As the guessing game in regards to whether LeBron stays or goes kicks into high gear, I’ve come up with a sure-fire way of keeping the superstar in town. While discussing the issue with my friend Rick Ferrell, super-fan and super downtown booster, it hit me: Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert should force the league to change the rules and then quit trying to find the right coach for the team and hire LeBron as the NBA’s youngest ever player/coach.
Go ahead — get your laugh on, and then read on as I explain why this idea makes all of the sense in the world.
The NBA rule against players coaching is not only antiquated, but it hurts the sport in the long run. Changing it has a lot of upsides that will keep the sport exciting for years to come.
First, it’s a construct that’s been a proven winner in the past … Bill Russell wore both hats with great success in Boston years ago. Sure, Russell was older when he assumed both duties, but that doesn’t mean he could not have done it just as effectively years before he pulled it off, now does it?
With LeBron’s in-depth knowledge of the game — at age 25 he’s been playing for what, over two decades now — does anyone think he still has anything to learn about basketball? Not hardly. And certainly no one can doubt that he is mature and sharp beyond his years.
One of the mistakes we as humans make is to automatically equate advancing age with wisdom … which certainly is true in many cases. But, on the other hand, I’ve also known quite are few older people who, the only thing they got as they grew older was … arthritis. It could be that LeBron, at the age he is right now, is as wise and experienced as he’s ever going to get … and by most estimations that’s already far more wisdom and experience than most folks will ever attain.
Second, who can do a better job of leading and inspiring the team? His fellow players admire, respect and would follow him to hell and back… and Gilbert would save a bundle of money in the process — not that it would mean all that much to him since he has tons of it. Also, the angst and fear over finding a coach that has the right chemistry to mesh with LeBron’s would be put to rest … the superstar would have to absolutely love (and listen to) his new coach if his name happened to be LeBron, right?
Third — and most important — it just might be the kind of outside-the-box thinking we need to engage in to keep LeBron in town. We’ve already been putting the weight of the success of the entire region on his young shoulders (and have been doing so since he first donned a Cavs’ uniform) so why not give him the whole load. He’s entitled to it and I think he can carry it quite well. Why doesn’t someone ask LeBron if he thinks he can handle both jobs, just to see what he says?
Still laughing?
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.frombehindthewall.com.
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3 Responses to “Mansfield: How to Keep LeBron in Cleveland”
hank wait
I think this is an excellent idea. If he washes out as a coach it’d be to late to leave because he would have already re-signed and then you could go get a real coach. On the other hand if he turns out to be a player coach like Russel or Lenny Wilkens voila… Cleveland wins. Brilliant Mansfield just brilliant!
chaqtus
this is why mansfield is the best thing about cool cleveland — always thinking outside the box.
Golf GPS PDA
When Lebron decides where it is he wants to go it will make my fantasy basketball decisions a litte easier.