Last month, during a visit to New York, LeBron James ominously declared (for fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball franchise, that is) that July 1, 2010 was going to be “a very big day”, with the implication being, of course, that he and several other big names could leave their current teams via free agency.
On Saturday, Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer asked him about another possibility, something no other media member had previously brought up: signing an extension one year earlier, in the summer of 2009. And LeBron hinted at endorsing the idea:
James said Saturday that he is going to consider signing an extension with the Cavaliers this summer, well before he can become an unrestricted free agent.
“You play out this season of course; I will consider it,” James said Saturday before the Cavs practiced at the Pepsi Center. “The direction we are headed is everything I expected and more.”
That sound you hear? Oh nothing, just a bunch of League execs – namely the gentlemen in New York, Detroit, and New Jersey – slamming their foreheads into the nearest wall.
I love this new scenario; it’s insanely brilliant. Not only will Cavs fans rest easy (to an extent) thinking they have a shot at LeBron sticking around next summer (for another three-year deal), but teams around the NBA who’ve destroyed their rosters in the hopes of acquiring his services must, effectively, get back to the drawing board.
Of course, it should come as absolutely no surprise that LeBron is eating up all of the attention that his quotes generate.
