While the city of Milwaukee holds its collective breath to see if Giannis will sign his supermax deal, LeBron James is being LeBron James.
The Lakers star and 4-time NBA MVP agreed to a 2-year, $85 million dollar extension on Wednesday.
It’s a small price to pay for, in my opinion, the greatest player to ever touch a basketball.
What bothered, but didn’t surprise me on Wednesday was the timing of the announcement.
Everything that LeBron does is calculated. It’s been that way since he was 15 years old.
And outside of the public relations nightmare that was “The Decision” in the summer of 2010, James is nearly unimpeachable.
But I’ll tell you one thing: LeBron hates it when other people steal his shine.
When he couldn’t get over the hump in his first stint in Cleveland, he stole the spotlight by forming a super team in Miami.
When it was apparent that the Heat’s perception was fading, he penned a love letter in Sports Illustrated to his fans to tell them that he was “Coming Home.”
When Steph Curry started winning MVP’s and championships, LeBron quite literally swatted him back into his place in the 2016 Finals.
And when Kevin Durant became the best player in the West, LeBron decided to go to L.A.
He wanted to be the West Coast alpha on the NBA’s sexiest team.
Now, Giannis is the threat.
It’s Giannis winning the MVP’s.
It’s Giannis placing a fake crown on his head at Fiserv Forum in a win over King James and the Lakers.
It’s Giannis becoming the league’s predominant star.
So what does James do?
He conveniently chooses to announce his contract extension just hours before Giannis is expected to sign his supermax.
Coincidence? I think not.
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