Mo Williams Hugs Gloria James (Tony Dejak - AP)
As the major media outlets continue to speculate on the future of LeBron James, Cavaliers guard Mo Williams recently attempted to rein everyone back in with his thoughts on what just may be going on in the head of LeBron James.
“I’m not really too concerned about it, because I know his heart and his love is here in Cleveland,” Williams told [David Aldridge] last week. “I know that. Just like anybody else, we love the New Yorks, we love the Miamis, we love the L.A.s, we love the Torontos. That’s probably the most underrated city. We love those cities. But you can’t underrate home.”
Which has me thinking. For every time that the ESPN’s of the world want to play Empire State of Mindon loop to the point where Jay Mariotti has to pretend to be hip, where’s Kanye West and Chris Martin’s Homecoming?
Instead of the “concrete jungle where dreams are made of,” what about “Every interview I’m representing you making you proud/Reach for the stars so if you fall you land on a cloud.” Yes, I know that the West track is about Chicago, but since he explicitly does not call the song Windy City State of Mind, we can use some poetic license, no?
How about Of a Revolution’s I Feel Home? There are few things pure in this world anymore, and home is one of the few?
Countless other artists have written songs about home. Unfortunately, none of them partially own the New Jersey Nets.
“Home is home,” Williams said. “And on top of that, he got to move all his people out there. New York’s expensive.” Not that a contract nearing $20 million per season would not help alleviate those cost hurdles, but the fact of the matter is that Williams is providing at least some sort of balance to the thought that James simply has to play in a big market to succeed.
Naturally, Williams has to believe this for his shot at winning a ring also depends on where James calls home after this season.
If you are curious as to where Aldridge has pegged James to reside, he joins Sam Smith in the thoughts that Los Angeles is the destination. But unlike Smith, Aldridge has the Clippers as the team of James’ choosing due to a young core and cap space.
But for Cavaliers fans piece of mind, Aldridge did wrap up with the following:
“Tim Duncan has had several chances to leave small-market San Antonio this decade. He signed a four-year extension in 2003, a three-year extension in 2007 and has since agreed to a two-year extension through 2011-12. Short contracts, designed to give Duncan maximum leverage — improve the team, or I walk — time and time again. Duncan was fiercely loyal to the people, and the city, that picked him first, and built a championship caliber team around him. He was the consummate team player. He listened to the siren call of bigger, more “cosmopolitan” cities, but he always came back to San Antonio.”
It is this multiple shorter contracts that many are starting to believe will be the future of James – and likely the rest of the big named free agents that chose to follow his footsteps into their current respective deals. It keeps Danny Ferry on the hook – and rightfully so. It keeps the NBA’s best player in Cleveland, and it continually gives this city a chance to win a title.
Like home, you can’t underrate the chance to win a title.
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LeBron keeps teams on edge [NBA.com]
