LeBron James will be a free agent in the summer of 2010; this has become more annoying than political propaganda. ESPN analysts have a new theory everyday. The daily suggestions from around the nation have continually neglected to mention the team #23 belongs to now, the Central Division leading Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs are quickly becoming one of the fiercest teams in the NBA.

Currently, the Cavs are averaging 101.23 points per game, which currently puts them at 2^nd in the Eastern Conference. In return, the Cavs are ranked 3^rd in the Eastern Conference in points allowed per game with 93.07. For those without a calculator at home, that gives the Cavs a +8.15 point differential per game. The wine and gold’s +8.15 point differential is 1^st in the Eastern Conference and 2^nd in the NBA. Analysts must be salivating at the chance to write about a LeBron James team that is 10-3 and only bound to get better… right?

Wrong! Instead, headlines are cluttered with LBJ teams that do not exist. LeBron will play for New Jersey and his buddy Jay-Z. No, he is going to rev his engine for Joe Dumars and the Pistons. Wait a minute; LBJ is going to The Big Apple to play for D’Antoni. Then again, there is always the possibility of James going overseas. This is a sample of the plethora of LeBron James speculation. The constant rumors include New York and New Jersey. Recently, LeBron said that he wants to do what’s best for his career and what will put him in the best situation to win multiple championships. New York has taken virtually all of their contracts off the books for 2010. This week, ESPN analyst, Marc Stein, wrote about the idea of James teaming up with Nash and Bosh under the D’Antoni system for the Knicks. Let us dissect this notion. With D’Antoni calling the shots, New York has a coach that has never won a conference championship. The man can win a lot of regular season games. This is because it is easy to get a team to play to your run-and-gun system for one game, but in the NBA playoffs, everyone knows defense wins. Also, in Stein’s article, Steve Nash would be a part of the Knicks with James. This makes

sense; New York would bring in a member of D’Antoni’s previous team that never got him past the conference finals, and Nash will be two years older. With D’Antoni coaching the New York Suns, LeBron would be giving up his defense-first mentality by becoming a Knick. Whoopi Goldberg could and has coached better defense than D’Antoni in the Garden (rent the not-so-critically-acclaimed 1996 movie “Eddie” if you have no idea what I am talking about).

Apparently, Buster Olney has become sufficiently knowledgeable in LeBronology. Olney, an ESPN baseball analyst, tends to write Yankee bias articles. Like many experts, Olney expects C.C. Sabathia to sign with the Yankees. It would be hard for me to argue that, but I could try. However, that is a totally different issue. Buster Olney proceeds to draw the connection between C.C. and LBJ both starting their careers and being major superstars in Cleveland. Also, Olney states they are good friends, and they would help each other in their transition from Cleveland to Boo York. ESPN has become so infatuated with the summer of 2010 that they have a baseball analyst writing about LeBron James. Am I the only person that finds this ridiculous? I am sure the next article I see will be from John Clayton talking about James’s friendship with T.O. and LeBron’s move to the Mavericks in 2010.

One thing is for certain…Cleveland has King James for the rest of this season and next season. The Cavaliers are playing better and more inspired than ever as a TEAM. To make sure you get the skinny on every Cavs game without the constant trade talk, click on The Curse of Cleveland to read what Kirk, the man with the plan, has to say.

BURN ON!

J.V.