The New York Post has never been known for it's sober approach to sharing the news with its readers, but we fear that the wait for LeBron James to choose his new team may push them to a breakdown of Britney Spearsian proportions.
"The King Disses the Knicks" blares the top of the back page on Wednesday causing a furious tear (or, let's be honest, click) through the pages to find what hideous things James has said about our hideous local roundball squad. The dis comes from James's forthcoming interview with Larry King and, surprisingly, doesn't follow a non-sequiter question from the host about whether or not James played for Dennis Hopper while he was in high school.
It comes when King asks if Cleveland might have an edge when it comes to deciding where he'll play his basketball in the years to come.
James responded "absolutely. Because, this city, these fans, I mean, have given me a lot in these seven years. And, you know, for me, it's comfortable. So I've got a lot of memories here ... so it does have an edge."
Hard to find the dis there, unless you're unaware that James has played in Cleveland. A sharp interviewer would probably have followed up by asking if New York (or Chicago or anywhere) had an edge because, as anyone who has ever made a decision has learned, there are often many edges that are weighed against each other before the riddle is solved.
King moved on to a question about whether or not James thinks Rita Hayworth was a fox (probably not, but we haven't seen the whole transcript) so we're left hanging on that front.
It's worth noting that the Cleveland Plain-Dealer's recap of James's interview focuses more on his stated desire to win a championship and less on this massive backhand slap across the face of the Statue of Liberty.
The same Post article also gets a bit hysterical about Wade saying that nothing has changed when asked if Miami is his top choice. That could be read any number of ways, the Miami Herald chose not to cover it at all, but there aren't any words in the language that could outweigh the fact that both of these players will hit the open market on July 1st.
If they were only interested in staying where they are, they would have signed extensions and eliminated the intrigue.
Sports
No matter how much the headlines might scream otherwise, words don't matter at all anymore. It's all about whose dotted line gets a signature.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
