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Cavs Cavs Archive Enough Already
Written by Sam Amico

Sam Amico
The national media's obsession with speculating where LeBron James may end up next summer is exhausting. And Sam Amico has flat-out had enough of it. Thankfully, so has the King himself. Prior to the Cavs' best game of the year in Orlando (which barely received mention thanks to all the free agency babble), LeBron said he is done talking about it, so please stop asking. But the bad news for James and the rest of us sane people is that James' silence will only create more asinine scenarios. Sam writes about it in his latest.

Reporters are a miserable bunch. They don't make enough money, they often annoy coaches and occasionally the athletes they cover, they irritate their editors and sometimes, their readers.

All the while, they have to keep coming up with stories. That's why the guy from the Orlando Sentinel wrote a bunch of different sign-and-trade scenarios involving LeBron James. It's why ESPN reporter (and former Akron sportswriter) Chris Broussard penned an entire piece on why LeBron should join Dwyane Wade in Miami when LeBron becomes a free agent next summer.

Not in Cleveland, mind you. Miami.

And if it weren't for LeBron, you can't help but wonder if the New York Post would even exist.

This doesn't even begin to cover the constant ramblings of the blowhards on national telecasts of Cavaliers games. Don't get me wrong, I love Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown. It's former coach Jeff Van Gundy who needs to be thrown off the air and kicked out of basketball forever.

When it comes to the LeBron-to-wherever talk, I have flat-out had enough. Thankfully, so has the King himself.

Prior to the Cavs' best game of the year in Orlando (which barely received mention thanks to all the free agency babble), LeBron said he is done talking about it, so please stop asking.

"It's just getting old," he said. "I'm focusing on this season, and this is going to be a really good season for us. I don't want any more distractions for my teammates, for my organization, for my family. This will be the last time I answer a free agent question for the rest of the year.''

Way to go, LeBron, and forever and ever amen. Now if we could just get the national media to shut up about it.

But the bad news for James and the rest of us sane people is that James' silence will only create more asinine scenarios. It will only enable reporters to conjure up more ideas of where LeBron should play, why he should leave Cleveland, why he is destined for any other city.

Did you know the story in the Orlando Sentinel referred to James as a "diva" in the headline -- and created a set of circumstances in which the Cavs would trade him to places like Atlanta, New Orleans, or even Los Angeles to play for the (gasp) Clippers?

This, folks, is what's known as needing to write a story and deciding that the first meeting this season between last year's Eastern Conference finalists just isn't good enough.

Or more accurately, it is what's known as plain nonsense.

As for Broussard, here are the ridiculous notions he spouted for all the world to read on The Worldwide Leader's Web site:

"I'm not saying James and his buddy Dwyane Wade's teaming up in Miami is probable. But if Cleveland fizzles again in the postseason, if Boston or Orlando again proves to be too talented for the Cavs, then LeBron could, and maybe should, bolt for South Beach."

There's more, as Broussard wrote that every title contender is stacked with stars -- using Boston, the Lakers and even Denver as examples. But if Broussard thinks Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups are a better duo than LeBron and say, your grandmother, then Broussard should have his press credentials revoked.

"LeBron's going to war with a 37-year-old Shaq (11 points, 7 rebounds a game) and Mo Williams, who while good is somewhere between the 11th- and 15th-best point guard in the league," Broussard wrote. "That's good enough to get the Cavaliers close, but to get over the top, to get through the league's gauntlet of powerhouses, LeBron needs that second guy."

No, he doesn't. He needs a balanced team that understands how to play together and features at least one other weapon a night. It doesn't have to be the same weapon, it doesn't have to be Dwyane Wade or Kobe Bryant or anyone on the sad-sack New York Knicks. It doesn't even have to be Mo Williams or Shaquille O'Neal. All it needs to be is SOMEONE on a given night.

But that doesn't sell newspapers or drive people to your Web site or heat up the radio talk shows.

Oh well. At least LeBron insisted he's done talking about it. Hopefully everyone else will be done talking about it next summer when James signs the Cavs' maximum deal (which, by the way, no one else can come close to matching).

Until then, all we can do is roll our eyes and laugh. Until then, all we can do is blow it off as reporters being reporters.

Sam Amico covers the Cavaliers and NBA for NBA.com, and is a regular contributor to SportsTime Ohio and The Cleveland Fan.

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