LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Art of Delicate Extraction

On Friday's edition of Larry King Live, LeBron James will talk about his future plans, including using the selectively leaked fact that James confirms that Cleveland has an "edge" in signing him.

On the other side of the free agency sphere, Dwyane Wade said that he and his free agent cohorts would "discuss" things, though now there's been a hubbub about a "summit." He also spat in the eye of not just a suitor, but his hometown suitor, questioning the Bulls' loyalty. This comes on he heels of about a million references to how his "heart" is in Miami.

And thus we have reached a delicate moment in the circus act that will play out over the next three months. While motives and indications, hints, allegations and things left unsaid will be your particular drowning pool of the summer, this period does bring with it a certain philosophical quandary. What's the best way to excise yourself from the team that drafted you, your home for the majority of your career, under the brightest lights of your life?



Share Before we begin, a preface. Cleveland fans feel justifiably persecuted by much of the media's insistence that James is vapor trails. There's a passionate dissonance with them in reconciling what is fair and truthful (James is heavily considering all of his options during a critical juncture in his career) and what is clichéd oversimplification. ("Of course he's coming to New York! Who wouldn't go to New York?!")

But we're not talking about what he's likely to do. From my vantage point, he's just as likely to stay in Cleveland as he is to go elsewhere, and that elsewhere is evenly split among his realistic suitors. Though I'd like to remind James that Beale Street is very interesting and that they have a pyramid and everythi ... oh, forget it.

So our work here isn't to cast aside either approach. New York is justified in its self-importance, even if the rather pathetic level of pandering across a considerable media scale kind of resembles a one-legged, one-eyed dog giving its most pitiful "take me home" performance to a professional Frisbee competitor. Likewise, the same goes for Wade. He's clearly attached to Miami, but is also considering his options. I don't claim to have any sort of inside track on this and I'm not reading the soundbite tea leaves either.

What is interesting is the approach both have taken to their futures. Both Wade and James are well aware of their impact on the league; in fact, they revel in it. It's good to be wanted, after all. And wielding power doesn't put a bad taste in their mouths, not when their legacies are at stake, and not after the crucifixion they've received for playoff failures, and not with Kobe Bryant jutting his jaw in the face of their rise to power.

James has long been cool and considerate regarding this summer. He's managed to show love and appreciation for Cleveland while never once verbally confirming it, saying "This is where I'm going to be." He's done small things which he knows will cast doubt, even if they're not seen as deliberate indications. New York editions of his shoes. Showing up at Yankees parades. Talking constantly about his love of Michael Jordan. He's always managed to balance his act to keep Cleveland from turning on him for his wandering eye, while keeping a high profile to see how people have reacted. Maybe it's all coincidence, but his rather pointed statements about "exploring all the options" have given a clear indication that James will not get roped into anything.

If James were to leave Cleveland, it wouldn't come as a shock to most Cleveland fans, outside of the diehards that can't imagine the possibility. He's managed to flirt with free-agent option polygamy while still keeping Cleveland's promise ring on his finger. If he slips it off, it'll crush Cleveland, no doubt, but it won't be seen as a massive betrayal. If anything, Cleveland feels it owes him more, owes him a ring and the Cavs have failed to do so. Cleveland is a deeply tortured sports city and James knows he has to keep throwing out comments like the bone he tossed to CNN.

Wade, on the other hand, has painted himself into a bit of a corner. He never came out and said, "I'll be back next year." He's done everything but, to the point that if Wade elects to go elsewhere (and for the life of me, I can't figure out what he's seeing in Miami's roster to prompt him to return; just because the Knicks are worse doesn't mean somewhere else isn't better, but whatever), he'll be committing a pretty steep turn on his hometown club. He is the Heat. Alonzo Mourning may be the first legend, but Wade will be the last. His community involvement has been deeper than any of this summer's targets, as he's been deeply invested at Mourning's summer charity event and as a business entity in the community.

You almost get the feeling that Wade's discussions with other stars are meant solely as attempts to lure them to Miami. He's chained himself to the Heat. He's more than capable of escaping those irons; after all, everything is forgiven with winning and a move to a higher profile franchise would absolve him everywhere but South Beach. But Wade has not done as well as James has at defusing the land mines regarding his decision-making process in his new "home." Maybe that's because he genuinely sees no other alternative outside of returning to Miami to play with Carlos Boozer (yeah, good luck with that). If he is seriously considering a move as much as his peers say they have discussed, he's not doing a great job at letting Miami down easy. He's steering them towards a cliff with his eye on the door handle.

And on the far side of the world, there's Chris Bosh. Bosh has appeared at Staples for Lakers games, made changes to his Twitter account, and had a list of teams he allegedly is interested in leaked (Bosh and his agent deny the list came from them). The only other thing Bosh could do to let Raptors fans know they might want to rethink that "CB4EVR" tattoo is to say "Oh, Canada" sucks. This hasn't been a graceful exit, it's been a Molotov cocktail to the bridges that lead into town.

And then there's Amar'e. He's been working on an extension with the Suns, who shopped him around like he was a Playstation 2 they were trying to upgrade ("It still plays lots of games!"). And still he'll drop little notices that things are up in the air, often changing percentages at the drop of a hat. Stoudemire, often considered the least mature one, is perhaps the player who has played this game right. He's made it clear what he wants, what he thinks he's worth and what's most important to him.

He hasn't given Phoenix any outright assurances, but has communicated to the fans how much he loves the city and the atmosphere. He's helped by the fact that, unlike his fellow parishioners to the Temple of Capitalism, he isn't as closely tied to the team or the city. Phoenix goes far beyond Stoudemire, to KJ, Barkley, and even Nash. The biggest player for Toronto outside of Chris Bosh is Vince Carter. So ... yeah. Stoudemire has managed to maintain a professional appearance while playing deeper into the playoffs than the others, keeping the hometown fans on his side and keeping his value up.

Here's a little look of the scale for Delicate Extraction.


And that's where we stand as we enter the final month before the madness. Each of these players could re-sign with their respective clubs, each could leave. But their behavior does tell us about how delicate public perception is, and how what you say and how you come across will determine people's expectations of you. It goes to show that you can have your passport ready without telling the neighborhood you've packed your bags.

One final note. A key element in pulling an extraction off from a PR perspective is not just how you exit, but if you can make it convincing that it was a hard decision. For example, no Raptors fan is thinking Bosh is ailing over abandoning the Raptors. He looks like an 18-year-old that just got to college and realized he no longer has a curfew. Conversely, James has done a significant amount of work in conveying that leaving Ohio would be hard for him, it would be leaving "home" in more ways than one. James saying Cleveland has an "edge" in signing him looks good in the press but, in reality, it's also part of the process. If he returns, it's because he couldn't bear to leave the city and its motherly embrace. If he departs, it's one of the hardest things to do, because he had to overcome that edge Cleveland has. It's not just what you do, it's what you say while you're doing it.

And Joe Johnson? Well he's not saying much of anything at all.