I hope LeBron James is hungry. The New York Knicks, who have been linked to LeBron since folks realized he was going to be a free agent, are planning on hosting LeBron and Co. for a swanky dinner on the first allowable day of contact, July 1st. Brian Windhorst from The Plain Dealer reports:
According to a source, the Knicks are making plans to host an elaborate meal and meeting with James in a high-end location in Manhattan during the afternoon and evening of July 1, which is next Thursday. The tentative plan is for Knicks management and officials to host James and his various agents and friends for a large dinner party catered by a celebrity chef.
The Knicks are currently scouring the city for an available high-rise condo or apartment with a great view to rent for the event, the source said.
What’s funny to me is that no one connected to the Knicks organization appears to have a place suitable for the dinner? How many multi-millionaires are we talking about, and no one has any high-end real estate? Seriously? You don’t know anyone? It seems like “scouring the city” is the last thing that the Knicks would have to do, but maybe that’s just me.
Also, no one seems to want to break the traditional mode of courting athletes. A business dinner is all well and good, but at what point do you really start tapping into these guys’ interests? They’re young men, switch the style up. Bron loves the Yankees, how about taking him to a game, letting him throw out the first pitch, take third base home or something? It just seems like there’s a better way to go about snagging their attention. Granted, there’s a lot of things that happen during the courtship that the average fan isn’t privy to (think: Jesus Shuttlesworth), but to make a dinner your focal point is shortsighted. He can get a dinner anywhere, and afford to pay for it himself, so it’s not like you’re doing him a huge favor.
Hopefully they decide against giving him this at the end of the night: