I Give a Standing Ovation to WFNY
WFNY? That’s Waiting For Next Year for all you non-Cleveland sports fans out there. I have been talking about this ever since the draft and an article was written by John Hollinger proclaiming that the trade of Richard Jefferson from New Jersey was undeniable proof that LeBron James was on his way to the Nets when his contract expires in 2010. I have grown tired of the east-coast-centric bullshit that constantly beats the Cleveland Cavaliers, the city of Cleveland, and their fans into oblivion because in those tainted writers’ filthy brains somehow Cleveland isn’t good enough for a superstar of LeBron James’ caliber.
Well, I never wrote the perfect rebuttal. And now, I don’t have to bother trying.
RockKing (probably not his real name) at Waiting for Next Year has written it.
I won’t plagiarize it here, but he goes through it all. LeBron has already achieved amazing media success in Cleveland. He has made millions from the Cavaliers organization. He holds all the leverage in the world with Nike already. And finally, LeBron can’t possibly make any more money in the NBA than he can as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. In fact, with a few mathematical assumptions it is reasonable to assume that LeBron would have to leave somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 million on the table to leave Cleveland after years and escalators are taken into account. You see, LeBron won’t definitely stay in Cleveland, but this whole air of inevitability that everyone seems to put on that he will leave is a bit ridiculous.
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3 Responses to “I Give a Standing Ovation to WFNY”
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I like the Cavs. I love watching LeBron play. Assuming the Celts can’t win every year, there’s no other team I’d like to see win the NBA more than a LeBron-led Cavs. Having said all that, I think the likelihood that LeBron will stay is much more dependent on whether he thinks he’ll be able to win a championship there (or, obviously, if he does win one next year) and less on the $40 mill he might be leaving on the table if he goes.
I don’t disagree. That was one of the highlights in the article too.
What business do the present day Knicks and Nets have to a superstar player like LeBron other than their geography?
Well, all the things that come with that geography. Major media market, proximity to more sponsors and sponsors’ customers, proximity to more customers for branded apparel and whatnot, proximity to related industries (entertainment, advertising, etc.)