It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t have an opinion on where LeBron James should land in free agency. James’s teammate Anthony Parker, for instance, thinks James should remain in Cleveland.
“I’ve always thought there’s a better chance of LeBron re-signing than of him leaving,” Parker said. “Cleveland is all for him. It’s where he grew up, he has always played there, he has a great team in place there, he has his house in Akron… But at the end of the day the No. 1 thing for LeBron is winning. He’s going to go wherever he thinks he has the best chance of winning.”
So who is handling the recruiting for the Knicks and Nets? You don’t want to know.
The Associated Press reports that the Knicks do indeed have an advocate: disgraced former general manager Isiah Thomas, who is now coaching Florida International’s men’s basketball team.
Thomas, who led the Detroit Pistons to two NBA titles and is in the Hall of Fame, said New York offers the biggest stage and would provide James with his greatest challenge. He said James’ presence in New York would be good for the league.
Thomas, now the head coach at Florida International, made the statement Tuesday after participating in an Indiana University panel discussion about diversity in sports journalism.
On the bright side for Knicks fans, at least their advocate wasn’t Stephon Marbury, who has bounced around the globe in recent months in between eating Vaseline while filming himself on U-Stream. That’s because Marbury has thrown his support behind the New Jersey Nets according to the New York Post.
“LJ 23 should go to the Nets so that Newark would be able to grow and build businesses for the people there,” Marbury wrote in an e-mail to The Post. “After he builds the economy in Newark he can come to my borough and create a brand new life for people struggling to make it in this tough economy.”
Surely these won’t be the last two voices, or even the least credible, voices to support bringing James eastward. It might take some work: James met recently with fellow free agents Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami.
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