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Douchebag goes from saying this is where Lebron needs to go to now this?
Miami Scheme Machine? NBA Should Probe Heat
Not to interrupt the Dance Dance Revolution on South Beach, of course. Or further aggravate the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has the laugh-out-loud gall to say LeBron James -- still on track to be sport's next billionaire athlete -- is being treated like "a runaway slave.'' But consider this: What if James and Chris Bosh already had decided to join Dwyane Wade in Miami when the superstars still were playing meaningful games elsewhere?
Wouldn't that be a scandal of epic proportions?
What if the domino effect of signings actually was a three-way conspiracy hatched over months, if not years? What if LeBron was planning all along to bolt the Cleveland Cavaliers, as accused by jilted owner Dan Gilbert, allowing him to deliver less-than-maximum effort at times because he was, um, a dog in Heat? Wouldn't that be an integrity breach similar to Pete Rose's gambling crimes and the disgrace of the 1919 Black Sox? It's one thing for three close friends to gather on July 1, when their free agency kicks in and they no longer belong to other franchises, and devise a plan to triple-up on an unsuspecting NBA. It's quite another for them to talk as far back as four years ago about joining hands, to the point of agreeing in 2007 to the exact terms with their respective teams -- three years, opt-out clauses in 2010 -- and creating the contractual uniformity to make their dream possible.
"If (David) Stern truly cares about the honor and virtue of this league, he won't turn his head indifferently and prefer not to know."
In a sports world complex enough to give us all headaches, the union of James, Wade and Bosh came together too easily to think it just magically happened last week. Ever hear of Creative Artists Agency, one of Hollywood's powerhouse talent shops? What if I said Henry Thomas, agent for Wade and Bosh, joined CAA in July 2009 -- where a waiting Leon Rose, James' agent, already was on the staff? Considering how close the three players have been, from the night they entered the league together in the 2003 draft to playing on a U.S. international team in 2006 and then on the gold-medal Olympic Redeem Team two years ago, it would be naive to believe this hasn't been in the works for some time.
I can't overstate what would be so hideously wrong about such a secret arrangement, particularly amid Gilbert's claims that James "quit'' on the Cavs in Game 5 and three other games of the ill-fated Boston playoff series, as well as the concluding game of Cleveland's postseason failure against Orlando last year. When James is trying to break through to the NBA Finals, only to encounter frustration, would he believe it's OK to diminish his effort when Cleveland is in his rear-view mirror and Miami is set for at least six seasons of a flamboyant superteam?
A lot of misguided critics say there's nothing wrong with players colluding when owners do it all the time. The difference here: Fans spend valuable money, time and energy to watch players, believing they're committed to the franchise with which they're signed. If a superstar is going through the motions in a playoff game because he knows he's headed elsewhere, that's a form of consumer fraud.
One couldn't help but hear Bosh during the wild celebration the other night in Miami, when he said the triumvirate had discussed playing together for "months'' before amending it to "weeks,'' as though that makes anyone feel better. Wade chimed in as saying the groundwork for their convergence started "a long time ago.'' Before that, Wade said in late May that he and other top free agents would have a "summit,'' which drew no rebuke from commissioner David Stern. As details emerge about the wide scope of this marriage, Stern really should get involved.
Leave it to Mark Cuban, the rabble-rousing owner of the Dallas Mavericks, to keep a potentially destructive topic in the public eye. "I'm going to bring it up to the league that we really do have to re-evaluate the issue of player tampering,'' he said. "Who knows what will happen? But I have to suggest it to them because there has to be more definitive rules. It's not just the Cavs. It could be any team. It could be the Heat in a couple years. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. But there has to be a way to keep these guys away from each other."
Stern said the league will investigate any and all tampering claims. It's beyond me why Gilbert, after scorching the LeBron earth with his unforgettable rampage, wouldn't be the one to file it. He says he'd rather move on to another era in Cavs basketball, but my guess is he fears that opening a dirty box might expose some of his own skeletons. Why else would he let this issue drop? Gilbert is the one who crucified James for "a several-day narcissistic, self-promotional buildup culminating with a national TV special of the decision unlike anything ever 'witnessed' in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment." Gilbert is the one who said James has been protected too long by too many people, telling the Associated Press that James is a coward who had to sign with a superteam to improve his chances of winning championships. "LeBron James needs to go to another team with two superstars already so he can win a championship," he said. "We will win a championship before (the Heat) do. It's not about him leaving. It's the disrespect. It's time for people to hold these athletes accountable for their actions. Is this the way you raise your children? I've been holding this all in for a long time." Gilbert also is the one who reduced the price of James' Fathead wall ornaments -- yes, Gilbert owns Fathead -- to $17.41.
That was the year Benedict Arnold, traitor for the ages, was born. If Gilbert is so calculatingly bitter, he should continue the process with a tampering claim.
Not that Stern would take serious disciplinary action if he did find wrongdoing. Remember when Michael Jordan was gambling with sleazebags, the kind of people who might make him vulnerable to extortion? Stern did not -- repeat, did not -- quietly suspend him in the months when Jordan played minor-league baseball. It's better for this image-obsessed commissioner to sweep such delicate matters under the rug, especially at a time when the NBA is so big that its offseason is thoroughly overshadowing the regular season of Major League Baseball.
Bosh claims he was the first to say yes to Heat president Pat Riley and owner Micky Arison, calling Wade to tell him so. To hear Wade, Bosh's commitment helped him off the fence, where he was waffling between Miami and his native Chicago. "When Chris told me that," he said, "it all just came together. And then it was up to LeBron." And oh so perfectly, James joined them two nights later. The timetable might have been believable until Heat executive Alonzo Mourning, who was centrally involved in the recruiting process, dropped a curious revelation last weekend.
"I knew this was going to evolve a while ago,'' Mourning said. "We knew a long time ago.''
Oh, really? How?
Yes, I know, filmmaker and director Spike Lee is another spurned Knicks fan who had hoped James might be coming to New York for more than Carmelo Anthony's weekend wedding. But in an interview with the New York Times, he used famous lines from movies and history to express his belief that a conspiracy went down in Miami.
He brought back Malcolm X: "We got hoodwinked. Led astray. Hornswoggled. We got bamboozled.''
He borrowed from Oliver Stone: "It was rigged.''
And, naturally: "This is nothing but a pure Corleone gangster move. It was laid out. This didn't happen by happenstance. They made people look like idiots. They had the thing planned out two years ago.''
There may be no way of proving a conspiracy happened. But there's also no way of proving it didn't happen. As we watch the superteam evolve, for better or worse, we're going to wonder when the concept was hatched and whether knowledge of it hurt LeBron's play -- consciously or subconsciously.
"We're all friends,'' James said. "We talk all the time, and we're here now and we're going to be here a long time.''
If Stern truly cares about the honor and virtue of his league, he won't turn his head indifferently and prefer not to know. Rather, he'll investigate with all his resources and might and make sure this is not, with apologies to Gloria Estefan, the Miami Scheme Machine.
_________________ Frank Coztansa wrote: conns7901 wrote: Not over yet. Yes it is. CDOM wrote: When this is all over, which is not going to be for a while, Trump will be re-elected President.
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Jay's really coming up in the world these days.
