LeBron James basked in the limelight of spirited Broadway reviews this week, enlivened by the notion that he has more than mastered the artful craft of showmanship.
For if ever a star has left his audience wanting more, the 24-year-old Cleveland Cavaliers star forward fit the marquee during his only New York City showing Friday night. His audience wants more in the way of planned engagements, encore performances, and, yes, his self-defining monologue.
“You have to do what’s best for you,” James repeatedly answered to the seemingly never ending probe into what he plans to do once he becomes a free-agent at the end of the NBA season and Knicks’ megabucks owner James Dolan undoubtedly moves to make good on his stated intention of transforming The Garden into his permanent homestead.
“It’s about this building, it’s hard not to feel great coming into this building,” added James, talking about Madison Square Garden. “New York fans really respect the things I do. At the end of the day, a max deal doesn’t really matter. When that day comes next summer, I want to win. If I feel like the team is capable of winning, then I will make my decision based on that.”
Plot be known, LeBron James fully realizes that be it Cleveland, New York or any other landscape he deems desirable, that distinction is largely rooted in the reality that the game itself will always run through his hands. Virtually everything the Knicks have done over the last two years, such as jettisoning former leading scorers and top-tier earners Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph to create more salary cap space, was done with that game plan in mind.
On Friday night, an adoring packed house of more than 20,000 people, with Jay-Z, Chris Rock, Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia among them, turned out at The Garden to bare witness to his eminence. And King James, artful ruler that is, was sure not to disappoint. In the same way that his teammates routinely are, the Knicks were simply reduced to his supporting cast, mere props in his masterful 33 points, eight rebounds and eight assists ensemble.
But beyond the Cavs’ 100-91 win, just what did it all mean? What might it have served as a preamble to? The non-stop chants of “LeBron, LeBron” that cascaded up and down Broadway were as rhapsodic as the thunderous applause reserved for his feats themselves. But might they have also set a tone for how he might be welcomed should he make New York his home?
“It’s humbling to know that you have fans not only in Cleveland but in a big city that is a basketball mecca,” said James. “Every time I come here it’s a warm feeling because you know the history. To know the fans like and respect the way I play basketball is something special. It’s still a while away and who knows. If you want to sleep until 2010 and don’t wake up… go ahead.”
Just as the Knicks learned, on this night no one was about to box LeBron James into a corner. But with the wondrous look in his eyes, all the hoopla around him seemed to imitate there was no need to.