Cancel the dinners, stop the parades and tell the celebrities they can stay home this early July; LeBron James won't be coming to your city...yet.
In the latest news out of Camp James, LeBron has decided to forgo the glitz and glamor of a traveling recruitment show and make teams come to him to pitch their offers. It's a move that has left many teams scrambling, most notably the New York Knicks, who had plans of dining and wining the future no. 6 with enough star power to blind James from seeing the Knicks actual roster.
“LeBron is not going on a tour," James's longtime business manager Maverick Carter told ESPN.com Friday. "He never planned to go on a tour and has not been a part of any team's plans for a recruiting trip."
The decision, according to reports, is to put the attention on basketball and not who can provide the best off the court entertainment. Another possible reason, in my opinion, is to send a message to potential suitors that Akron is the Kings home, his Kingdom, and if anyone is going to pry him away they have better have one impressive plan in place.
Speaking of plans, the Cleveland Cavaliers front office, including owner Dan Gilbert, are still sticking to their story that they have a plan in place to retain LeBron James and that they are proceeding on schedule with it.
"We have a plan and we will execute it," New Cavs Gm Chris Grant said.
A major part of that plan is adding a head coach to the mix and it looks like the L.A. Connection is the route they will be taking. The two frontrunners for the head coaching vacancy are Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw and former Nets and Hornets coach Byron Scott. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, as well as Chris Grant, met with Scott and his agent on Fathers Day to discuss the position, though no formal offer was made.
''On a suit-and-tie-less Sunday, we discussed the competitive nature of all the men in pingpong, pool, bowling, darts, dominos, cards, baseball and, of course, basketball,'' Scott's agent, Brian McInerney, said in an e-mail to the Akron Beacon Journal.
The pursuit of a coach with Lakers ties, Scott is a former Lakers player under Phil Jackson, is a clear indication that the Cavs are wanting to incorporate the “triangle offense” into their team, an offense strongly supported by LeBron.
Whether or not the Cavs can land a coach before the July 1st free agency deadline remains to be seen but what is known is that once this Thursday rolls around, all gloves are off and may the best team win.
