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Originally Posted by AgentPD21
[h4][/h4]
[h4]3. King Doesn't Need New York[/h4]
By Chris Broussard
ESPN The Magazine
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The notion that every player -- or at least every star player -- in the NBA wants to play in New York tickles me.
In the early 2000s, while a Knicks beat writer for The New YorkTimes, I remember being baffled because many of my colleagues andreaders thought every skilled free agent was headed to New York -- eventhough all the Knicks could offer such max-salary talent was themidlevel exception. They thought Grant Hill would leave Detroit for theKnicks (for less coin) and Chris Webber would spurn Sacramento for theBig Apple (and chump change).
Now, New York assumes it's getting LeBron James. At least the Knicksactually have the salary-cap space to pull this off. But while New Yorkhas a decent shot at LeBron, the idea that LeBron -- or any other greatplayer -- needs New York or harbors this intense desire to play thereis a joke.
LeBron, an endorsement king, is already the face of the NBA, despitebeing ringless in tiny Cleveland. The Internet and globalization havelargely made where a player plays irrelevant in regard to marketing andpopularity. So to suggest LeBron needs New York is nuts.
The only thing that can make him bigger is a title, not a town.
That was posted 4 pages ago. If you're going to post in this thread at least do some research.