Why LeBron James Free Agency Decision Was A Bad Move Part 1

The Free Agency frenzy known as the Summer of 2010 was lengthy, suspenseful, and probably everything anyone ever expected and more. It was finally capped off last night when Lebron James chose to go to Pat Riley’s Miami Heat to join up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in what will be regarded as a super trio.

Lebron’s decision was based on winning. Not winning during the season, which he and the Cavs have done so well, but deep into the playoffs (which they have not). Hence, it should be of no surprise why he left Cleveland, who rebuilt the team around Lebron with new roster spots for the past 7 years to no avail. But why did Lebron choose Miami?

Lebron says the fame, money, locale, and loyalty were not as attractive as the possibility of winning championships. Not singular, but plural. He wants to win now and well into the future for years to come.

Lebron Hits It On The Head- You Need A Championship

In sports, we always judge someone’s performance based upon their ability to win. When we think of sports legends, who comes to mind? Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul Jabaar, John Elway, Magic Johnson, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Derek Jeter, Muhammad Ali, Wayne Gretzky, Jim Brown, Peyton Manning, etc. Not only did these guys have incredible numbers statistically, but these guys won at times when it counted most.

Obviously atop this “sports legend list” is Michael Jordan. Why? Not only was he the face of basketball during his tenure, but well beyond those years into this era as well. He’ll always be considered the greatest. But why? Was it truly his ability to play the game or was it his ability to finish and by extension, bring home 6 titles in a row to the city of Chicago? If he always fell short to the Pistons, Cavs, Jazz, Knicks, Trailblazers, Celtics, Suns, Pacers, Hornets, and Supersonics but had the same individual success in terms of statistical numbers and game-changing moments would he ever be considered the greatest? Absolutely not. So obviously, it’s a combination of both individual performance and winning. But what’s more important? What if he won only 1 championship but still had the best numbers we’ve ever seen? Would he still be the greatest? Probably not. So, Lebron hit it on the head- multiple championships are necessary to build a legacy.

So this begs the question, what if Michael didn’t have elite players surround him like Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Horace Grant? What if he didn’t have good centers like Bill Cartwright and Luc Longley? What if he didn’t have role players like Steve Kerr, John Paxson Toni Kukoc, and B.J. Armstrong who came up HUGE in big moments? Would he ever get past those aforementioned teams? Would he ever get out of the East? Even Jordan couldn’t steer a team without his copilot, Scottie Pippen, who is one of the top 50 NBA Players of all time. Many people forget that during Jordan’s layoff year in 1994, Scottie Pippen won the League MVP, nearly bringing a title by his lonesome, but falling up just short (after a controversial foul call in Game 5) with a 7th game loss to the Knicks (who eventually lost in 7 to the Rockets).

But what if Jordan instead had a cast of Mo Williams, Antoine Jamison, an expiring Shaq, and Delonte West? Obviously Jordan couldn’t bring 6, but could he bring 1 to the city of Cleveland? Probably not. So what defines a greatest player of all time?

Clearly, it’s individual performance and being able to finish simultaneously. But isn’t bringing a championship solely contingent upon your supporting cast? So is it really you being the greatest ever or you along with the help of others being the greatest ever?

You can’t do it yourself and Lebron knows (as he adamantly stated) the history of the game.

Let’s take a look at all the GREAT players who fell short. Ewing, Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Reggie, Webber, Kidd, Baylor, etc. Are their careers diminished not because of their inability to win, but because of their powerlessness to win? These players were great, some the best this game has to offer, but can they be considered legends? Hmmm.

Superstars are defined on an individual talent-based level, but does a legend need a ring?

If not for Jordan and the Bulls, we would have seen Stockton and Malone win a couple in ’97 and ‘98.

Additionally, Barkley would have gotten his in ’93 too. There are four players in NBA history that have compiled 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley. Barkley and Malone rarely get mentioned in the same breath as Wilt and Kareem. There is a direct correlation. Catch my drift?

Let’s take a look at Patrick Ewing, who would have definitely gotten his a couple of times if not for Jordan. Ewing was indefatigable and relentless in pursuit of an NBA championship despite being denied on an annual basis and criticized by the New York media and fans so much for it.

During Ewing’s rehab in 1997, Knicks forward Larry Johnson said, “I thought I was a hard worker, or claimed to be a hard worker, but I’m in there before practice and he looks like he’s already been there an hour.” Jordan said it best in reference to Ewing: "He has a heart of a champion. When you thought about New York, you thought of Patrick Ewing. He came and gave life back into the city”. Ewing had monster numbers and is one of the best centers ever to play this game, but is he considered a legend? This past week, the media said that Amare Stoudamire was a signing similar to that of Patrick Ewing and that a Lebron signing would overshadow Ewing’s tenure here. Have we forgotten how great Ewing was to put Amare Stoudamire in the same breath as him? Have we forgotten that Ewing had to get past Micheal Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Reggie Miller, Hakeem Olajuwon, Alonzo Mourning, etc. on a nightly basis that you’re going to dismiss his tenure because of the possibility that Lebron would bring a championship to New York?

Quite frankly, the short term memory here is an embarrassment and the disrespect to the Ewing legacy is disappointing. Amare’s one of the top 20 players in the game today, but Ewing was probably one of the top 20 players in basketball history. Lebron could be the top 10 of all time, but has he gotten there yet? Our memories are too short. Where am I getting with this? I suppose that Ewing’s lack of getting a ring (falling just short in 1994 and 1998 in the Finals along with the tough road against the Bulls and Pacers) is too overwhelming in people’s eyes that we just brush him off as another Amare.

Superstars are defined on an individual talent-based level, but the ring is what defines them as legendary. But let’s look at it another way. Does the appreciation towards their individual play actually dwindle without a ring? Absolutely.

So what if Starks didn’t have the abysmal Game 6 he had against the Rockets? A championship changes the landscape of things completely for Ewing and his future. But you can see how Ewing’s or any competitor’s legendary status is solely contingent on his teammate’s surrounding play?

If New York wins in ’94 or beats Jordan or beats the Spurs in ’98 Ewing is held in a different light. But why? Truly great athletes win, but this is a team sport. One person cannot do it by himself. Like we said before, there is so much that goes into a championship.

So it begs the question, if Lebron stayed in Cleveland and didn’t get a ring throughout his entire career (regardless of the individual accomplishments he had), would his career be diminished in the future? Absolutely. And James knows this. Championships are the thing he not only should want, but needs to have in order to be defined as a legend of the game. It shouldn’t be the case because this isn’t boxing or tennis or golf where you’re your only success or failure, but it’s a collective effort from the entire organization. However, it is true. You need a championship or your efforts will be forgotten, regardless of what you did.

But How Many Championships Are Enough to Assume the Role of the Greatest Ever?

James has his sights on being the greatest ever. So how many championships will it take to accomplish that? Jordan has 6 and is considered the greatest ever, yet Bill Russell has 11 and would never be considered the greatest ever. So obviously there is a balance between individual performance and championships won, but where is the line drawn? At what point can you say “I have the individual numbers to have won enough “?

Lebron said he wants to win 7 titles in 10 years, obviously to eclipse Jordan and place himself in a stratosphere by himself. Lebron has incredible individual numbers and raw athleticism that we’ve never seen before on a basketball court, but will that put him as the greatest ever?

Robert Horry has 7 titles. Sam Jones has 10. Multiple Celtics have atleast 7, but are these guys ever considered to be the greatest players let alone in the top 50 of all time?

So as you can see, it doesn’t really matter how many you have, but what you did to get there? How you acquired those titles is clearly more important? Also, don’t you have to lead your team to victory? Notice how Jordan was the backbone of the Bulls’ title runs, yet Bill Russell was not the sole leader of the Celtics. Being the greatest ever necessitates that person to be the sole leader of that core crew who wins the title or multiple ones. But can we ever actually put a number of how many titles are necessary to be the greatest ever, because doesn’t it truly have to be weighed against the individual performance, the supporting cast, and the road to get there?

So was Miami the right choice to fulfill his goal of not only winning championships but being the greatest ever?

Why Lebron Picked Miami

With the powerful trio of Lebron, Wade, and Bosh, we could see what enticed Lebron to come here when he is in pursuit of a championship ring. Wade is probably the top 3 player in the league behind Kobe and Lebron, respectively, and Bosh is probably the best forward in the league being Toronto’s all time scorer and rebounder. Lebron wants to play to win and he feels this is his best shot to do so for now and well into the future to reach his goal of winning 7 championships in 10 years.

Why It Was a Bad Choice

So to answer our previous question : How many championships will it take to accomplish being the greatest ever? Jordan has 6 and is considered the greatest ever, yet Bill Russell has 11 and would never be considered the greatest ever. So obviously there is a balance between individual performance and championships won, but where is the line drawn? At what point can you say “I have the individual numbers to have won enough “?

I’d suggest that it’s not how many you’ve won, but how you got it that will define your legacy. 7 is not the magic number. 1 could be the magic number given the individual performance is enough. If one player went on a team that had the worse team in the league and brought them to a ring, wouldn’t that be enough? Because none of the greats, even Jordan could do it. So wouldn’t 1 be enough with that?

I think we have that with Cleveland. They are going to be pitiful this year, but Lebron tried doing that and it really couldn’t be done for the better half of 7 years with roster playing. Like I said before, you can’t do it by yourself. He had to get out of Cleveland to win; and winning a championship is important to anyone playing the game. Champions could only create that legacy as aforementioned and he needed to get out of Cleveland because they had no wiggle room or cap money to spend in order to bring in the right personnel to bring in a championship.

But is winning one championship important or is winning multiple ones the answer? Like I said, 1 could be enough. If Lebron brought it to Cleveland after carrying that franchise on his back, I guarantee you he would have created his legacy and been in the same breath as Michael Jordan. If Kevin Garnett brought one to Minnesota (when his pay took up 26 million out of the 51 million salary cap) by himself, he too, would have created a monstrous legacy. A lot of it is about the road of how you got there; but it really isn’t an option to do it in Cleveland. Many players have tried to be “the guy”, but it can’t be done without the right personnel.

So instead, Lebron has went from one extreme of never being able to win with the personnel given to him in Cleveland to putting winning multiple championship titles over everything else. He has the false misperception built up in his mind that if he wins multiple titles he will be the greatest ever. But isn’t it important that we gauge one as being the greatest ever based upon the surrounding circumstances like the supporting cast and the opponents? If you win against the toughest guys, shouldn’t that have a lot of weight? If you win with a bad team, doesn’t that hold tremendous weight? But what about winning with a great team or against the easy guys? Shouldn’t that be held against you?

So just like never winning a championship diminishes your legacy, winning your championship in certain ways that make it easier can diminish your legacy as well. And I think that’s what we’re beginning to see here.

Well, how do we know that he wants to be the greatest ever? He wouldn’t have said that he wants 7 titles. He would have said a number like 3 or 5. Furthermore, from a basketball perspective, Chicago makes the most sense since they had enough cap space for 2 Max Contracts. However, Lebron didn’t choose to go there even with a Chris Bosh and I’d suggest it was because he didn’t want his legacy overshadowed by Jordan (who has a statue outside the arena) and the pressure of winning 6 to be the best. Instead, he chose Miami to team up with 2 other superstars because he feels that he’ll have the best possible chance of winning multiple titles if he goes there without the excess pressure. However, will the potential titles he wins in Miami be enough to call him the greatest ever?

Like we said before, those athletes denoted as the greatest ever led their team to victory with the help of others.

Who’s leading down in Miami and who’s helping?

You have 3 juggernauts who are going to have to play an equal role when they were used to being the leader of their own team. Lebron was “the man” in Cleveland and possibly the league, Bosh was “the man” in Toronto, and Wade was “the man” in Miami and is still probably the fan favorite down there. Who’s leading this crew? The best player of course, right?

I’d say that Lebron is better than Wade based on watching the two, but isn’t that just speculation? How do we really know? What Wade was given in Miami could have been even worse than what James was given in Cleveland, and Wade brought in the title with Shaq while Lebron couldn’t. Maybe Wade could have delivered a title to Cleveland. We really don’t know. In my opinion, Lebron is better and let’s just say for argument’s sake he is.

But how could Lebron be the leader of a franchise where the fans are more in love with Wade? Isn’t that counterintuitive? Furthermore, how could Lebron be the leader when the ball is supposed to be shared between these 3 game changers? That’s all each of these guys have ever known. They’ve all been asked to take the last shot. They’ve all been asked to be that guy to step up in a big way at the end of the game. They’ve all been asked to control the tempo and lead their teammates into battle. But what now? There aren’t 3 balls to go around.

So, wouldn’t he have to lead that team to victory in order to be the greatest, because otherwise couldn’t you call Dwyane Wade the reason for that title or even possibly Chris Bosh? It’s obviously going to have to take a grandiose effort from all 3 of them, and therefore, Lebron could never lead this team. Furthermore, it isn’t his team to lead. Dwyane Wade runs Miami. The fans adore him and that will never change similar to how Jeter will always be more beloved in New York than Arod. Arod’s clearly the better player, but who’s going to get their statue in Memorial Field first? Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez? I think we all know that the Yankee Captain has more pull. Lebron can never be the greatest playing for this city.

Those who don't agree with me will say who cares where you got that ring as long as you got it? Yes, having a ring is important, but the satisfaction that is obtained from getting a ring a particular way is tremendous and leaves a lasting impression on people. Imagine that Karl Malone and Gary Payton won a ring with the Lakers when they were over the hill and joined Kobe and Shaq as a last attempt for a title run. If Karl Malone won that title, would that legitimize his legacy as one of the best ever? Or would Malone go down as one of the greatest ever if he actually beat Jordan not once, but twice?

When you beat them, not join them, that’s when you’re legacy is established.

When you look at Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, and the greats, you see that they’ve always won their championships with the team they originally started with in the league. They didn’t join the talent, they beat them. There’s something to be said about that.

When acquiring your only rings in a way like this, it diminishes that legacy we talked about. The reason why Lebron is going to Miami is to win rings. The reason why he wants rings is because superstars are measured by winning a championship. And to be the greatest, you apparently need not one championship, but several (in James’ mind). So in essence, the reason why he is going to Miami is solely to be the greatest ever, but how could he be the greatest ever if he has two other superstars who are getting the ring with him? Not to mention, Dwayne Wade will always have 1 more ring than Lebron will have (should they choose to end their careers together in Miami). Acquiring the ring a particular way is what is especially important here, not just getting one or several.

James is certainly going to get caught up in the mix with Wade and Bosh and from a standpoint of defining a legacy, Lebron’s has certainly diminished. As die hard Knicks fan Greg Warren said “All this next MJ was just hype because he clearly doesn’t have the balls/mentality/personality to deal with that kind of pressure. He therefore ran to the easiest thing to make sure he at least got a ring. He didn’t want to earn it, he just wanted to make sure he got it”.

A reason why Jordan is considered the best is because he took on all challengers. Never succumbing to defeat, he always strived to the best on the court by beating out the best. If you don’t remember, before Jordan won his titles, he constantly got beat by the Pistons. Would Jordan have ever left the Bulls to join the Pistons? Would Jordan ever leave to team up with not 1 superstar but 2? Jordan defined his legacy by being a competitor! Why join them when you could beat them? Although I don’t want to sound cliché, Lebron is clearly taking the easy way out here by joining them rather than beating them; and that certainly takes away from his legacy and by extension, no matter what his performance on the court is, he will never be considered the greatest ever because it took 2 superstars alongside him to win. Winning’s not as important as how you win.

Second, is this team automatically going to win a championship?

They may be the favorites in Las Vegas, but they shouldn’t be. Why?

Like we said before, championship teams have a leader and they have helpers.

Who’s leading down in Miami and who’s helping? You have 3 juggernauts who are going to have to play an equal role when they were used to being the leader of their own team. But doesn’t every team need a leader? How do you choose who brings up the ball? How do you select who the play is drawn up for in a last possession? How do you manage the egos flowing around? Because Lebron was “the man” in Cleveland and possibly the league (behind Bryant), Bosh was “the man” in Toronto, and Wade was “the man” in Miami and is still probably the fan favorite down there. Aren’t these egos going to affect their quality of play because they each can’t take 30 shots a game like they’re used to? There’s not enough ball to go around. Magic GM Stan Van Gundy keyed in on the situation and said something very enlightening. "Somebody's going to end up with seven shots. Are they going to be OK with that? Somebody's got to be Robin. Are they OK with that? Those are the things they have to work out."

So, someone’s got to be in control and be the pilot of the team. You can’t have 3 meek guys. You need a leader. The reason why Jordan was so successful is because he made his teammates around him successful. He used to get in his teammate’s face, yell, scream, and spit at them when they screwed up. He knew Pippen wasn’t going to do it, so he had to. Every team needs a leader.

Robinson was the leader when Duncan and him won their first. Even though the Spurs had balance throughout the 21st century runs, Duncan was the go-to guy when Robinson left. Even though Shaq and Kobe won 3 together, Kobe was still led by Shaq. Jordan always piloted over Pippen. Isaiah controlled the Pistons. Bird directed the Celtics. Magic led the tempo of the Lakers. Olajuwon absolutely dominated the ‘93 and ‘94 playoffs. Billups ran the offense in Detroit, and Wade put on one of the best finals performances in history for the Heat. The list goes on.

The argument, or exception, could be made about the 2008 Celtics, but Pierce was still that leader of the core; and that was exemplified when he exploded after that “injury” in the finals. The ‘87 Lakers? Magic was in control even when Worthy won the MVP.

So, who leads down in South Beach?

Similar to how the Yankees have brought in a culmination of all-star players, it didn’t exactly equate to a championship right away. We surely thought they would definitely land a championship before 2009, but that didn’t work out exactly as planned. It took 6 years, a change of managers, a revamp of the personnel, and a lot of ego checks at the front door to bring home a title. Arod came into the Yankees lineup in 2004, and even took somewhat of a backseat to Jeter by moving over to 3rd base.

However, egos got in the way and affected performance. It probably was more amplified with Arod’s clashing personality, but superstars together don’t always work out to be the best combination for a full season. One or two games like an All-Star game, it can work as we saw throughout the Olympics, but when attention over the media is involved (and we know Lebron loves the media attention as was evident by blocking out an hour time slot on ESPN in front of the nation to announce his decision- the same decision that Jordan sent over a fax) it’s a different animal. Egos have to be managed greatly here and a lot of sharing has to be done.

Can these juggernauts, who all they’ve ever known is being in the spotlight and shooting the ball for their team, share? Are 1 or 2 of these 3 big guys going to be OK with the fact that they’re going to get the ball for a total of 7 touches during an entire game? Can they do it for multiple seasons?

Furthermore, 3 guys alone who take over $45 million of $58 million of the salary cap when 9 other guys have to be filled into that roster is going to affect this team tremendously. Yes spots 1-3 are filled, but what about 4-10? They have a lot of questions at those 7 spots. 3 Maxed Out Contracts take up too much room to build a balanced championship contender.

Let’s take a look at the history of the game and what wins championships. It takes 1, 2, or 3 really great players (not exactly superstars), but more importantly, a lot of role players. When Kobe and Shaq won 3 in a row, they didn’t do it alone. They had great role players like Derek Fisher, Robert Horry, Rick Fox, etc. These guys were instrumental to their success.

When the Spurs won their first with David Robinson and Tim Duncan, they had guys like Avery Johnson, Sean Elliott, Malik Rose, Antonio Daniels, Steve Kerr, and Mario Elie to step up in big moments. When Jordan and Pippen won, they had guys like Horace Grant and a board machine in Dennis Rodman. When Kobe and Gasol won, they had a lockdown defender in Artest, and huge performances from Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom.

3 guys are simply not enough to take care of business. You need to spread the floor with good shooting, you need great rebounding, and you need to have a great defensive team. There’s a reason why the high powered offenses like the Suns never win a championship.

What happens when Bosh gets in foul trouble and there’s no one down low to stop a Dwight Howard? What happens when Lebron gets shut down penetrating the middle on a good defensive team like the Celtics (something we saw this past year) and can’t distribute the ball to a shooter on the outside (because there will be no good shooters at a minimum level salary)? What happens when Wade has an off night shooting the ball? Is Mario Chalmers the solution to bring the team back up to speed after they double Lebron in the middle?

Certain factors that seem minor, like a spark from the bench, are especially important throughout the course of a game. Even when Garnett, Pierce, and Allen won, they had tremendous efforts from guys like Rajon Rondo, Leon Powe, Kendrick Perkins, Sam Cassell, Eddie House, James Posey, Brian Scalabrine, and a lockdown defender in Tony Allen. The “backups” came up huge in big moments, and this so evident year after year in the playoffs.

I’m sorry but the Miami Heat are not going to have any depth unless Pat Riley has the ability to attract some good veterans for the league minimum. However, most athletes don’t make the off-court endorsements that Lebron and the superstars make, so it’s going to be difficult to convince them to take a pay-cut.

Lebron, Bosh, Wade are truly an amazing trio (maybe the best this game will ever see), but with no role players and all minimum level salary guys, it won't exactly equate to even one championship, let alone multiple. Let’s put them up against the 2010 Lakers:

Derek Fisher/Steve Blake > Mario Chalmers
Kobe Bryant = Wade (Bryant’s clearly a better shooter and a better defender than Wade, but let’s just call it a wash for argument’s sake)
Ron Artest < Lebron (But remember, Artest gave Durant, who is a better pure shooter than Lebron, absolute fits in the playoffs when guarding him as well as locked down Pierce in the Finals-Artest is the best defender in the league now that Bruce Bowen's gone)
Pau Gasol = Chris Bosh
Bynum > Any Miami C (HUGE advantage here for the Lakers)
Lakers Bench > Miami Bench (HUGE advantage to the Lakers- Lakers 8th and 9th guys are better than Miami's 4th or 5th guy even- Bosh, Wade, and Lebron can't play all 48 minutes so the Lakers bench is going to absolutely murder the Heat’s for several minutes)
Phil Jackson > Erik Poelstra (Phil Jackson is probably the greatest coach in sports history who will be going for his 4th Three-Peat. Good luck Poelstra)
Lakers chemistry > Heat chemistry (Same squad repeating and 2 time defending champions vs. Ego management and a new squad)
You have to give a tremendous advantage to the Lakers.

There’s a very similar situation with the Orlando Magic who have a lot of balance and depth as well as one of the best players in the game in Dwight Howard, a great point guard in Jameer Nelson, and great shooters to spread the floor with Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, and JJ Reddick.

Celtics are going to be difficult to get past as well with the Big 3, but more importantly, Rondo, who Chalmers will never be able to defend. If you do a shift, you’re leaving Ray Allen to knock down 3’s or Paul Pierce open to hit a jumper from anywhere within 18 feet. Heat are going to have a tough time guarding Perkins or Big Baby Davis also, not to mention the big bench that the Celtics have at their disposal.

The Bulls are a great young team who will be good for years to come with Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, and great depth.

Remember, there aren’t 3 balls to go around and only one guy can take a shot at a time so don’t be foolish to think their statistics are going to be vertically summated. You won’t see 30, 30, and 30 points from all 3. You’ll see stat lines like 24, 19, and 14 from these 3. That’s just the way this game works.

What Was the Best Option Instead?

Going to Miami was simply the wrong decision. It's not called Wade County for no reason. Lebron certainly can't be called "the best ever" playing as a Robin to Miami's Batman in Dwayne Wade. Furthermore, South Beach isn’t the place to bring your basketball legacy up. As Andrew Zang stated, “Miami is not, has never been, and will never be a Basketball Town”. The reason why Derek Jeter is so popular and beloved amongst the baseball world is simply because he is on the Yankees. If he won 4 rings with the Florida Marlins or Texas Rangers, would he have any of the hype surrounding him that he experiences now? I don’t care how good you are, locale is important whether you like to think so or not. This is important from not only a brand image viewpoint, but also when being considered “the best ever”. Playing in a basketball town is important.

Chicago would not be a good choice either because like aforementioned, he will always be compared to Jordan, even if he won a ring, or several.

So let’s take a look at what Lebron’s true goals are: It ultimately comes down to being the legend he wants to be and that’s what compels winning a championship. There are only two places in mind that I can think of that will accomplish that goal.

Cleveland and New York are the only places he could go where he is "the man", where he can create his own legacy by bringing home a championship, and be the greatest of all time.

Lebron tried in Cleveland and couldn’t get it done. The optimal place for Lebron was New York for the reasons mentioned below:
1)    One ring in New York will likely equate to 3 rings anywhere else because of the large market, the sheer population size of the city, the media coverage involved, and the length of time without experiencing a basketball championship. Perhaps we forgot what the Garden and buzz around the city is capable of with a winning basketball team. Reminisce to the Ewing era, where New York was a perennial contender every year. There was nothing else like it. If you win in New York, you have the biggest parade thrown for you, and have the entire city drooling over you. For instance, Messier with the Rangers in 1994 was incredible and no other city's championship can probably compare to that one.
2)    Big players need to play in the biggest market on the biggest stage. Lebron/NY v Kobe/LA advertising, amongst others, will go through the roof.
3)    New York has the added appeal of the city and being a billionaire. He has a 50% chance of being a billionaire here, a 1% chance of being a billionaire in Chicago, and a 0% chance of being a billionaire in Miami. Come to New York, and you've met your goal of being a billionaire (maybe even faster than Tiger Woods).
4)    Dolan will spend more money, outside of Prokhorov than any owner to get a championship, as is evident through the new $850 million renovation to the Garden.
5)    Amare's the star Lebron needs in a high powered D'Antoni offense that will get you 30 ppg and 10 apg a night to establish yourself as a 3x MVP this year with the pick and roll, but not overwhelming enough to the point where it won't solely be his ring, his town, and his team.
6)    Lebron loves to kick out to the shooter,and there is no one better than Danillo Gallinari at draining 3's.
7)    Carmelo Anthony is dying to come to New York next year. If not him, Tony Parker is a lock with his wife, Eva Longoria, begging him to go to NYC. Chris Paul is also a free agent. Either one of these are possible with Eddy Curry's expiring contract which means 11 million is coming off of the books. These guys are great ballplayers, but do not nearly have the same stature as Lebron to compromise it being his team like Wade and Bosh do down in MIA.
8)    From a marketing perspective: To say that he cant get any bigger of a brand image is pathetic. There's a reason the Knicks made a presentation that said Lebron has a 50% chance of becoming a billionaire in NY and 1% in Chicago and 0% in Miami. Advertisements are directly contingent upon a number of variables, especially, the network and placement of where you are located. As Andrew Zang said, “Lebron James, the brand, remains the same if he wears a Heat uniform. In the instant, that he comes to his senses and puts on a New York Knickerbocker, number 6 jersey, which will sell 30 million jerseys on Satruday Morning, Lebron James, the brand, skyrockets. One ring in New York, he will be on a Times Square billboard forever. 4 rings in Miami, a Grey Goose Bottle is still sitting on South Beach Buildings”.

How Lebron James Ruined His Image

This drawn out, lengthy public spectacle was an embarrassment to the free agency period and to sports, in general. This whole thing was a marketing ploy developed by James and his camp for months and speaks volumes of his ego. They wanted the hype surrounding this.

As a result, every media outlet discussed it for weeks on end. Did Wade, Bosh, Amare, Joe Johnson or any of the other max outs get even anywhere close to 10% of this attention? It is a marketing scheme that was quite frankly a genius idea to boost Lebron's stock 3-fold, temporarily. Every media outlet discussed this free agency. Every radio station, every tv station, every newspaper, it’s all they talked about for the entire day’s worth of programs. Furthermore, everyone in the nation tuned into ESPN at 9 PM to see Lebron’s decision.

Maverick Carter and James' posse have created this hype based on lack of information. This hype was only real if there was suspense and uncertainty going into it. So of course Carter and James' posse are going to spread information about "sources". Notice how it went from definitely Cleveland to definitely Chicago to Miami to the Nets to the Bulls to the Cavs to New York and then back to Miami? It creates that suspense and uncertainty. It was a genius marketing ploy whereby every source was false and unfounded because it was made up with no consistency or foundation behind it.

Therefore, it seems pretty obvious that these false purposefully misleading interjected sources were covering up the truth of the matter in that Lebron knew he was leaving Cleveland for months. Maybe he was unsure of exactly where he was going (doubtful), but Lebron definitely knew he was going somewhere for quite some time now and continued to fool the media. When he received his MVP award, you could hear it in his voice that he was leaving Cleveland with remarks such as "It's been great". There was no indication of a continuation. To say that he woke up the morning before the interview and came to his decision is pathetic on Lebron’s behalf; and I think the world notices that. This isn’t a “gut feeling” decision that you don’t think through clearly. The morning of? Please. This isn't a decision that was not well thought out and calculated beforehand by James and his people. To further this point, James’ camp would not schedule the announcement to make his decision at a locked-in time days before he actually thought of his decision. If he made up his mind the morning before he announced it, doesn’t he also run into the possibility of not being able to come to a conclusion that night? This is very unconvincing damage control.

James and his people were in contact with the other free agents for months and for the most part, they had options on the table for months. You think Lebron first found out that Bosh wouldn't come play in Cleveland this week? Give me a break. They're friends. This was damage control to give him an excuse to leave Cleveland (i.e.- He says I tried to say but I couldn’t recruit because no one will play here). Lebron, Bosh, and Wade were in contact for months trying to figure out a way they could play together. Once Miami cleared their space, it was pretty much a lock.

Clearly, this is talk in hindsight. Obviously, none of us saw this coming. However, I think that this is merely because we thought in our minds that James was comprised of a different breed of character days leading up this debacle than what we know now. We thought he was a loyal guy, but we also thought he cared about his legacy. We thought he was a true fearless competitor similar to that of Jordan, or even Kobe; so we thought that there was no way he’d be #2. But in hindsight, we understand what truly went on and that he is not the competitor we once thought he was (this isn’t to say he’s not a great basketball player who wants to win- he just doesn’t have that ruthlessness and fearlessness to be the best ever like Jordan did).

Moreover, Lebron hurt his brand image with the player that he exemplified as. As Scott Lecca said, “All the great players in history got it done with the players that they invested in: Dr. J, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon, and others. Michael Jordan would be training in the gym harder than ever before to beat Dwayne Wade, not join him in the offseason.” We now see new qualities in Lebron we never once did. We see cowardly behavior, fear, and trepidation in Lebron that we never saw before, and that certainly hurts his brand image. He panicked, thinking he couldn’t beat Wade and Bosh together, so he had to join them. If that doesn’t show the lack of competitive nature in a man, I don’t know what does. This isn’t war against two countries where you need to be tactical to save your life, this is a basketball game, whereby you are leaving an impression on fans based upon the legacy you create. Competitive nature is everything in this sport and it is revered for all of the right reasons. That’s why we love Michael Jordan. That’s why we honor Dr. J, Larry Bird, Hakeem, and the others.

Therefore, this marketing ploy boosted James’ brand temporarily. Temporarily, meaning that night. However, this was purely shortsighted thinking from James’ inexperienced LRMR marketing company; because his brand is surely to suffer from not only his decision but the way he made his decision. James’ took it to literally that he needed to win; which was at the expense of his career, legacy, and “basketball greatness”. These are all compromised now.

James is clearly not the basketball player we thought he was. Perhaps Stan Van Gundy said it best. He thought the two-time MVP was “more of a competitor”. He said the “great ones” do it on their own and “usually stay in one location”.

This decision was truly a disappointment, not because it was a bad basketball decision (which it was), but because we expected more out of Lebron- the person and the competitor. Let’s face it. He was a role model- a person we looked up to. A well spoken, polished kid straight out of high school who fostered his skills into being one of most talented basketball players ever. A person who never said the wrong thing in an interview and always stayed out of trouble. A person who was never caught in a scandal like the likes of Tiger Woods or Roger Clemens. However, our expectations were merely too high for him, because we felt a sense of entitlement to hear something better from him than ‘I want to play with the best, not beat the best’. Outside of South Beach, basketball nation is simply let down.

Furthermore, I think there was a lot of disappointment from a lot of people, not solely from the decision he made, but more about the way he did it.

(Let’s take a look at a brief recap of what I think went on in the minds of James and his camp upon thinking of delivering his decision on TV:
James’ camp: Lebron, let’s boost your image and monetize all of this hype about where you’re going this offseason. So money people are talking about it and it could be very profitable and also can really boost your brand name from a marketing standpoint. What do you think?
James: Yah, let’s do it. We should announce it on TV maybe?
James’ Camp: That would be perfect. Much better than over the phone, but we need to spin it so it makes you look good and not egotistical. Any ideas?
James: You know I love kids man.
James’ Camp: Alright. Let’s hook up with ESPN. They’ll buy the rights for it. We’ll announce it on ESPN a week after free agency opens up on July 1st, so probably around July 8th or so. We’ll create all the hype before then, confuse the media a little to keep uncertainty in the air, and then give all the proceeds from the announcement to charity. Your image boosts, you get to tell the nation you’re leaving Cleveland without exposure from Cavs fans, yet you come out of this like a good guy because you’re donating to charity to help kids.
James: Yah! But I can’t do this in Cleveland. They’ll crucify me.
James’ Camp: Let’s hook up with the Boys and Girls Club of America. Maybe we’ll do it on the East Coast, at their headquarters in Connecticut or something. There will be no exposure from Cavs fans there.
James: Yes. That’s perfect.)

I’m sorry but you can’t fool us LRMR. We know with this whole spectacle, it was image first, kids as an afterthought. This whole act of announcing his decision was not only tasteless, but almost made a mockery out of the entire situation and certainly left Cleveland in the cold. I think the way he did it, with this emotional buildup and tormenting, so to speak, really hurt Cavaliers fans (but that doesn’t give them reason to burn Lebron jerseys).

The dragged on exhibit was a disappointing display and I think that we were all expecting more from it to give us an explanation as to why he did an hour long show to be more about just him. I think a lot of people expected something a lot more than what occurred on Thursday night. However, the hour long show was just about him and this egotistical shortsighted thinking was a bad marketing tactic that will hurt his image in the long run.

I think I speak for the nation when I say that we all view Lebron differently (some more than others). The public felt deceived, duped, and ultimately, played with throughout this entire week-long tormenting process. Lebron always talks about being humble, modest, and self-effacing. However, this was a very narcissistic campaign to boost his “stock”. Ultimately, the deceit that went on and the tastelessness done will affect our viewpoint on Lebron for years to come.

Moreover, Lebron’s brand image and potential marketing to feed off of his performance will now be diminished down in Miami. There’s just so much media exposure to go around for one team and 3 superstars. He does have to share it with Bosh and Wade now which he never had to do before; and as we know from economics, scarcity is real.

Furthermore, Lebron’s marketing team had a special relationship with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They let James do whatever he wanted. Let’s see if that transfers over into Miami’s new “playground”. I think that it will clearly be affected, because they won’t have that same pull within this organization as they did with the Cavs. Pat Riley’s a hard ass and won’t be made of a mockery by James and his crew. The Heat organization will be about furthering the Miami Heat brand, not just Lebron’s alone. James and his posse had a special thing in Cleveland. That will not continue here. We saw highlights of Lebron clearly disrespecting Mike Brown several times in the huddle when he thought that he controlled the show over the coach and didn’t receive any repercussions for that. Things will be different with Riley running the show. I guarantee that.

Furthermore, by choosing Miami, Lebron hurt his potential earnings and will never reach the status of being a billionaire. Like Zang said, “Miami is not, has never been, and will never be a basketball town. Lebron James, the brand, remains the same if he wears a Heat uniform.” Not only did he hurt his image with everything said previously, but he will make less money in Miami than anywhere else of the other 6 teams that scouted him (not talking salary here, which is a negligible difference anywhere, but potential earnings as was indicated in an Interbrand presentation). Using different lifetime scenarios, Lebron will make $596 million in Miami as opposed to $689 million in Chicago, $699 million in Cleveland, and $983 million in New York.