While getting my haircut at No Grease Barbershop yesterday LeBron James flashed on ESPN. My barber complained he was sick of James and all of the hype around his free agency. My barber noted ESPN began covering James’ free agency last year before he was even a free agent.
A few hours after leaving the shop, ESPN reported James will announce his decision regarding free agency at 9 p.m. Thursday.
Really? Is a prime-time press conference necessary? Yes, thanks to ESPN and other sports networks have turned James’ free agency into a national story rivaling the BP oil spill. James is a talented a basketball ball player. But the sports news media have hyped him up so much that it’s no longer about James the basketball player. It’s about King James – the marketing machine.
The James free agency story has been blown way out of proportion. Unless you live in Cleveland or one of the city’s courting James, who really cares whether James stays or goes? How many of us actually watched the Cleveland Cavaliers last year or the year before that?
I feel sorry for James because next season the pressure for him to win a championship will be even greater than it was before. If he stays in Cleveland and doesn’t win then he’ll be criticized for not leaving. If he goes to another team and doesn’t win, he’ll be criticized for not staying in Cleveland or not going to a different team.
James is one man. It takes a team to win a championship.
