How would you feel if the Cs win the title this year but Lebron joins the Lakers ?

Guys:

I started thinking about this when I was responding to David on another thread, and figured it was intriguing enough for its own thread.

I don't think Lebron will come to the Lakers this summer for many reasons, but if the Lakers win the title this year, I think the main reason he wouldn't even think about the Lakers would be that there would be no upside in it for him. He wouldn't be Karl Malone at the end of his career trying to get a ring by joining a team that didn't win the title. He wouldn't coming in to lead the team to a title- he would just be joining a team that already won a title. A team that already has a dominant player who wants to be the man.

LBJ's not going to want to look like a gravy-trainer who couldn't do it on his own who joined the Lakers to get a ring. He wants to be the man- someone who carries a franchise over the top. And Kobe would probably not see the benefits of LBJ joining him, as he might feel it would take too much spotlight away from him and make it less of "his" team if they are coming off back to back titles.

So I don't expect LBJ to come to the Lakers, and especially not if they win the title this year.


HOWEVER, if the Cs beat the Lakers in the Finals this year (and if they knock out the Cavs along the way, all the better), I think the idea of LBJ coming to the Lakers goes from extremely unlikely to a semi-unlikely but intriguing possibility, as it would allow James to enter the scene as the hero to help the Lakers get over the hump vs the Cs (and win his first ring in the process). Losing to the Cs would also probably force Bryant to realize that he's better off with LBJ than without him.

And if James had the opportunity to step into LA as the hero to help them beat the Celtics, there are certainly a lot of other things about LA that would be appealing to him.

As detailed in the other post (on the Pau Gasol thread), the marketing possibilities of having Lebron in LA are ridiculous. With Lebron wanting to be a global icon, there's certainly something to be said for putting himself on the worldwide map by joining the Lakers, b/c Kobe and Lebron, the two best players on the planet, together on the Lakers would be THE story in sports for the year, and raise the NBA's (and James') profile around the world. There's a reason Kobe is BY FAR the most popular player in China.

Lebron would need to be ready and willing to sign for the MLE to play in LA, even if he was ultimately looking to force a sign and trade, because Cleveland would never trade him unless they really thought he was leaving.

And as laughable as LBJ for the mle sounds at first glance, the reality is that James is one of the few players who might actually do it, because his endorsement deals are over $100m and he supposedly has a huge kicker in his NIke deal if he goes to either NY or LA. And if Lebron has any inclination to go to LA, you can bet Phil Knight would have no problem telling him that NIke would match the difference in salary between an mle deal with the Lakers and a max deal with the Cavs, because for all the reasons listed above, Nike would sell an insane amount of shoes worldwide if Kobe and LBJ were playing together in LA.

It wouldn't be the first time a true superstar-in-his-prime-free agent signed for less money to play in LA. Shaq did the same thing (although he got a lot more than MLE money obviously). When LBJ says it not just about a max contract with him, I actually think there's some truth there.

And the Lakers have shown an ability to consistently, throughout the last 35 years, land the biggest of superstars. Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, Mailman.

It starts with the desire to win a ring and be on one of the two gold standard franchises in the league. Buss has a reputation as a winner and the trophies to prove it. He has a rep for treating players well, doing everything first class, and doing whatever it takes to put a championship-caliber team together on a consistent basis. And LA is the only big city in America where basketball is the most popular sport and where the local NBA team dominates the sports culture.

The great weather, endless amounts of hot women and club/ party scene are all part of it as well. And in LA, these guys can be stars, but not stick out like sore thumbs the way they do in a place like Sacto or OKC. They can do a CSI episode, shoot a rap video or whatever on their off day, then go have dinner at Mastro's or Nobu or wherever and not have a million people mobbing them because they are just blending in with every other star that's there. So they get the benefits of being stars, as the Lakers are absolute royalty in this town, but they also get a certain level of anonymity and privacy that they can't in too many other cities.


When you add it all up, it makes LA the most attractive city to play in for a lot of these superstars (as long as it's for the LAkers, that is), so if the Celtics win the title this year, I wouldn't be shocked to see Lebron in purple and gold (although I certainly won't be expecting it), as it would give him a chance to write his legacy in a different way and a much better launch pad to be a global icon.

And if the Cs beat the Lakers this year, I could see Kobe being very receptive to bringing LBJ into the fold. Kobe's no dummy, and he would probably realize that with LBJ on board he could win a lot more rings and keep playing for a long time, as James would pick up the slack as Kobe's game slowed down. Kobe is very much a student of the game and its history and he could do some easy math, figuring that with James in the mix, he could easily pass Jordan and have a real shot to get up to the level of the Celtics greats from the dynasty years, and even have an outside shot to get into the stratosphere where only Bill Russell resides.

If James playing in LA with Kobe would be THE story in sports, James and Kobe teaming up to take on the defending champion mighty Celtics would take it to an entirely different level. It would lift the whole league to a different level, much as Magic, Kareem and Worthy vs Bird, Chief and Mchale did in the '80's.

Having four future HOFers going at it in a Lakers-Celtics Finals, especially with the Lakers trying to knock off the defending champ Celts, which has been such a consistent storyline in the league for decades, and with Lebron trying to get his first ring, would be must see TV to say the least- a matchup that would appeal to an older generation of fans b/c of the history involved as well as reaching a younger generation due to the popularity of the players and teams involved. It would be bigger than Jordan's Finals in the '90's in terms of overall cultural impact and impressions, and would rival the Lakers-Celtics of the '80's in the US, while it would make a bigger impression worldwide than anything we have seen yet from the NBA.

So for me, as hard as it would be to watch a Celtics championship parade this year, if I knew that LBJ was coming as a result, I would say the short term pain was worth the long term gain.

My question to you guys is, how would you feel if the Cs beat the Lakers this year but then LBJ ended up wearing purple and gold ? Would you want to win it no matter what and damn the torpedoes ?

Or would you rather pass on this one particular title if it meant not having Lebron on the Lakers for the next decade and potentially seeing Kobe get a similar amount of rings as Hondo or even Russell ?


It is of course not going to happen, but I know a lot of people on this board like intriguing scenarios, so I wanted to se what you guys thought.

I think there is a much better chance of the Celtics winning it all this year and LJ NOT going to the Lakers than him going to the Lakers....I don't see it when all gets said and done. I think that there is a better chance that Cleveland will assure him that they will get more help but you never know.

I would take a title this year and LeBron in LA six days a week and twice on Sunday.

I think LaKing is heading in the wrong direction. He and Kobe would eat each other.

Plus it would make for great entertainment. Believe me the Celts wont be sitting still either. Lets lace em up and play.

LeBron going to the Lakers is pretty far fetched because LA like Boston is way over the CAP.

But here is a scenario where that could happen. In july Lebron opts out of his contract. Cleveland determines that he would like to play for LA. Cleveland contacts LA and they orchestrate a trade after Cleveland signs him to a max contract.

LA trades 2 of their starters and future draft picks to Cleveland.

Cleveland is going to lose Lebron anyways so their best option is to get as much for him as possible. They will be talking to the highest bidders. Lebron will feel some obligation to use the sign and trade route to get out of Cleveland.

But is is very unlikely that LA would feel a need to make this type of move.

dboss

Sky,

I can't fit into any of your answer boxes. I would dance with glee if Lebron and Kobe played together. I've already lived through that situation, except their names were Elgin and Jerry. The only difference is that the Elgin and Jerry teams weren't limited (by money) in their efforts to surround the stars with a capable complementary cast. It would be interesting to observe how the Lakers addressed the personnel challenges.

I've always enjoyed it when deep, sharing Celtics teams played teams with one or two guys who needed to have the ball in their hands. It was the classic "egalitarianism" versus "startime" battle. The cigar-scented recipe for frustrating the "startimers" has always been to make the stars work hard for everything they get, force them to exert themselves on defense, hope their teammates will become spectators, and then force said teammates to beat you.

Perhaps this time it would end differently. Who knows? But, just in case, I'd advise Lakers fans to avoid low flying balloons. LOL.

It's all about the team.

Sam

Let Kobe and LBJ play together. Should be great fun watching. Hey throw in DWade to make darn sure that the Lakers will go deep, deep deep into the playoffs.

Any chance the rules could be changed to allow more than one ball on the court at a time? That might help just in case the guys start fighting over who gets to handle the "rock," as Dick Vitale calls it, at crunch time.

Hey throw in the drama queen, DVitale too. Let him call the games....not that the Lakers will need the extra excitement.

GC

babyskyhook wrote:Guys:

I started thinking about this when I was responding to David on another thread, and figured it was intriguing enough for its own thread.

I don't think Lebron will come to the Lakers this summer for many reasons, but if the Lakers win the title this year, I think the main reason he wouldn't even think about the Lakers would be that there would be no upside in it for him. He wouldn't be Karl Malone at the end of his career trying to get a ring by joining a team that didn't win the title. He wouldn't coming in to lead the team to a title- he would just be joining a team that already won a title. A team that already has a dominant player who wants to be the man.

LBJ's not going to want to look like a gravy-trainer who couldn't do it on his own who joined the Lakers to get a ring. He wants to be the man- someone who carries a franchise over the top. And Kobe would probably not see the benefits of LBJ joining him, as he might feel it would take too much spotlight away from him and make it less of "his" team if they are coming off back to back titles.

So I don't expect LBJ to come to the Lakers, and especially not if they win the title this year.


HOWEVER, if the Cs beat the Lakers in the Finals this year (and if they knock out the Cavs along the way, all the better), I think the idea of LBJ coming to the Lakers goes from extremely unlikely to a semi-unlikely but intriguing possibility, as it would allow James to enter the scene as the hero to help the Lakers get over the hump vs the Cs (and win his first ring in the process). Losing to the Cs would also probably force Bryant to realize that he's better off with LBJ than without him.

And if James had the opportunity to step into LA as the hero to help them beat the Celtics, there are certainly a lot of other things about LA that would be appealing to him.

As detailed in the other post (on the Pau Gasol thread), the marketing possibilities of having Lebron in LA are ridiculous. With Lebron wanting to be a global icon, there's certainly something to be said for putting himself on the worldwide map by joining the Lakers, b/c Kobe and Lebron, the two best players on the planet, together on the Lakers would be THE story in sports for the year, and raise the NBA's (and James') profile around the world. There's a reason Kobe is BY FAR the most popular player in China.

Lebron would need to be ready and willing to sign for the MLE to play in LA, even if he was ultimately looking to force a sign and trade, because Cleveland would never trade him unless they really thought he was leaving.

And as laughable as LBJ for the mle sounds at first glance, the reality is that James is one of the few players who might actually do it, because his endorsement deals are over $100m and he supposedly has a huge kicker in his NIke deal if he goes to either NY or LA. And if Lebron has any inclination to go to LA, you can bet Phil Knight would have no problem telling him that NIke would match the difference in salary between an mle deal with the Lakers and a max deal with the Cavs, because for all the reasons listed above, Nike would sell an insane amount of shoes worldwide if Kobe and LBJ were playing together in LA.

It wouldn't be the first time a true superstar-in-his-prime-free agent signed for less money to play in LA. Shaq did the same thing (although he got a lot more than MLE money obviously). When LBJ says it not just about a max contract with him, I actually think there's some truth there.

And the Lakers have shown an ability to consistently, throughout the last 35 years, land the biggest of superstars. Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, Mailman.

It starts with the desire to win a ring and be on one of the two gold standard franchises in the league. Buss has a reputation as a winner and the trophies to prove it. He has a rep for treating players well, doing everything first class, and doing whatever it takes to put a championship-caliber team together on a consistent basis. And LA is the only big city in America where basketball is the most popular sport and where the local NBA team dominates the sports culture.

The great weather, endless amounts of hot women and club/ party scene are all part of it as well. And in LA, these guys can be stars, but not stick out like sore thumbs the way they do in a place like Sacto or OKC. They can do a CSI episode, shoot a rap video or whatever on their off day, then go have dinner at Mastro's or Nobu or wherever and not have a million people mobbing them because they are just blending in with every other star that's there. So they get the benefits of being stars, as the Lakers are absolute royalty in this town, but they also get a certain level of anonymity and privacy that they can't in too many other cities.


When you add it all up, it makes LA the most attractive city to play in for a lot of these superstars (as long as it's for the LAkers, that is), so if the Celtics win the title this year, I wouldn't be shocked to see Lebron in purple and gold (although I certainly won't be expecting it), as it would give him a chance to write his legacy in a different way and a much better launch pad to be a global icon.

And if the Cs beat the Lakers this year, I could see Kobe being very receptive to bringing LBJ into the fold. Kobe's no dummy, and he would probably realize that with LBJ on board he could win a lot more rings and keep playing for a long time, as James would pick up the slack as Kobe's game slowed down. Kobe is very much a student of the game and its history and he could do some easy math, figuring that with James in the mix, he could easily pass Jordan and have a real shot to get up to the level of the Celtics greats from the dynasty years, and even have an outside shot to get into the stratosphere where only Bill Russell resides.

If James playing in LA with Kobe would be THE story in sports, James and Kobe teaming up to take on the defending champion mighty Celtics would take it to an entirely different level. It would lift the whole league to a different level, much as Magic, Kareem and Worthy vs Bird, Chief and Mchale did in the '80's.

Having four future HOFers going at it in a Lakers-Celtics Finals, especially with the Lakers trying to knock off the defending champ Celts, which has been such a consistent storyline in the league for decades, and with Lebron trying to get his first ring, would be must see TV to say the least- a matchup that would appeal to an older generation of fans b/c of the history involved as well as reaching a younger generation due to the popularity of the players and teams involved. It would be bigger than Jordan's Finals in the '90's in terms of overall cultural impact and impressions, and would rival the Lakers-Celtics of the '80's in the US, while it would make a bigger impression worldwide than anything we have seen yet from the NBA.

So for me, as hard as it would be to watch a Celtics championship parade this year, if I knew that LBJ was coming as a result, I would say the short term pain was worth the long term gain.

My question to you guys is, how would you feel if the Cs beat the Lakers this year but then LBJ ended up wearing purple and gold ? Would you want to win it no matter what and damn the torpedoes ?

Or would you rather pass on this one particular title if it meant not having Lebron on the Lakers for the next decade and potentially seeing Kobe get a similar amount of rings as Hondo or even Russell ?


It is of course not going to happen, but I know a lot of people on this board like intriguing scenarios, so I wanted to se what you guys thought.

Really I don't mean to rain on your parade but I just don't see it realistically. He wants to win but I think Cleveland will woo him big time in the end....He puts butts in the seats after all.
The other thing is that the Celtics will not stand pat, unfortunately for Jerry Buss, it seems like Celtic ownership is finally interested in the Lakers not catching the Celtics in banners and will aggressively pursue bigtime players themselves. They might even try and out-Yankee the Yankees....I mean, Lakers....

Skyhook,

I'll give you credit for looking at the possibilities from several angles.

You certainly put some thought into the whole premise; good work.

Let me first answer your question and then add my $.02.

If I had the power to decide, I'd take the championship and let the chips, and players, land where they may. Can I take A and C?

My $.02; LeBron isn't going anywhere.

There is almost no scenario that makes sense for him to leave as long as winning a championship is his goal. Cleveland is close at worst. If he goes to the Knicks he goes to a rebuilding project. Years away most likely. Lakers? I'm not sure there's enough room under the cap or enough balls to go around. Nets? They appear to be the most interesting possibility. They'll have the money and a couple of complimentary players. In addition they appear to be headed for Brooklyn. LeBron could stamp an identity for himself with that team and city that would last in people's minds forever. Still, they're probably further from the top tier than he would like.

Some think the draw is advertising and marketing opportunities in NY or LA? Horse-poopy. The endorsements will continue to come to him. His stated goal is to be like Warren Buffet, who is rapidly becoming a personal mentor to James. Buffet does his dance in Omaha of all places.

Look for LeBron in Cleveland for a long time to come.

Regards

"Perhaps this time it would end differently. Who knows? But, just in
case, I'd advise Lakers fans to avoid low flying balloons. LOL." Ouch!!! Good one Sam

yea, i've heard these rumors. but i doubt Cleveland lets LBJ walk without getting Bynum/Gasol or Bynum/Odom.

but whatever, LBJ will NOT be taking lesser money to play second fiddle to Kobe, and Kobe will not want to be playing second fiddle to Lebron. Lebron's still too young in his career to give up the possibility of individual glory and Kobe is well... Kobe. so no, this scenario is likely not to happen.

LBJ could end up staying in Cleveland (which i think he will) or he could go to the Nets. yes, i said it. the Nets! Jay-Z, billionaire Russian owner, Devin Harris and Brook Lopez (2 young studs who are for real! and who don't play the same position LBJ does) and Yi Jianlian (Chinese market).



- LilRip

Well I chose option A but flirted with C. I just couldn't pick C because I can't imagine myself being satisfied with one title in 5 years or not paying attention for 5 years.

Sky you make a good argument. I don't see Kobe and LBJ playing together for many of the same reasons already stated. I do understand the draw for LeBron to play in the city of LA. However, it seems more plausible that if LA is where he really wants to be, that he would play for the Clippers rather than the Lakers. I don't think the money is there for that, but I can imagine LBJ liking the idea of competing with Kobe in the same city. He might like to take a franchise that has been losing, but has some good young rookies that could develop into star players, and turn it around. He would be the lone superstar which I think is the way he likes it. Sure he wants to win, but I can't imagine him being happy with winning, but being the number 2 guy. He would have the opportunity to make that franchise his, and still have the benefits of playing in LA. The Lakers are Kobe's team and unless they trade him, nobody is going to come in and change that.

I really don't think he'll end up in LA though. I think he'll end up in New Jersey, as I've already said on another thread, and if he doesn't go to NJ, he'll probably stay in Cleveland.

Sky

Off topic but just wanted to say you cats are looking rough. Good rough. Bynum is showin tough and Kobe has pretty well set up shop inside. Great interior passing and very unselfish play. A tough focused squad. Very physical d. All in all high marks. This season is going to be a battle.

Since the NBA is wanting to go overseas, why not the China market that someone already mentioned. LBJ could take his high flying act to China and have a billion adoring fans, own the franchise and attract some very scary good foreign talent to him... including Yao if he makes it back. Now that's a legacy of unworldly proportions.

It is all to clear that LBJ can go anywhere he wants to go and the money and talent will certainly follow.

GC