Oscar Gamble Society

So Lebron, Bosh and Wade may or may not have had a “Summit” in Miami last weekend and/or they may or may not have spoken/met previously and/or since.  The papparazzi are all abuzz because it appears as though these top FAs may be colluding and conspiring to play together and form a “superteam”.  What amazes me is some folks seem genuinely upset about this.  To wit:

First, it’s Collusion!  Um… okay - but that doesn’t make it the bad C-word.  When owners collude to suppress the market for players and thus restrict their ability to maximize their pay, we call that a Cap… er, we say that’s bad.  Fine, I get that.  But the whole point of free agency is that a player has the right, after a period of time in the league, to decide where he wants to play - *whatever* his reasons (be they financial, logistical, all-about-winning, or simply cuz he looks fashionable in that team’s colors).  Additionally, if a couple guys decide they want to play together - cuz they have a better chance of winning, or just cuz it’d be fun… so what?!  That’s the whole point of free agency.  Players are free to sign wherever they want (assuming they come to financial terms on a contract with said team, of course).  Why do FAs in any sport sign with good to great teams?  To win!  What the heck is the difference between a couple top FAs signing in the same place in the NBA and… well, Teixiera and Sabathia (arguably the top hitting and pitching FAs of that offseason) signing with the Yankees in the same year?  What… just cuz nobody got wind of a “summit”?!

Second, it’s Bad for the NBA!  Squeeze me?!  A great team (or two) is always *great* for the NBA.  When was the NBA at it’s apex?  Was it the 80s - when either the Lakers or Celtics (or both) appeared in *every* Finals of that entire decade?  The Lakers had 3 HoFers (Magic, Kareem, Worthy) and the Celtics had 5 HoFers (Bird, Parish, McHale, DJ, Walton).  Those were clearly Superteams, and I don’t recall too many people complaining - except perhaps for fans of other teams who wished their teams were as good.  Now those teams weren’t assembled when a couple top FAs decided to sign together, but does it really matter?  I submit not.  If not the 80s, then were the 90s the apex?  When *one* team (and arguably one player, sorry Scottie - you’re not Top 50 all-time if you’re not lucky enough to be drafted by Chicago) was The Superteam?  Arguably, the NBA of the last decade has been in decline, relatively speaking.  Why?  In part, there is no Superteam (and I’d also submit that the Best Player Winning Titles isn’t PR-friendly and thus Marketable, aka Kobe - and the Best Player who Is PR-friendly and Ultra-Marketable isn’t Winning Titles, aka Lebron).

Third, we need to check the agendas, or more accurately, the allegiances of these people whining.  I suspect most are fans of teams that are not in line to possibly assemble a Superteam this summer.  The remainder are people who just need to find something to complain about (and I hate people like that, don’t you ).

Btw, even though Stephen A. Smith apparently came out last week and “guaranteed” that the three of them in Miami “is a done deal”, I’m not buying it.  I do believe the reports that Wade is staying in Miami… fine.  But I don’t see the other two also ending up there.  Wade and Lebron together doesn’t make sense to me.  Wade and Bosh (or Plan B, Boozer)?  Okay.  Lebron and Bosh (or Plan B, Boozer)?  Okay.  I don’t pretend to have a clue where Bosh is going to end up - but I’ll be extremely surprised if it’s not with Lebron or Wade - and I’ll be stunned if all three are together.

Lebron?  All along, I was convinced he’d remain in Cleveland.  After the Celtics series, and watching Lebron and his team absolutely quit in the last minute of Game 6 (the last game of the series, and thus, their season), I reacted and convinced myself that he was gone.  I’ve come back around.  I think he stays - and he gets either Bosh or Boozer (though Bosh is way better) to join him.

On the one hand, Neumann may be glad to read that.  On the other hand, I’m famously and consistently wrong with my sports predictions - so you can probably count on the fact that Lebron will be anywhere other than Cleveland.  Either way, so be it.  I’m not losing any sleep waiting for the decision, though I admit I’ll be curious to know when he does finally announce his decision.  Course, if I had a team in the Lebron Hunt?  Um, yeah… I might be reacting a bit differently.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 5:58 am and is filed under Sports, Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.