No more ‘decisions’ needed for LeBron

LeBron James, one of the world’s most amazing athletes, has made his final decision.

At the age of 41, the 23-year National Basketball Association star is still among the league’s elite players and on July 24, James made Decision II — where to take his talents for the upcoming season. The answer: Philadelphia 76ers.

Decision I came back in 2010, when King James became a free agent after seven seasons with Cleveland Cavaliers. A native of Akron, Ohio, James was a home-state hero and the undisputed best player in the league, proof of which were back-to-back MVP awards in his last two seasons with the Cavs. But LeBron was ready to move and every team in the league visited Fort Knox to gather up enough cash to try to entice him to their team. Where would he go? ESPN turned the James saga into a 75-minute TV special, during which James announced he would be signing with the Miami Heat.

He played four seasons in Miami, winning two more Most Valuable Player awards and leading Miami to a pair of NBA titles. Free agency beckoned again, and LeBron went back to Cleveland for four more seasons before the most recent seven years and another league title (2020) with the Lakers.

On June 30, James told the Lakers he wouldn’t return this season and was ready for another ‘Decision.’ Golden State, Miami, Cleveland and Philly were all mentioned as potential landings, and James chose Philly, citing the real possibility of another NBA title. “This is my last decision,” James said on Instagram. “I’m not going for money. I’m not going for family. What am I really playing for at this point? I still want to sacrifice. I still want to work. I still want to grind. I still want to compete, to win and to have a chance at the feeling of winning another championship.”

Until he decided, the NBA was spinning its wheels, unable to release its 2026-27 schedule because the league definitely wanted LeBron’s team to be featured on opening night and as a Christmas Day headliner. Another factor delaying his ‘Decision’ had to do with his son Bronny, according to Yahoo!sports.com. Bronny was a second-round draft pick of the Lakers and played two seasons alongside his dad. Would negotiations for a Bronny trade to Philadelphia be part of the reason for the decision delay?

Whether father and son team up or get separated is a minor point. The major point will be the NBA’s all-time leading scorer winding down one of the most spectacular careers. Will history declare him No. 1 all time? Or will Michael Jordan wear the crown? James’ 43,440 career points is more than 5,000 ahead of the runner-up, Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Jordan is sixth, but he played only 15 seasons. This year will be James’ 24th and he signed with the 76ers for the 2027-28 season, too.

No more decisions required for LeBron. Rather, he hopes, an NBA title or two.

OUT OF BOUNDS

The late media mogul Ted Turner, who died recently, on one of his wackiest moves as owner of the Atlanta Braves: “He offered a bonus to his star pitcher, Andy Messersmith, to change his name to “Andy Channel.” The reason was that Messersmith wore the number 17 and Turner’s superstation was Channel 17 so when Messersmith was pitching his name and number on the uniform would be “Channel 17.”

Super 70s Sports, under a photo of Cowboys’ coach Tom Landry wearing a suit and fedora: “I liked the NFL better when coaches looked equally capable of calling for a blitz or solving a murder on some BBC television show your mom watches.”

Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: “The past 10 seasons with Mark Shapiro as team president and Ross Atkins as GM, the Jays have won 730 games and lost 724. That’s a lot of corporate money spent by Edward Rogers and Tony Staffieri for .501 baseball. Can we bring that up at the next annual meeting?”

Headline at the onion.com: “Adam Silver Acknowledges Declining Ratings May Have Something To Do With How He Looks”

Super 70s Sports: “Back in my day NFL referees would pull out a gun and just pop off a round and we were all like ‘Of course he does, how the hell else are you supposed to end a quarter?’”

Jack Finarelli of sportscurmudgeon.com: “(Baseball Hall of Famer) Richie Allen disliked artificial turf and said that if a horse can’t eat it, he doesn’t want to play on it.”

Headline at theonion.com: “Nation Wakes Up From Strange Dream Where They Were Watching Soccer”

Globe and Mail columnist Cathal Kelly, on the ever expanding FIFA World Cup: “Can’t wait for World Cup 2058 Arctic/Antarctica/Lunar Station No. 3.”

Headline at fark.com: “How cute. Norway still believes FIFA has ethics.”

Another fark.com headline: “Seems the world wasn’t pleased with the World Cup halftime show: ‘Utter garbage,’ ‘disaster,’ ‘horrendous’ and those were just comments about Madonna’s performance.”

Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca