The Summer of LeBron takes another wild turn. This time we are getting news that LeBron will announce the winner of the Bron Sweepstakes in (brace yourselves) a live, one-hour special on ESPN this Thursday at 9 ET! WHAT?!
According to ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard:
“LeBron James is planning to announce the team with which he will sign during a one-hour special on ESPN Thursday night”
and:
“[S]ources said that James’ representatives requested they be allowed to sell sponsorship for the one-hour special”
Seriously folks, this is getting out of control. First we are subjected to LeBron interviews on Larry King, trying to upstage one of the greatest NBA Finals in recent history.
Follow that up with about a million rumors of LeBron leaning towards the Knicks, then the Bulls, then the Heat, then the Nets, back to the Bulls, then the Cavs, back to the Knicks again … and now maybe/possibly/sort of the Cavs.
Then came the most controversial Twitter account of all time earlier today. Is it really his? Will he tweet? How come he isn’t following anyone? OH GOD, HE TWEETED, QUICK — EVERYONE RETWEET!!!! ESPN was sending breaking news alerts to let everyone know that it was indeed LeBron’s account (they asked his publicist) and that everyone needed to check it ASAP!
And as if turning the entire NBA into a circus where hype means more than on-court success (remember when ESPN used to only report on games?), now LeBron wants a one-hour special to announce what team he’s going to sign with? Is he really trying to relive high school? If LeBron wanted to go through the recruiting process this badly, he should have just gone to college.
He is making a mockery of the NBA, and you know every other player in the league is taking notice of what’s going on. You don’t think Kobe is sitting back laughing at the fact that a guy with zero rings is getting press conferences to announce where he’s signing?
What about D-Wade, who has suddenly become the B-list star of the free agent class, even though he is arguably the second-best closer in the NBA today (ahead of LeBron and Melo, behind Kobe)?
I guarantee you that no matter where he signs, Bron will be carrying a huge target on his back next season. Other NBA players see this and laugh; does Bron realize how ridiculous he’s become?
This LeBron “special” has to make you ask a few questions:
1. How the hell will this take up an hour? Is he slowly going to eliminate each team until he’s down to the final two and make his pick at 9:59?
2. Where will the special take place? Because if it’s in Ohio, I guarantee you he isn’t leaving the Cavs.
3. Will we finally learn what hyping up a guy since his junior year in high school can do to the human brain? The man is calling himself the King, announcing his free agency decision on ESPN and controlling everything sports, upstaging Wimbledon and the World Cup, after having won NOTHING.
I hope he enjoys the courtship and the Prom King crown he’s about to get, because unless he starts winning rings fast, we’re going to remember this summer as one of the most ridiculous in NBA history, where teams courted a great talent who was more about the hype than anything he ever did on the court.
Belal Abdelfattah is BSO’s newest writer and comes from a long background in sports writing at the Sports Authority Blog and The Block Radio. You can follow Belal on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/belal_a
