When Akron’s LeBron James went from St. Vincent-St. Mary prep school to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and again years later when he returned and brought a championship to the people of that long-suffering city, it was a throwback to the hoary notion of local sports teams.
In 1871, when the Philadelphia Athletics won the championship of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, the ace pitcher was Dick McBride, who was born in Philly, took up arms to help defend Philadelphia when Robert E. Lee was bearing down on the city in 1863, and is today buried in Lawnview Cemetery in Rockledge.
In these days of free agency, unspeakably large contracts, and billionaire owners constantly flirting with new cities offering even more obscene subsidy deals, the connection between athletes (who usually live in Florida for tax purposes) and “their” cities is tenuous at best.
A Warriors-Lakers game these days is hardly a matchup of the Bay Area’s best ballers against an all-star team cobbled together from the Venice Beach and Culver West courts. They’re all millionaire mercenaries.
But James, who was the last hometown hero, might be pioneering a new method of forming teams, which is also a very old method. From outward appearances, James, new to the Los Angeles Lakers, is lobbying to trade some of his teammates for All-Star big man Anthony Davis.
Davis’ Pelicans are near the bottom of the Western Conference, while James’ Lakers are knocking on the door of playoff position. If Davis is begging for a trade to LA, it’s because he wants to play with James. If the Lakers’ management picks up Davis, it’s because James said he wants Davis as a teammate.
We’ve already seen this show. When James first left Cleveland in 2010, it was to join a super squad he helped assemble with his former U.S. Olympic teammates Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.
James has made the NBA a pickup court, and he and a few other superstars get to assemble their own teams. King James’ goal is to dethrone the giants of the West, the Golden State Warriors, where future Hall of Famer Stephen Curry augmented his championship-caliber squad a couple of years ago by picking Kevin Durant from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
It’s not LA’s best versus Oakland’s best. It’s LeBron and Steph’s pick-up squads. Just like the old days.
