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Why Lebron Needs NY

by Tommy Dee on November 26th, 2008 at 11:18 am

Although I never saw him play, any NBA historian who’s opinion I value tells me that Oscar Robertson was one of the best players to ever play the game. Not as good as Jordan, but as good, if not better, than Magic Johnson is what they tell me.

Woah hold on a second. Better than Magic? The greatest playmaker in NBA history who could rebound, lead the break and make a sick pass leading to a highlight dunk?

It’s hard for me to fathom but it’s a point rarely dispelled by those who’ve seen both play. How could I argue? I never saw the Big O play. I know this about him he averaged a triple double for a season and is a Top 50 Player of All-Time. Wait, did I just say he averaged a triple double? I knew he did, but why am I so quick to overlook it?

Why do the memories and epitaph of retired players get clouded over the years? I’m a sports nut who grew up with a room full of plastered Sports Illustrated covers as wall paper. I pride myself on trying to learn more about sports on a day-to-day basis.

So i got to thinking back to all the old NBA footage I’ve seen. I’ve been told that Robertson won an NBA title but have no idea who it was against or even what year. I vaguely remember Dave Cowen’s diving on the floor for a loose ball like a red-faced maniac thus identifying for the NBA what it means to give everything up for a title, and the Celtics beating Kareem and Robertson, but I had to look up that in 1971 the Big O’s Bucks beat the Baltimore Bullets.

Not exactly Lakers/Celtics.

My point is that the NBA has been built on such rivalries, and out of those rivalries come legends who are supplanted in the minds of fans forever.

We know about Magic and Bird, but why does Jerry West, the silhouette of the NBA logo for crying out loud, stand out in my mind as a better player than Robertson? John Havlicek didn’t even start and for a long time I valued him in the same class as Robertson before someone told me to compare them is idiotic.

I conclude that my skewed and clouded take is because Oscar played in Milwaukee.

Fast forward to today and thanks to TV and new media there are plenty of opportunity to see the game’s greatest players, but when we talk about Lebron James we’re talking about a generation-defining player. He’s what Robertson was: versatility personified in a big and gifted guard.

Lebron’s gift is that he is a champion without rings, and it has to bother him that both Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade were fortunate enough to have the perfect post compliment to help them to theirs.

Lebron wants rings, but make no mistake, he wants to be the best ever and he can be. He’s the total package. Sure Kobe is unreal, but there’s only one way to settle it and that’s in June. Lebron has been to a final and may get back there this year. We’ll see. But could you imagine a fledgling league marketing Lebron verses Kobe, LA-NY in 2010 for the next 5 years? It would be Magic-Bird, Ali-Frasier, Nicklaus-Palmer, Hogan-Andre the Giant all wrapped into seven games each June.

People would talk about it for generations and it would elevate these two warriors into the stratosphere of legendary status.

Why can’t a Knick fan plead for it? It makes sense, no? It’s logical and dammit if we haven’t felt the wrath of “The Jordan Rules” as in playing 5-8 against a stacked deck of refs during MJ’s run. Now it’s our turn.

This isn’t about money for Lebron, this is about greatness and Lebron is not afraid to be great, which is why he’s not afraid to leave Cleveland. This is about joining the All-Time Great conversation. Kobe has LA, Lebron needs NY.

But this year, I guess we can settle for the possibility of Lakers-Cavs.

Woo hoo.
  • theghostofwillisreed

    perfect, tommy. perfect.

  • Dan C

    Interesting opinion, but I think to suggest that Lebron needs New York is folly, especially in this day and age. With this era of new media where information travels as fast as it does, fans are constantly getting updates on players and teams from all corners of America to the point where an NBA fan can watch pretty much every team via nationally broadcasted games (this year’s Knicks notwithstanding, incidentally) if not through special packages. Shoe companies have created a culture of national celebrity around the best players with the best sneaker deals, irrespective of where these players play. The perfect example of this is Tim Duncan. We understand now that Duncan was arguably the best player of the first half of this decade. Is his game explosive? Does he play in a large market? Does he even have a signature shoe? The answer to all of these is no, and yet we recognize his personal greatness as well as the greatness of the Spur teams he led to championships. Another great example of this would be Vince Carter, who used his exciting game and a close relationship with Nike to propel himself within the minds of American’s as a premier player, despite the fact that he spent the early part of his career out of the country and mailed in performances before going to New Jersey. Though the opposite type of player from Duncan, the point is the same: fans nowadays can glean information from pretty much anywhere, allowing them to love certain players and give players their time in the spotlight even if they play hundreds of miles away and might not be exciting or might not be that solid. The era of the “big market” mattering on a national level may not be over, but it’s certainly been diminished.

    What does this all mean for Lebron? Seeing as he’s already on a great team (either the best or second best in the East), already the flagship star for Nike, and already a celebrity outside the world of basketball. Does he need New York to propel himself? It would certainly make him a larger-than-life figure in the New York market, but would it ultimately matter on a national level? Put it this way – if the NBA Finals this year was between LA and Cleveland, would it be all that different from LA-Boston in terms of who would watch? I propose that it would not be, even though Boston has star power, a big market, and an historic rivalry. Stars are would drives the league, and Lebron is it’s grandest. Though he may end up in New York in twenty months’ time, I think it would be a bit presumptuous to declare that Lebron “needs” New York. He needs sneakers, wins, and ESPN. He’s already got all of that, plus an extra thirty million dollars waiting in Cleveland when his contract runs out. Does he really need to uproot himself for what would essentially be a change of scenery in the long run?

    That said, I desperately hope he ends up a Knick. Just some food for thought.

  • hexagram

    I don’t get it. What “complement in the post” will LeBron have when he comes to New York in 2010? The Knicks will be a ways away from an elite team and will have to retool around him to find the right supporting cast.

    As for Oscar, he’s an example of the inversion that has taken place in sports fans’ minds over the past generation. Twenty-five years ago, fans would always say that the old-time superstars were much better than the current ball-players. This is particularly true in baseball, but also in football. Nowadays, because every fan sees all the players live and sees very little of the old-timers, people think the current superstars are miles ahead of the old-timers. This is especially true in basketball, where the lists of greatest players are heavily skewed to recent years.

    Oscar Robertson was simply the best who ever played. he could hold his own with today’s stars. he may not have had the dazzling moves, but that’s because those moves weren’t invented yet, so nobody thought of them. (Incidentally, with the exception of Dr. J, Bill Russell and Elgin Baylor, innovations generally came form second-line players. The first guy to hoist jump shots was someone you never heard of.) His triple-double season was no fluke. And that was before you could get an assist by feeding the guy who fed the guy who scored.

    Wilt Chamberlain is another example. I’m pretty sure no center since Wilt, with the exception of Kareem, could contain him. he was possibly the best pure athlete to play the game. he could do it all, and did.

  • http://theKnicksBlog.com Tommy Dee

    Hex-

    that’s my point, I’m a massive sports fan and had no idea Oscar was that high. I know he was great but don’t know, and I’m wondering why.

    From lebron’s standpoint, D’Antoni is trying to prove you don’t need to have a post scorer but a post defender. Who knows how good bynum will be, who knows who Donnie will bring in.

    We just don’t know. What we do know is that a NY LA Lebron Kobe matchup would be fantastic for the league.

  • http://theKnicksBlog.com Tommy Dee

    Dan-

    I’m not really concerned about how Lebron is received on a national level. I’m more interested to seeing how he;s perceived 50 years from now. I understand Duncan, talk about not being accepted nationally, no one cares about the spurs or just how great he is.

    Mu point is you won’t compare Lebron to duncan in history, you will compare Kobe to James and right now based on his rings there is no comparison other than the fact that lebron was the fastest to what 10,000 points….

  • BluEandOrange

    I have no doubt in my mind LeBron will be a Knick in 2010. LeBron needs someone to feed his ego and Cleveland will not be able to satisfy his constantly enlarging appettite. The New York market can.

    Even if Cleveland is Lebron’s home, he won’t take a hometown discount. That is not cohesive with his plans of becoming a billionaire.

  • http://www.counterpunch.com/ krumbledkookie

    You know how they say that when a player says its not about the money – it IS about the money.

    Rest assured, when anyone says its not about the money for whatever player – its about the money.

  • http://theknicksblog.com Andrew Smith

    Agree with the previous comment, this decision isn’t even LeBron’s, its Sonny Vaccaro’s, his agent’s, and the sneaker companies’. They will tell him where to sign.

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  • vnutz

    this is just LUNACY

    your whole arguement is boston? we are NOTHING like boston. do you remember what boston gave up for kg? here is a reminder:

    Boston sent the Minnesota Timberwolves forwards Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes and Gerald Green, guard Sebastian Telfair and center Theo Ratliff, two first-round draft picks and cash considerations. Besides Ratliff, 34, the other four are 24 or younger.

    boston also had role players already in place, one named paul pierce. the knicks in 2010 will have absolutely nothing. maybe we can grab a draft pick before then but we will have nothing talent wize even comparable to boston the year before their championship. we have no leverage. we are in no way comparable to boston 2 seasons ago.

    and please please PLEASE everyone stop with the new york city is the greatest city in the world stuff already. i’ve heard it all. LBJ wants to come to ny because he is friends with Jay Z. So is he sleeping with Jay Z or what? You telling me LBJ doesn’t have friends in Cleveland? Is LBJ that desperate to hit 40/40 a couple more times a year?

    so lebron loves nyk so much that he is going to leave his house in cleveland which he built from the ground up? he is going to leave where he grew up with just so he could hang out with his rapper friend? when lebron comes to play at msg its an event. a new sneaker is released when he comes and there is all this media hype. don’t you think he kind of likes that? if he is here all season that doesn’t exist anymore. that’s just somethine else to bite on.

    more national exposure? last i checked the cavs were on national tv a ton more than the knicks. and you know what gets u on tv even more? getting into the playoffs. is it really possible for lebron to be on tv even more? the man is selling insurance and hosting SNL already.

    more advertisement deals? so let me get this straight. lee jeans is holding out just cause lebron doesn’t play for the knicks? is spalding holding out just because lbj doesn’t wear the orange and blue? does burger king not want to use lebron because he doesn’t play in msg? do you know how insane that sounds? how many patrick ewing products did you buy last year? one of the top 50 greatest, original dream team member, number 1 overall pick with tons of hype coming in, and of course star player of the great new york knicks. how many endorsements did playing for nyk land pat? oh and the myth that lebron gets double from nike for coming to play in a big market? NOT TRUE. fact is lebron is getting his door knocked down for endorsements and nyk doesn’t change that.

    you think the nba has a secret deal going for lbj to come to nyk? please tell me what makes you believe that. you have no facts to back that up under than that you are dreaming. if the nba wanted to “help us” they should have rigged it so we got rose this year.

    lebron is NOT coming to the knicks. the cavs as of now will have the exact same money available the knicks will have in 2010 (give or take 1 mil.) please check out this article on espn:

    http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st … ortCat=nba

    Cleveland sports talk radio host Kenny Roda points out, “It’s all about New York, not the other way around, which actually makes more sense. No one is talking about how [Cavs GM] Danny Ferry and [Cavs owner] Dan Gilbert have done such a good job that the Cavs can go out in the market and get a D-Wade or an Amare Stoudemire or a Chris Bosh and have them come here to play with LeBron. Which can easily and is more likely to happen. But no one on the national level or in national media is talking about that.”

    the cavs are gonna be in way better position to win rings than the knicks will be then. they are going to be able to scoop up another superstar and dominate the east for maybe even a decade. lebron can not be one of the greats without rings. do you think jordan would even be considered one of the best without dominating the finals? and i tell you he wouldn’t be selling hot dogs and batteries either without championships.

    its embarrassing to be a knicks fan right now. i thought we were known as some of the smarter bball fans in the league. all this delusional fantasy 2010 talk has gotten me ashamed. kids walking around msg with knicks jerseys on with lebrons name on it. grown ass men on here with lebron avatars. photoshopped pics of lebron in a knicks jersey. my god just stop it already.

    this post may seem pessimistic to most however its a dose of reality. the fact is the knicks are in very bad shape right now. the only young talent we will have in 2010 as of now are chandler and danilo. our roster will be curry, jefferies, danilo and chandler in 2010. so we are going to get some draft picks and maybe get lucky? we are going to maybe pull off some trades? and the biggest maybe is that we are going to sign a superstar? people the fact is we are in a deep hole right now and we are going to need a lot of luck to even be half decent.

    i’ve never seen a fan base be so set on a rumor trade. its truly a shame to be a part of. if you think of all the facts lebron coming to nyk doesn’t even make sense for him. please everyone just get a grip because a lot of you are starting to sound really pathetic and crazy. i’d love to have lebron on the knicks but c’mon guys, its just not realistic in the very least.

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