ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith vehemently contested a report that the New York Knicks were LeBron James’ first choice when he was a free agent in 2010.
In Tuesday’s episode of Get Up, Smith called the report “a lie” that “isn’t true”:
Bill Simmons stated in the Sunday edition of his podcast (like NBC Sports ‘Dan Feldman) that it was “clear” from everyone he spoke to that the Knicks were James’ first choice. However, Simmons said the meeting between James and the team was a “disaster” because New York staff “hadn’t prepared anything”.
In a detailed story of “The Decision”, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst noted that the Knicks, among other teams, were able to sign two stars in the summer of 2010.
The New York meeting with LeBron took place on July 1st after sitting with Brooklyn nets.
“Our cars were coming in as the nets were opening up,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni told Windhorst. “It was all surreal. That moment was a great piece of NBA history. We waited two years to take that step.”
In 2010 ESPN’s Ian O’Connor wrote that the Knicks’ presentation to James included a video presentation featuring actors James Gandolfini and Edie Falco in the character of Tony and Carmela Soprano. Additionally, the Knicks learned in advance that James loved children, so “they showed him a video about their Garden of Dreams charity for needy children.”
O’Connor noted that if the Knicks had lost James, it would not have been due to their presentation: “They would have lost him because of their list.”
After James announced that he would sign with the Miami Heat, Frank Island of the New York Daily News reported that the Knicks owner James Dolan had “outsourced James’ sales work in New York” in a second meeting with the former team president Isiah Thomas, who was fired two years earlier following a sexual harassment trial.
James teamed up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, and that trio did the NBA finals in each of their four seasons together, winning consecutive titles in 2012 and 2013.
The Knicks were released in the summer of 2010 with Amar’e Stoudemire, who made the All-Star team in its first season with the team. They acquired Carmelo Anthony in February 2011 and made three consecutive appearances in the playoffs from 2011 to 2013, but have since marked seven consecutive seasons.