LeBron James will give Cleveland the Shaq treatment
Mike Bianchi
SPORTS COMMENTARY
12:41 AM EST, January 30, 2009
This time, the blowout loss to the Magic was an aberration — a bad night for one of the best teams in the league.
But soon enough, this type of defeat will likely be the norm for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The poor, poor Cleveland Cavaliers.
They are a dead franchise walking and they don't even know it yet.
They have one of the best records in the league and the most marketable young star in the game. They've already been to one NBA Finals and have visions of many more over the next decade.
But soon — if and when LeBron James leaves for brighter lights and a bigger city — it will all come crashing down like the Florida condo market.
Sound familiar, Magic fans?
Remember when Shaq bolted Orlando for Tinseltown because he wanted to make movies and hobnob with the stars in Hollywood? Well, here we are more than a decade later and only now have the Magic finally recovered from the Shaq Smack. Supreme evidence of Orlando's return from the dark ages came Thursday when the Magic dismantled LeBron's Cavs 99-88 a few hours after learning they had more players on the all-star team (three) than anybody in the NBA.
Can you believe it? Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson — yes, the same Jameer Nelson everybody thought couldn't play in this league — are all all-stars. Even perennially cantankerous Coach Stan Van Gundy was smiling about that.
"It's been a pretty good day for the Magic," he said.
Meanwhile, the Cavs, even though they entered Thursday's game with the NBA's best record, have only one all-star — LeBron himself. And you should have heard the frustration in his voice when he talked about the Cavs' perceived all-star snub.
"It shows the disrespect that Cleveland basketball and Cleveland everything continues to get," LeBron said.
Just another reason for Clevelanders to worry about LeBron signing with the Knicks. It's bad enough the Browns stink, the Indians haven't won a World Series in 60 years and Cleveland is now being battered with near-record snowfall. Now fans have to dread the day they wake up and read the headline: "LeBron Is Gone!"
And then you know what happens, right? They go from revering LeBron in Cleveland to reviling him. He will be transformed from the treasured King James I to the treasonous King Louis XVI.
Trust us, Cleveland.
We know.
After Shaq left, we know better than anyone.
We know you want to believe LeBron is loyal to Cleveland because it's where he grew up; that he is devoted to the Cavs because they made him the No. 1 pick; that he will stay with the franchise because it can offer him more money than anyone.
Don't kid yourself.
If LeBron really wanted to stay in Cleveland, he would have already signed a long-term extension like young Dwight did last year in Orlando. LeBron has only one year left on his contract after this season. That's all you need to know.
If he's happy in Cleveland, why not just sign an extension right now?
When I asked LeBron that very question Thursday, he replied: "I don't know, man. I'm focusing on playing games. My contract is something I'm not thinking about right now. If I sign or don't sign, I'm still here for another year and a half."
And then you might as well break out the Sinatra CD and sing along:
"Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today. I want to be a part of it — New York, New York!"
Just as Shaq always loved L.A., LeBron seems to be in a New York state of mind. Everybody knows that's why the Knicks recently cleared a mountain of cap room in preparation for a 2010 offseason that is already being tabbed "The Summer of LeBron."
Poor Cleveland.
Poor, poor Cleveland.
LeBron leaving there will be much more devastating than Shaq leaving here.
When Shaq left, Orlando fans woke up in the morning and the sun still came up.
When LeBron leaves, Cavs fans will wake up and still have to live in Cleveland.
Mike Bianchi can be reached at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com.
