LeBron and the NBA Off-Season

I'm not a LeBron fan.  I'm a Kobe fan, so there's that, and there was The Decision, and mostly there's the fact that when you're the best baller in the world you can't moonlight as a flopper.  I don't like flopping, but some guys can get away with it.  If you don't have the best toolkit on your team and your ability to get the ref to whistle when there's no foul earns you playing time, well, it's hard for me to fault you for that.  Yet if you're the best there is at what you do, you can't be flopping around out there, and that's that.  Anyway, I'm no fan, but I applaud LeBron for going back to the Cavs.  Hell, career-wise a return to Cleveland is somewhat akin to taking a bullet for your hometown.

However, as much as people want to discuss LeBron and his big decision today--and it's big news, don't get me wrong--I think the bigger story is the way the NBA has been grabbing headlines of late.  Even when The Decision ruffled so many feathers once upon a when I don't remember there being so much discussion about the NBA's free agency period.  I know Melo's out there too, but off-season headline dominance has typically been a staple of the NFL, and to a certain extent the MLB.  I don't ever remember dealing with so much hype in regards to the NBA off-season.

Whether people like LeBron or hate him, and whether they like his return to Cleveland or not, this is a win for the NBA.  People are talking about LeBron and Melo.  They're talking about the alien known as Chris Bosh and there have been headlines coming out of Toronto--Toronto!!!  Yes, people are still talking about Donald Sterling and his adventures in insanity as well, but all this attention has to be seen as a major boost for a league that hasn't been this hot since MJ was tearing it up or Magic was going toe to toe with Larry.

The NBA is back, folks, and all this off-season noise could be setting the stage for a huge year on the hardwood.  Of course, if you're a Lakers fan like me, it's hard to relish all this enthusiasm, but it's there and Adam Silver has to be loving it.