The pursuit of LeBron James
As we know, James would decide to sign with the Miami Heat in 2010 but not before the Knicks made their pitch which they had been preparing to do for two years. But realistically, the Knicks had absolutely no chance of landing James for at least three different reasons.
Not all money is created equal
On Friday, June 4, 2010, almost a full month before the Knicks would have their July 2nd free agency meeting with James, “Larry King Live” aired an interview wherein The Akron Hammer discussed his upcoming decision among other things. When asked about the temptation of “girls” James added the idea that money is also a temptation saying in part:
"It could be girls, it could be other situations, it could be money. Certain money is not always good money."
This is a clue the Knicks could have used to inform the strategy they chose for their pitch. A dollar figure would not, in and of itself, be enough to entice James into agreeing to play for anyone. And rightly so. He knew he would get paid eventually wherever he went.
The Knicks’ plan to convince James to sign in New York centered around convincing him that signing with them would make him a billionaire… eventually. If you question the credibility of this argument, you’re not alone. Business analyst Darren Rovell was openly critical and questioned the accuracy of the report. So, the plan to win James over already had one fundamental flaw.
Key to the bogus InterBrand LeBron study? They ASSUME he'll play for the Knicks for the next 13 years.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 2, 2010
Mind-bogglingly, the Knicks’ let-us-make-you-a-billionaire-pitch came with a side of, please-sign-for-less-than-a-max-deal. Seriously guys? Seriously!? You’re trying to convince someone that the best thing about signing with you is the Dolla’ Dolla’ Bills, but you don’t even offer him the whole amount that you’re allowed to give?
On the one hand, the Knicks’ idea of a “three-star team” was a solid one. We know what happened in Miami. But the reality was that James was on a different level than Joe Johnson and Amar’e Stoudemire the other two stars the Knicks were hoping to hitch their wagon to.
By this time, James was already a six-time All-Star (to Stoudemire and Johnson’s four All-Star appearances each), and a two-time league MVP. He’d never been seriously injured and he’d averaged 7 and 9 more points a game in the 2009- 10 season than Stoudemire and Johnson respectively. If ever a free agent had earned the offer of a max contract, it was LeBron James.
What a remarkably insane time for Dolan and the Knicks to decide to become money conscious. This is the same team who paid 30-year-old Allan Houston $100 million. And okay, sure James would go on to sign for less than a max deal with the Heat along with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. But the Knicks didn’t know that at the time they were making their pitch to James.
Also, for two reasons, those situations aren’t really comparable. First Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade were a tier up from Johnson and Stoudemire in terms of talent. Wade, like James, was a six-time All-Star, had averaged 26.6 points in the 2009-10 season and had already been the biggest contributor to his team winning an NBA Championship in 2006. Bosh, at 25 years old, already had 5 All-Star appearances to his name and had averaged 24 points in 2009-10. Those are the kind of stats that you can use to make a case for all three guys to take less money to play together.
The second reason the Knicks should have made a max offer to James is the level of responsibility he would have inherently been taking on in signing with the Knicks. The expectations would have been monumental and the majority of that would have fallen on James’ shoulders. It wouldn’t have mattered if Stoudemire or Johnson had underperformed. The narrative would have been about James.
The task of transforming the Knicks from a trainwreck to a well-oiled winning machine has been like trying to steer the Titanic around that iceberg. The mess caused by hubris and ineptitude has only lead to disaster.