately known what James discussed with King.

The 25-year-old James heads a star-studded free agency summer class featuring Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, Carlos Boozer and others. James has not given any hints about his plans, saying only that he and his "team" of advisers will weigh all their options.

The New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and New Jersey Nets are among a group of teams expected to make a strong push for James when free agency opens July 1.

James has spent all seven seasons as a pro with the Cavs, who offered him a contract extension last year and can give him $30 million more than any other team in a maximum-length deal. Cleveland recently fired coach Mike Brown, who led the team to 143 wins the past two seasons but couldn't get them to the finals either year.

On Saturday, former NBA player Darryl Dawkins, who judged an amateur dunk contest with James, said he believed that Cleveland's All-Star should follow his heart.

"He should go where he thinks he'll be happy," said one of the most powerful dunkers in league history. "Make the right decision for your family and get as much money as you can. If he leaves Cleveland, basketball as we know it here is going to go down. They have to do what they can to keep him here. I would like to see him stay in Cleveland, but he has to do what is right for him."

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No chance of that.

Depends on who makes it.

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If he doesn't win a championship, he is easily the biggest bust in sports history. IMO, of course.

Writing easily and then saying IMO is kinda conflicting.


The term BUST is usually reserved for players who arent good.

If he ends up as one of the top 5 or 10 players ever but doesnt win a championship, thats a BUST?

Writing easily and then saying IMO is kinda conflicting.


The term BUST is usually reserved for players who arent good.

If he ends up as one of the top 5 or 10 players ever but doesnt win a championship, thats a BUST?[/quote]

My opinion, is that he is easily the biggest bust of all time if he doesn't win a championship. It's only my opinion, because it can't be a fact. That's impossible.

And to answer the second question, yes. If LBJ doesn't win a championship, he is a BUST. He was heralded as the next MJ. To me, a bust is a player who doesn't meet expectations. And while the MJ expectation is a little bit high, I don't think there is a person on earth who didn't expect a talent like LBJ to win at least one championship.


Luckily this won't matter when he wins 7 in Chicago.

By that definition I guess youre right.

I think a better term could be used. Im not sure what. But BUST kinda has its own Ryan Leaf type meaning.


Thank you for the definition of opinion.

Unless there is a sign and trade that would bring Bosh to the Cavs I think LeBron choices are NY and Chicago. The Raptors would only do a sign and trade to get rid of a bad contract like Turkoglu's or to bring back some good young talent. The Cavs don't have any young talent beyond Hickson or the $21M in salaries to make that deal work. None of the other teams like the Nets or Clippers have the pieces to make it work unless they part with Lopez or Griffin. Doing that automatically makes those places less appealing. That's why I believe it will come down to NY and Chicago.

If I take off my Rose colored glasses off the Knicks are the better destination and have the cap flexibility to sign LeBron and Bosh as well as keep David Lee. They also have the trading chip that is Eddy Curry's expiring contract and trading chips like Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari to bring in another player from a team looking to shed some salary or via a sign and trade. NY is a bigger market too and the spotlight is something LeBron seems to really cares about. The up tempo style of play is something I think LeBron would love to play in too. He also wouldn't have to share ball handling duties with anyone. He would be able to control the offense. Even if he didn't like the style of play or coach the Knicks wouldn't have a problem firing D'Antoni and paying Phil $15M a year to coach where he used to play. Which lineup would be better?

Chris Bosh
David Lee
Wilson Chandler
Danilo Gallinari
LeBron James

or

Joakim Noah
Taj Gibson
Luol Deng
LeBron James
Derrick Rose

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1) How do the Knicks have the cap room to sign 2 free agents, plus retain Lee for $10 million plus? I thought they had to sacrifice Lee in order to sign to max guys?

2) Keep in mind the Bulls would still have money to sign one additional player, not a max guy, but I believe somewhere in the $8 million a year range.

Lu Deng isn't a bad chip in a sign and trade scenario.

He becomes redundant if LBJ6 comes here and stastically, he looks like a much better player than he is:

2010: 17.6 ppg/7.3 rpg/47% shooter

If you can convince LBJ6 to come, you can acquire a second max player by moving Deng and some spare parts.

They have his Larry Bird rights. I know the Bulls could sign and $8M guy but it won't be a guy that is a difference maker. The Knicks have Curry's expiring deal too but it didn't make sense to speculate about who they could get for that money.

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no one is going to take Deng with 4 years left on a deal paying him 50 mil+

I'm not sure about that ... what about some of these teams that have cap room and no one to spend it on?

The Wiz, Hawk and the Clip come to mind. And Luol at $51.3M/4 isn't all that horrible for a team with a need.

Wouldn't the Cavs be better off adding Deng than letting James walk for nothing?

Bosh wants to follow LeBron. If LeBron is in NY that is where Bosh will be. My fear is the Bulls end up with Boozer and Joe Johnson.

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...but Deng is not very good
what need does he fill for the Hawks? they already have Marvin Williams, an underachieving Deng-clone
i'm not even sure Deng could be the 3rd best player on a championship team

There are a lot of teams that would love to have an $11M guy like Deng. The Bulls should hope a team that has cap space is willing to work out a deal for Kirk or Deng. Maybe some type of 3 way deal. That way the salaries don't have to match up. There are 8 other teams with that type of cap space and most of them don't have a shot at getting LeBron or any of the other max guys.

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Why don't you think Deng is good? His numbers and performance says otherwise. He isn't flashy but at 25 he is a really good option for any team. He will make less than $13M a year for the rest of his deal. Granted that is about $2M too much. That's not enough to be a deal breaker though.

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so you think he is worth 11 mil but not 13 mil?
how does one determine that??

He is not really a good option for any team. Say the Wizards pick him up. Or the Hawks. Or whoever. You think they're really going to improve noticeably? He might lead the Wiz to 28 wins instead of 27. Do you not think the Bulls would have traded him already if they could? The only difference now being that several teams have cap room. His numbers are decent but he is anything but a difference maker. Combine that with his contract and he is an albatross. I can't believe you think he good option for any team at the price tag he is at and the years remaining on his deal

That is not what my toaster told me this morning.

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I think he is about an $11M guy. Just like I think Amare is about a $15M a year guy but he will like get max money. Deng's numbers aren't garbage numbers either. He has been putting up the same numbers since he got into the league. He isn't injured going into the offseason for about the second time in his entire career. I expect him to improve. He already has one of the best mid range games in the NBA and he has started to slash and finish at the rim. He can become a 22 and 8 guy for about 6 or 7 years. Teams are likely to give Boozer and Amare close to max deals for pretty much putting up the same numbers while being the primary or secondary options on offense. Deng is about the 3rd or 4th option most nights. He can be effective without having the ball in his hands. Neither of those guys are better or willing defenders like Luol and they are older. They have either peaked or are currently at their peak. Deng would be an upgrade on the following teams:

Sacramento (cap room)
Washington (cap room)
San Antonio
Portland
Phoenix
Philadelphia
Orlando
New York (cap room)
New Orleans
New Jersey (cap room)
Minnesota (cap room)
Milwaukee
Miami (cap room)
Clippers (cap room)
Cleveland (w/o LeBron)
Atlanta

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Bulls fans can get excited about this excerpt:

KING: Were you a Cavs fan?

JAMES: Growing up? No I wasn't. I was a Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan fan growing up.

KING: So the president's suggestion might carry weight, right? (LAUGHTER)

JAMES: It may, it may carry weight.

KING: So why the Bulls and not your own team?

JAMES: I was just, wow, I mean, Michael Jordan was just my inspiration. I mean, the things that he was able to do out on the basketball court, I loved. Everybody wanted to fly like Jordan, pull up and hit a game winner at the sound of the horn like Michael. You wanted to do commercials, you wanted to have his shoes. You know, everything that he did, I wanted to do.

KING: When did you first meet him?

JAMES: I met Michael Jordan, my first time, I was in the 10th grade. I went to Chicago and they played at a gym called Hoops. That was the first time I met him. It was like he was walking on water when he came towards me.

KING: Did he know who you were?

JAMES: Yes, he did. He did. And that was more gratifying and it was just very humbling that he knew who I was.

James also reiterated that the opportunity to win multiple championships will be the most important factor in his decision, which can be made verbally as early as July 1, four weeks from Thursday. Players can't officially sign contracts until July 8.

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For those of you that don't plan on watching the interview you may want to read it. It reads like he was a little uncomfortable answering some of the questions. He said he supports Obama too. Not sure if that was a smart business move. Larry King appeared to be toying with him.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_spo ... 15G9iQ5I/0

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that doesn't bode well

I'm at the point where I'm starting to really dislike the LeBron and his attention whoring ways.



CLEVELAND -- Danny Ferry resigned abruptly Friday as general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers after five seasons.

Ferry's departure occurred two weeks after the club fired coach Mike Brown following the team's second-round loss to the Boston Celtics in the NBA playoffs. It comes as the team is making plans to try to re-sign two-time MVP LeBron James, who will be a free agent on July 1.

Ferry was in the final month of his contract.

The team said Friday assistant GM Chris Grant will take over for Ferry.


Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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Why would they fire him now? He's gone in like 3 weeks.

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What does this have to do with Lebron wanting attention?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

They are firing all the guys LeBron didn't like.

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