Where do I sign up to be come a member of Le Bron James' posse?
Of all the ways to get rich quick, this seems to be the easiest.
Look at what insider trading on the stock market got Martha Stewart. Not even a combination of Martha and Ma Barker could make a prison cell seem cozy.
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I'm not sure why Aaron Goodwin got the hook this week as LeBron James' agent, to be replaced by a passel of James' longtime friends. James and the other boyz are known as the "Four Horsemen." (Note the "z," evidence that I am a happening guy.) All I'm saying is, let's strive for five. From what I can see, Goodwin put up a "triple-double" for James.
Almost all the spin throughout James' NBA career has been positive.
It doesn't get much better than the enormous endorsement deals James signed with global companies with like Nike and Coca- Cola.
People worried James might have a "stage mother" like Allen Iverson's. Didn't happen.
People thought James' entourage might take over the locker room, as occurred during the Indians' rock star era in the '90s. Didn't happen.
I'm not sure who is responsible for that since Cavaliers management would need to take a remedial course in just saying no. Goodwin or James himself are my guesses.
But if four heads are better than one in James' estimation, I say five are better than four.
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I won't be a "yes man" either. Not all the time. (Do nods count?)
When it comes to posse-dom, I got credentials.
I saw James play for the first time when he was a high school sophomore. True, Plain Dealer Summit County Bureau reporter Tim Rogers had to send me a number of e-mails, all amounting to "You've got to see this kid play." Never let it be said of me that the 12th time isn't the charm.
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I have consistently been ahead of the Jamesian curve. The Sports Illustrated cover story on James appeared when he was a junior at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, which was one year earlier than the fictitious SI story on Jesus Shuttlesworth in the movie "He Got Game." As I adroitly pointed out, life slam- dunks art.
I was there with James for Olympic basketball camp in Jacksonville, Fla. There has to be a reward for a man who spent a week in Jacksonville, hanging out at the University of North Florida, home of the Ospreys. Of the Peach Belt Conference Ospreys, of course.
In Greece, I wondered when, exactly, coach Larry Brown had undergone the secret lobotomy. I didn't think to call him "Larry Bronze" when Team USA finished third with James stapled to the bench in second halves after sterling play earlier in the same games. But I sure wish I had.
I can fall out of bed and write a story comparing James to Dr. J.
I did not play at SVSM with James. But I once lost a close game of "H-O-R-S-E" to former Cavs coach Chuck Daly after he resorted to shooting two-hand set shots. After I called Daly a "girlie coach," he said: "If you won, you would have put it in the paper. I couldn't have that."
Lenny Wilkens once watched the Cleveland writers shoot baskets without our knowing he was there. "You were better than I thought you'd be," Wilkens said to me.
Take that to the bank, 'Bron. This guy is better than you thought he'd be.
I can call you 'Bron, right?
To reach this Plain Dealer columnist:
blivingston@plaind.com, 216-999-5754
