Fans need to come to the realization that begging a superstar to play for their team doesn’t work. Not only that — it couldn’t be more unoriginal. As millions of basketball fans sit back and wonder what uniform LeBron will wear next season, I find myself growing extremely tired of listening to writers and fans beg The King to sign with their team. LeBron James is probably the best basketball player on the planet. What do fans do when their team signs the best basketball player on the planet? They cheer — loudly.
LeBron’s going to go wherever the money is (to a certain degree since he might have to leave money on the table if he leaves Cleveland) and wherever his agent, his family, and his “people” decide he should go — and the city he settles in will give him as warm a welcome as any of the others on his list of possible destinations would have. Rest assured, he’s aware of that. He’s not going to be wearing the colors of the team whose fans stayed on their knees and begged for the longest amount of time. Apparently the fan base of one of the NBA’s perennial bottom-feeders — the LA Clippers — would disagree with my opinion. They’ve decided to join the writers and fans of cities like New York and Chicago in pleading with King James to help bring their team to the Promised Land.
According to Arash Markazi’s twitter feed, via Sports by Brooks, Clippers fans have scheduled a LeBron Parade that will take place at 3PM on May 27th across from the Staples Center, before Game 5 of the Lakers-Suns series. I wonder if they’ll reschedule in the event of a sweep or just accept that it’s not meant to be. We’ll see.
Sure, stranger things have happened with free agent signings in sports. I just don’t see LA 2 as a fit for LeBron. Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN Los Angeles makes a compelling argument for the Clippers from a purely basketball standpoint, but that’s about as far as it goes. Baron Davis is certainly one of the better guards in the game, but at 31 he isn’t getting any younger. Blake Griffin showed pure explosiveness in the preseason, but has yet to play a minute of NBA basketball. LeBron has come up short with the Cavs the past two seasons — despite holding the NBA’s best regular season record both years. He’s still in search of his first NBA title, and he can’t afford to join a team who has made the playoffs only once this decade with a racist owner who has so much money he couldn’t care less where his franchise is headed. Bodog Sportsbook doesn’t appear to have given any thought to a LeBron-to-the-Clippers scenario, as they currently list the Bulls, Cavs, Nets, Knicks, and Heat as the five teams gamblers can wager on with a chance to land The King.
There’s always a surprise team or two that will enter negotiations when a superstar hits the free agent market, and I’ll be the first to admit I’m wrong if rumors of LeBron going to the Clippers ever pick up serious steam. As of right now I’m going to have to say keep dreaming, Clippers fans, and don’t tuck away your brown paper bags just yet.
Sources:
Arash Markazi’s Twitter feed
SbB Live
Clippers may be the place for LeBron [ESPN Los Angeles]
