Just in case you were wondering what I will be doing tonight at 9:00pm while the rest of the free world and probably including the not free world (pretty sure China has called a holiday to hear the news and is showing the news conference on the one state TV channel) is watching, holding their breathe to hear who gets to pay Lebron James something between 90 and 120 million dollars to play basketball and give him his new jersey with his new number (6), I will be on the sofa with my wife and Wyatt watching HGTV or Food Network or any other channel than ESPN.
My disdain for professional sports began with Alex Rodriguez and him signing with the Texas Rangers for the GDP of Tonga (252 Million over 10 years) in 2000. He would later sign for 275 million over 10 years in 2007 with the New York freaking Yankees who evidently have a printing press in the stadium or is it the $8 beers and $12 hot dogs. When the contract was signed, I stopped watching/caring about professional baseball and since MJ had retired from basketball, I included the NBA in my ban. The NFL received a partial reprieve from banishment. It's football, enough said. I don't agree with the pay schedule in any of the leagues but I am not an owner and probably never will be unless something freakish happens - like me finding an oil reserve beneath my house (which the government probably wouldn't let me drill) or a large gold deposit or a diamond mine so I don't have the right to comment of how much they pay. I can comment when the players of these leagues go on strike - don't like your pay save your millions and buy the team then you can do whatever you want which at that point I am sure you will become cheap and rebuff your now employees demands for better pay because you want a return on your investment in the team. Funny how things change when you sit on the other side of the desk.
So back to the Lebron James media circus that has been created by his handlers which by the way are some high school buddies that he has entrusted with his career(which I personally like because I always thought agents were scum but if this thing doesn't work out will they still be friends?) and ESPN (which explains why this "news worthy" story is on ESPN tonight). They (ESPN) created "King" (see my post on 43, for my thoughts about the REAL King) James and have used every opportunity to promote him and his free agency for the past two years. The culmination of the summer of Lebron is coming to a close at 9:00pm tonight and if early reports are correct by 9:10 you will know. However, the constant dribble of why he chose Miami, Cleveland, New York, New Jersey of the other countless suitors of his services and the heartbreak of the teams he didn't choose will continue - tonight for at least 50 minutes after his announcement. Then when the season starts it will continue with the constant talk of him now winning a championship because of blah, blah, blah. I will give Lebron credit for having mad basketball skills but at 6'8" 260 pounds shouldn't he? However, he has yet to win anything but he is going to be the highest paid basketball player ever.
What about Kobe? I am not a Kobe fan but the proof is in the pudding. It would seem to me that if you were ranking players in the NBA by performance and value to team (without xxx player, your team would - finish last or win a championship or somewhere in between), Kobe should be the highest paid player in the league. He has won 5 NBA championships, League MVP, Finals MVP (2), 12 time All-Star, scored 81 points in a game against the high school team in Canada that is allowed to play in the NBA - Toronto Raptors (why do they try and make the Canadians like the sports we like...they like hockey, curling, skiing, hunting and snowmobiling - notice a common thread - cold weather sports and for some reason the CFL is modestly successful - the reason, see my earlier reason for still watching pro football - it's football, enough said - even if they play on a longer field and the players are reject from the NFL) and a list of records too long to put in this blog (proof, that he is worthy of his pay). He signed a three year deal worth $87 million earlier this year - not bad $29 million a year. If Lebron gets a penny more that Kobe, he should be in Jerry West's office with the headlines about Lebron's contract and tell Jerry to get his checkbook out.
Don't forget to set your DVR to show your children the night Lebron James announced where he was going to play basketball for the next 5 years (at least we will have 3 years of downtime(not fully but at least muted, where you can actually hear about other sports, unlike now when it is Lebron 24/7) before the Lebron circus hits the airwaves on ESPN again.
PS - I am not bashing ESPN (maybe a little). I understand that without a Lebron frenzy they don't get as big of a return on their investment in broadcasting the NBA. They paid big bucks and have to do everything they can to create interest and sell advertising. I am just not watching, tonight.
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