1. What if the Delonte West/LeBron’s Mom rumor is true?
So far, this rumor has been implicitly disregarded. Everyone knows about it, but no one is taking it seriously. The mainstream sports media won’t even touch it, which is suspect. For while its details are more than sketchy, I can’t comprehend why a single credible sports journalist hasn’t investigated such a compelling viral story (no pun intended). It certainly doesn’t feel like a fiction that someone would create from nothing. A story that someone might exaggerate, yes; a story that someone might falsely claim a first-person connection to, sure; but not a story that would be made up completely. (And as rumors go, I can’t remember the last time I heard one involving an NBA player that wasn’t trade- or free-agency-related.)
So let’s just consider for a moment that maybe — MAYBE — this Delonte thing really happened. And everyone in the organization knew about it, and no one said a thing. They made LeBron the fool. If this is what went down, it kind of explains everything:
> LeBron’s inexplicably bad Game 5 (3 for 14 shooting, and that’s after unleashing a holy ass whoopin on the Cs four days earlier)
> The half-stunned look on his face during the last three games of that series, followed by the way he ripped off his Cavs jersey before he even got to the locker room after the Cs closed them out
> The way he left — giving ZERO thanks or acknowledgement to his teammates, and only the slightest of nods to the Cavs fans
Feels an awful lot like the behavior of a guy who got burned. Badly.
Consider this: For the past 7+ years, the mental construct we’ve built around the name LeBron James has been wholly positive and straightforward. But since mid-May, we’ve all been scratching our heads trying to figure this guy out. We’ve all sort of silently assumed that LeBron, in reality, is this surprisingly mysterious character whom we’ve misunderstood for years.
But does that make any real sense?
It brings to mind the principle of Ockham’s razor, which states that, in most cases, the most obvious explanation is the correct one. So I ask: Is there any explanation for LeBron’s behavior these past three months that is as obvious, simple and straightforward as the Delonte rumor being true?
Hmm.
2. How long has it been, really?
All right, for a moment, please completely disregard everything I just wrote.
Good. Now...
One huge “Decision” question that’s still hanging out there: Exactly when did the “New Big 3” (or whatever nickname they assume) decide they’d be playing together in Miami?
Back in June, it was learned that the rumored “free-agent summit” did, in fact, take place in South Beach — so it could very well have been decided then. (Strange, because Wade subsequently flew to Chicago to meet with the Bulls organization, and LeBron was about to host pitches from the Heat, Nets, Knicks, Bulls and Cavs. Was this all done just to divert media attention from the “summit”? Nothing would surprise me at this point.)
Now stick with me for a moment:
Back in November 2009, LeBron announced that he would be changing his number from 23 to 6 (his Olympic team number) for the 2010 season. Of course, that struck a lot of us as possible evidence that he was thinking of signing with Chicago; to our logic, this was likely a pre-emptive step taken to avoid the issue of MJ’s retired number there. But here’s an interesting wrinkle:
Only one other NBA team has retired the number 23. Wanna take a guess? Yep, that’s right: the Miami Heat. They, too, inexplicably retired MJ’s number, even though he never played for the team. (The rafters must’ve been looking pretty bare. The Heat have only retired four numbers: Tim Hardaway, Alonzo, MJ, and...Dan Marino (?!?). That’s just goddamn pathetic. But I digress.)
Now LeBron made a big thing at the time about how he wanted to honor MJ by ceasing to wear his number, and how the entire league should consider doing likewise, and blah blah blah. But now, knowing all too well how well LeBron’s camp can manipulate the media, we have to ask: Could LeBron, Wade and Bosh have had this plan in place as early as last summer? Or earlier, even?
G.
