LeBron and Son: Knicks Family Business Would Ruin Everything
Baseball has the first pitch. The NBA offseason has the first "LeBron James to the New York Knicks" rumor.
There are at least six games left on the 2023-24 NBA calendar but the offseason can tip off without a hitch now that James' representative Rich Paul has labeled the current Los Angeles Laker "a free agent." Stephen A. Smith has already made his pitch, as has James apologist Nick Wright, and the hot takes will only burn brighter by day until a new contract is signed.
James' latest "decision" comes with several new layers tucked in: having publicly acknowledged his mortality, the next contract James signs will likely be his last. One of his final goals is to take the floor alongside his son Bronny, one of the many early entrants into the 2024 NBA Draft.
A potential royal visit only intensifies on a local level: rumors of Paul peace summits with Knicks president Leon Rose should only add further fuel to the James fire and, of course, little more needs to be said about his love of playing at Madison Square Garden. Hollywood endings are one thing, but a Manhattan send-off ... especially one that could end the egregious championship droughts the new-look Knicks have yet to quench ... would give James his goals and then some.
In the eyes of some, bringing a title to the star-crossed Knicks franchise would be the catapult over Michael Jordan in the never-ending GOAT debate. If that were to pass, James would have modern basketball discourse's greatest weapon: the support of Knicks fans.
Leave it to the new-century Knicks to complicate a good thing, but this time their issues inch closer toward the basketball equivalent of a first-world problem: no one in New York would mind if the Knicks ran things back with the same lineup, one that won 50 games and a No. 2 seed despite injury reports that resembled starting fives. That, of course, isn't the Knicks' way and the team will no doubt keep its eyes open for an established superstar to join the fold.
It can't, and shouldn't be, James.
Set to turn 40 in December, James (partly assisted by a Play-In Tournament he once opposed) does deserve credit for being a difference-maker as his time dwindles. His remaining ability is far from the question and there's no way to argue that in good faith.
But the last thing the Knicks need right now is any sort of hoopla, any sort of extracurricular activity that takes away from what Rose has assembled to date. If the Knicks obtain, say, Mikal Bridges or Donovan Mitchell, that's one thing. In those hypotheticals, Rose and Co. make their own fate and don't let a temporary sideshow control their narratives and fates. If it blows up, so be it, the Knicks move on.
Like Sinatra before him, James has been proud to do things his way ... with varied results on a team-wide level. James' propensity to play basketball god in his advanced years has left his squads in uncomfortable situations, evidenced by the Lakers' pure mediocrity since hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy in the Walt Disney World bubble in 2020.
Rose's craftsmanship has been defined by patience and avoiding the big ticket move. He kept his assets rather than dealing them all away for Mitchell, unlike James' original employers in Cleveland, who sit in a state of relative limbo after two years of a "Spida" infestation. Rose brought in OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Alec Burks over the course of the season ... and wound up gaining a first-round pick (as the final compensation for the long-gestating Kristaps Porzingis deal).
Craving creative control isn't even contained to James' domestic affairs anymore: the second the United States' men's basketball group, one partly headlined by Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, failed to medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, reports of James assembling a de facto Avengers emerged, which could partly explain why his aging buddies like Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis are bound for Paris while Brunson, the leading American scorer, will spend the summer home (to be fair, Brunson likely would have to turn an invite down to rehab on a broken hand).
James has also wasted no time trying to leave a lasting legacy knowing his time is coming by ostensibly attaching his son's professional debut to his next contract. He'll no doubt seek to ensure Bronny is in a better place ... one that matches his vision ... before he checks out.
Plus, one can't help but think of the load management factor partly popularized by James: if he thinks Bronny (no doubt one of the most raw prospects in the draft and one burdened by unnecessary hype through no fault of his own) can use some guidance in the form of a temporary assistant coaching position, that just creates another puzzle that doesn't need to be unboxed.
Enough Kings have taken the throne at MSG ... and James has no right to usurp Bernard and Henrik Lundqvist.
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI
Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks