NBA: LeBron to Golden State: Calculated Nonsense

ESPN surprised on late Wednesday evening with the news that LeBron James could switch to the Golden State Warriors in the summer. This will not happen – there is something else behind the message.

One could have almost assumed that the Cavaliers would at least come to rest for a few hours. In the first game after Kevin Love’s injury, Miami was finally beaten, even though it was not a brilliant performance. After all, it was a defensive fit, almost a novelty in the current season.

But a few hours later a new message spread through the NBA-ether. ESPN man Chris Haynes published a report saying that LeBron would listen to James in the summer if the Warriors contacted him “out of respect. Much more was actually not in the article, not even that the Warriors would ask for a meeting at all.

Of course, it was still enough to start the overhead cinema. Not just “LeBron with another team?”, but “LeBron with Curry and Durant and Green?” – it’s understandable that all alarm bells are ringing. Couldn’t you just wipe out the league if the three best players in the world (conservative: 3 of the top 5) were to play in one team?

The answer is: Yes, you could. But it’s not gonna happen. You don’t have to worry about that. The fact that LeBron changes the team can be very good, but he wouldn’t change to Golden State – for him the (repaired) reputation and the (indignant) GOAT theme are too important. If he switched to the Warriors, no one would put him on a par with Michael Jordan. He’s aware of that, too.

It is no coincidence, of course, that this rumour has just arisen. It’s certainly a lot of things, but not an oversight. No NBA player controls the flow of information around him like LeBron. If something leaks out of his circle, it is usually calculated.

The calculation in this case is, of course, the best speculation. Perhaps the most entertaining scenario was presented by GQ author Nathaniel Friedman, formerly known as “Free Darko”:”LeBron wants to destroy the Cavs as much as possible on his way out to reduce the value so that he can buy them one day. After winning four more titles in Golden State and passing MJ.”

The cause is probably not that complicated. Rather, one can assume that LeBron knows on the one hand, of course, that such a headline will dominate everything in a week full of headlines and will expose Dan Gilbert, the Cavs owner he hated, and on the other hand, that he wants to put the Cavaliers under pressure.

The trade deadline is only one week away. James is not satisfied with the condition of his team, he can’t be. Despite their 30-20 record, the Cavs have had a more than chaotic January, Love has now seriously injured himself and James has lost the only really constant player. The King himself could use a break – his numbers have also collapsed in January (23.5 points, 22 percent 3FG).

The break will be given to James with the All-Star Break anyway. But in order to be able to attack properly afterwards, he obviously wants the Front Office to find him some more help. In their current form, the Cavaliers don’t scare anyone, not even in the Eastern Conference, which has always been won by James for the past 50 years.

Apart from the rumoured deal for George Hill, it’s been pretty quiet about Cleveland over the past few days as far as trades are concerned – primarily because the Cavs refuse to offer the infamous Brooklyn pick. This is also a kind of protection for Cleveland if LeBron should go in summer, but he doesn’t care. He wants to win now and not plan for a future that he will probably spend elsewhere anyway.

The cavs shouldn’t give in and trade the pick if James doesn’t like them beyond this season. But he won’t, and that’s why there’s a stalemate situation. The Cavs have been carrying this dilemma around since the trade of Kyrie Irving, who brought them the pick.

LeBron himself contributed to the situation, but that doesn’t make any difference to him, of course. He’s angry. And if this interfering fire really comes out of its camp, as you might expect, it would not be the first example of James’ passive-aggressive communication.

James will not seriously consider going on a title hunt with Curry and Durant. But he knows exactly what it triggers when it looks like he can do that. There are already reasons why the Cavaliers have been constantly in the eye of the storm since his return.