It may mean nothing at all or it could mean everything, but the Knicks have received a second audience with LeBron James. Or at least LeBron’s people. From Frank Isola of the New York Daily News:
According to a Knicks official, Garden president Scott O’Neil and senior VP of Basketball Operations Glen Grunwald were dispatched to James’ hometown and held a brief clandestine meeting with James’ reps to make a second pitch to the two-time MVP. It is unclear if James was in the meeting but it is believed that his business manager, Maverick Carter, and agent, Leon Rose, met with the two Knicks executives on the same day that James spoke to both the Cavs and Bulls.
The timing of the meeting is interesting since it came one day after the Knicks received a verbal commitment from All Star power forward Amar’e Stoudemire. The Knicks wanted to relay to James that the organization is committed to doing everything in its power to surround him with talent.
After all, the Knicks are, last I checked, still the Knicks. They don’t have the one-man brochure known as Derrick Rose, one of LeBron’s buddies among the owners, the hometown allure, or Dream Team potential. They just have bright lights, Madison Square Garden, and Toney Douglas. Adding Stoudemire is huge, but is this really the team that will inspire James to leave behind his home and his franchise, much less spurn a number of attractive suitors? Maybe, but the Knicks still have a hell of a selling job to do.
Thursday will supposedly be decision day, and there could be all kinds of fun meetings between now and then. Still, New York clearly has something to work with, even if they’re just whispering into the ears of LeBron’s reps at present.
