It would be, I dare say, the most bonkers transaction in the history of American sports -- bigger than Wayne Gretzky and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar being shipped to Hollywood, bigger than the Nets gift-wrapping Dr. J to the 76ers for $3 million, bigger than the Colts sending a petulant John Elway to Denver, bigger than the Cowboys trading Herschel Walker for three Super Bowl trophies, bigger than the absurdity of Red Sox owner Harry Frazee selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees so he could finance a musical, No, No Nanette.
In modern times or yesteryear, nothing matches the knuckle-hair-searing concept of LeBron James, in a package deal capable of igniting a tropical storm, joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat. This would be an unprecedented union of basketball talent in one swoop -- a supersized project coached and/or overseen by Hall of Famer Pat Riley, don't forget -- and I've come today to say it is no silly pipedream or blogger's whim. Forget all the various reports attached to sources who may or may not exist. The most credible form of attribution comes from Wade himself, who all but confirmed to the Miami Herald his desire to create the trifecta.
"I've told [the Heat] what I would like to see happen,'' said Wade, who isn't referring to reupping Udonis Haslem. "But what I want to see, that doesn't mean it's going to happen. This situation is a no-brainer. But just in case it isn't, I've got to see what's out there. For me, it's not about the money. I just want to win.''
The no-brainer: There's no better path to winning than sharing a locker room with James and Bosh, who instantly would lift the Heat into prime title contention and render every other Eastern Conference team hopeless for years. If the three free agents didn't actually meet in Miami, as reported, there is enough evidence to suggest they have discussed the possibility, which is half the battle. And if James suddenly gets cold feet about leaving his native northeast Ohio or somehow decides Chicago is a better place than south Florida in the wintertime, let me join his team of advisers and point him in the right direction. How does LeBron always prioritize his ambitions?
"I want to win," he says with conviction.
Then he should go to South Beach and form the superteam. Because there's no assurance he'll ever win in Cleveland, where bad karma and civic fatalism is a sinister mix. And there's no assurance he'll ever win in New York, where the Knicks are owned by a doofus and working on their 37th consecutive year without an NBA title. And there's no assurance he'll ever win in Chicago, where Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah aren't quite as great as advertised and the Jordan statue looms as a reminder of what James isn't and never will be. And there's no assurance he'll ever win in New Jersey/Brooklyn, where the combination of a Russian billionaire and Jay-Z might not work any better on a basketball court than it would in a recording studio.
