FinNasty
"The Sticker Dunk"
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2005
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Nothing substantial... but interesting none the less. Here is a little something from ESPN's Marc Stein:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=2522631Heard an interesting tale about LeBron James that would have caused a real panic in Cleveland if James hadn't agreed to a contract extension by now.
AP Photo/Jamie-Andrea Yanak
Is King James toying with the idea of playing in Brooklyn?
Actually, knowing Clevelanders, it'll cause a panic anyway.
Turns out LBJ and his buddy Jay-Z, according to Stein Line operatives, were spotted lunching in midtown Manhattan earlier this month. Jay-Z, of course, is a part-owner of the New Jersey Nets and has convinced paranoid Cavs fans he eventually will lure LeBron away from the hometown team to join the Nets, perhaps just in time for their eventual move to Brooklyn.
I've got more bad news for Cavs Nation.
There's nothing you can really do to stop LBJ and Jay-Z from having lunch or being friends, so you might as well learn to live with these kinds of sightings.
Jay-Z certainly set off the league's tampering censors with his recent statements in Sports Illustrated about advising James to "come to the Nets" if he doesn't like how the Cavs' future looks. That was blatantly over the line. If it happens again, look for the Nets to be tagged with a significant financial penalty.
In general, though, tampering charges aren't even considered unless a team out there files a complaint. The Cavs, to date, haven't registered a complaint.
Commissioner David Stern, furthermore, would never tell LeBron whom he can and can't befriend.
The league office, I'm told, has no problem with discreet, fatherly or innocent-looking interactions. Magic Johnson, for example, is still a Los Angeles Lakers part-owner who does instructional videos with prominent players from other teams. It's not hard to imagine Magic being asked for advice in those settings. You also can safely assume no one will be telling Michael Jordan he no longer can serve as a telephone mentor to Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony, even though MJ is officially back in the game with the Charlotte Bobcats.
LeBron and Jay-Z will run into problems only if they mug for cameras, tell reporters they're plotting to work together someday or otherwise trumpet the fact that they like to hang out. Getting spied on at a restaurant doesn't qualify.
Sorry, Cleveland.
