Summer Reflections - Part 2 - Lebron's Decision

Summer Reflections – Part 2 of 3
Lebron’s "Decision"
By PJ Rain

July 1, 2010 marked the beginning of the most historic free agent signing period in the history of the NBA.   This was because Lebron James was contractually freed to explore his options to play basketball in the city of his choice for the first time in his professional career.   Although professional athletes from all sports have been declaring free agency, negotiating new salaries, and choosing the teams for which they will play for several decades, James’ highly anticipated decision was the most  impactful free-agency move since Curt Flood sued Major League Baseball in 1970.   Of course there have been players who have revolutionized the salary scale, beginning with Reggie Jackson’s 1976 pact, in the aftermath of Flood’s challenge, to play for the New York Yankees for nearly $3 million over five years and extending to Alex Rodriguez’s $252 million 10-year mega-deal with the Texas Rangers that ushered in the new century.*   There have also been players who have leveraged their free agency into lucrative deals to remain with their clubs, notably Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant  who both inked short-term deals of approximately $30 million annually to stay with their teams late in their careers.

However, no free agent in professional sports has ever generated the prolonged and wishful speculation over his choice of future employment as Lebron James did this summer.   There were throngs of “insiders” analyzing his relationships, both personal and business, with his mother, girlfriend, high school buddies, financial advisors, and his NBA and celebrity associates in an attempt to correctly predict where he would end up playing.   There was talk that the billionaire owners of the Athens-based Olympiakos team in the European leagues were willing to pay as much as $40-50 million per year to pry Lebron away from the NBA entirely.   There were even mass media campaigns pleading for James to settle in a certain locale ranging from a “We are Lebron” song   posted by Cleveland fans begging him not to leave, to New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “C’mon Lebron” commercial attempting to lure him to the big city.  

The NBA suitors for Lebron’s services included teams in the East like New York, New Jersey, and Miami, Midwestern teams like Chicago and Cleveland, and even the more obscure teams of the Southwest like the Los    Angeles Clippers where the faithful fans promised to hold a parade if James would sign with their team.   As James’ childhood friend Maverick Carter put it, this was James’ version of the college recruiting sprees that every standout high school athlete gets to experience – raised exponentially to the tenth power.  

Because James was drafted and signed by the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers straight out of high school, he never had the opportunity to be wooed by the recruiters who shower young athletes with praise and promises.   So instead, Carter, who now serves as his business manager and trusted confidant, organized a series of meetings where the various teams sent their representatives to Cleveland to make their presentations.   The New Jersey Nets sent billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov; part-owner and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z; team president Brett Yormark; and their newly hired head coach, Avery Johnson.   The New York Knicks then followed suit with their owner James Dolan; team president Donnie Walsh; their head coach Mike D’Antoni; and former $100 million player Alan Houston.   The Miami Heat also sent their owner Micky Arison; team president Pat Riley; head coach Eric Spoelstra; and former player Alonzo Mourning.   Meanwhile, Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, was making coaching and front office changes to create incentives for Lebron to stay that reached beyond the simple fact that the NBA’s salary cap rules permitted him to pay James a higher salary than any other team.**   Finally, the Chicago Bulls were actively recruiting Dwyane Wade to appeal to James’ desire to play alongside another NBA superstar.

This unorthodox approach to free agency led to the first in a series of criticisms levied against James and his management team over the summer.   To critics, the man who had been dubbed “The Chosen One” on the cover of Sports Illustrated and touted nationally under the moniker “King James” while still in high school, now actually had the gall to behave accordingly.   Yet, despite the criticisms from the gallery, the admirers still came in droves to convince him that they were worthy.  

The courtship of Lebron evolved into a production of unprecedented proportions with the same people, who labeled him as arrogant for not visiting prospective cities (as other free agents have done), aggressively pursuing advertising revenue through talk-radio, Internet outlets, and television roundtable discussions while they chronicled his every move.   Then once again, James and his management team invoked the ire of his critics by announcing that he would publicly divulge his new team in a one hour ESPN telecast entitled, “The Decision.”   Since his life was being conveyed as a 24/7 Reality-TV special anyway, James was persuaded by his associates to take some control on the production side of things.   It was an innovative move with some good intentions behind it, but “The Decision” was a debacle for a number of reasons.***   Consequently, young Maverick Carter was given all of the “credit” for the idea while others conveniently distanced themselves from it.

As a sports fan, I was also disappointed in Lebron’s presentation on the ESPN broadcast, but I commend Lebron and Maverick for thinking outside the box and attempting to apply some influence on the sports industry in a unique manner.   Realizing the degree of interest and the advertising dollars tied to the speculation of James’ decision was an astute observation, but capturing and funneling that revenue to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America was an even finer gesture.  

Unlike most professional athletes, Lebron James began to receive an adult-sized dose of the intense nature of corporate sponsorship and television marketing in sports as a high school teenager, and Carter was an older teammate and friend who assisted him in coping with it.   In his freshman year at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio, James led his team to a 23-1 record and a state title, and as a sophomore they won another state title finishing 26-1.   That year, Lebron was also named Ohio’s “Mr. Basketball” while becoming the first sophomore to ever make the USA Today All-USA First-Team in basketball.   Then came his junior year where he averaged nearly 30 points per game, was again named to the All-USA First Team by USA Today and hailed as “Mr. Basketball” in Ohio.   He was also selected as the Gatorade National Player of the Year and became the first high school junior to ever have his season chronicled in the SLAM magazine high school diary series.   With still another year of high school basketball in front of him, Lebron went on to experience an iconic level of “rock-star” popularity that led to nationally televised games, increased enrollment for his high school, a slew of celebrities attending his games and practices all over the country, and a university level position for the man who had served as his coach.****

However, when James petitioned to join the professional ranks at the end of his junior year to receive some of the benefits of the marketing machine that was capitalizing on his talents, he was denied.   Then when he accepted two basketball jerseys from a Cleveland area storeowner who asked him to pose for a picture to be displayed on the store’s walls, he was declared ineligible to compete by the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA).   Although the OHSAA ban was eventually reduced to a two-game suspension upon appeal, it is likely that the duplicitous nature of what James experienced left an indelible impression with regard to the business of sports.

Consequently, considering Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert’s inability or reluctance to convert his operation from a one-man show to a cooperative unit, James’ decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers after serving as the centerpiece of the organization for seven years, came as no surprise.    After Lebron led the team to the NBA’s best regular season record in each of the last two seasons, represented it in the All-Star Game for six of them, and earned NBA MVP honors twice while being hailed as one of the league’s most popular players, it would have been wise for Gilbert to do more than just rely on the belief that the ability to pay more money because of his exemption from the NBA’s salary cap restrictions would be enough.   In fact, he chose to instead show his true colors by posting the now infamous letter on the team’s official website, in which he criticized James for being narcissistic, disloyal, and cowardly.   He also publicly accused James of quitting in the middle of the 2010 playoffs.

Although Gilbert was later fined by NBA commissioner David Stern for his actions, his letter and public comments led us all to revisit sentiments that sometimes get lost in the land of the million-dollar athlete.   At the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, Curt Flood drew significant criticism for referring to himself as a “well-paid slave” while drawing an annual salary of nearly $100,000.   Since that time, several writers and other authorities have addressed the issue.   William C. Rhoden, author of 40 Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Black Athlete, reminds us that athletes are considered commodities which is symbolically no different than chattel slavery when the slaves were also considered commodities.   Claud Anderson, author of Black Labor, White Wealth: The Search for Power and Economic Justice, further asserts that money can serve as an illusion that leads to “modern servitude and lavish plantations such as the NBA,” and researcher Fahim A. Knight-El, artfully compiles these and several other poignant views on this issue in the blog entitled “Lebron James: A Free Agent Slave Who Bucked on His Master.”

All things considered, the aspect of the Lebron James decision that was the most fascinating was the fact that 25-year-old James, 26-year-old Chris Bosh, and 28-year-old Dwyane Wade worked together to leverage a situation in which they could all play together on the same team.   Of course, the threat of NBA tampering rule penalties has deterred them from detailing their efforts, but the three players have a playing relationship dating back to 2006 when they were sequestered together for a week without family or friends in Sapporo, Japan preparing to play for Team USA in the World Championships.   They also played together for the gold medal winning Team USA at the Olympics in 2008 one year after simultaneously extending their contracts with their respective NBA teams for exactly three years (so they all would expire in 2010).   Of course, Miami Heat president Pat Riley and the owner’s son, Nick Arison, who was an intern for Team USA back in 2006, will be credited as the masterminds that planted the seed, but I believe James, Bosh, and Wade cultivated the seed and orchestrated their own plan by realizing their collective power.  

This summer, Creative Arts Agency (CAA) moved into the basketball business by buying out the different management groups that represented the three players.   Although on the surface this may not appear to be beneficial, it actually can be because a management firm is hired or fired by its clients.   As a collective group, the three players will be in a position to exert significant influence on one of the country’s largest agencies.   Similarly, if executed properly, they should also be able to influence policy decisions at the team ownership level of the Miami Heat.  

Admittedly, as an avid sports fan, I relish the moments when superstar players from different teams compete head to head, but when it comes to the business of professional sports with regard to the athletes, there is something to be said for “the power of three.”   During the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries in the northern urban centers of the American Colonies, the white colonists decided to revise their slave codes because in the densely populated urban areas it was easy for Blacks to get together to “plan.”   Whites who were fearful of an insurrection passed a law prohibiting three or more slaves from congregating unless it was for the master’s benefit.   Ironically, after rumors spread about James, Bosh, and Wade planning a summit meeting before the July 1 free-agent declaration deadline, and admissions by each of them that they were in contact before and during the free agency period,   Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban along with others called for a new NBA rule to prevent such a cooperative effort from occurring again.

This is not to say that James, Wade, and Bosh with so much fame and fortune will feel compelled to influence team policy the way Flood, Bill White, and George Crowe did over training camp lodging in baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1960’s, but James’ experiences and challenges in the business of sports as a high-schooler and through his years in Cleveland seem to have taught him that there is something greater towards which he can reach.   For the record, I am not talking about championships although hopefully the three players will win at least one together.   I’m talking about equity.   Derek Jeter has five World Series rings and makes a lot of money, but the New York Yankees franchise is worth well over a billion dollars and its owners display the trophies, the pennants, and reap the immeasurable benefits from the tradition and legacy of the pinstripes.   Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson can also each hold up a handful of rings (actually six for Jordan), but the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers ownership groups continue to benefit from an appreciation in franchise value that is directly related to the two players’ feats well after they have scored their last baskets.  

Championships provide lasting mementos of achievement and physical prowess but what is there for the athlete after the celebrations have ended?   Michael Jordan struggled to become an owner of an NBA team until Bob Johnson finally sold him a majority share of the Charlotte Bobcats.   Magic Johnson has also worked hard over the last decade to cement a legacy of true economic empowerment as an entrepreneur.   By making the decision to not stand alone as “the man” attempting to win championships for a franchise owned by someone else, Lebron James has possibly positioned himself, along with the others, to get an internship-like trial into the ownership pinnacle to which many former superstars currently aspire.   Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson both stated that in their era they would not have considered playing alongside their “rivals,” but they both also acknowledged that there were not the same opportunities for them to do so at that time.