They turned that downtown office building into a public parade of billionaires and builders of dynasties, entertainment icons and what-are-they-doing-here Clippers. The big, wide world took turns marching into the heart of Cleveland to make dramatic presentations to a hometown hero in a T-shirt, shorts and sneakers. Here was Team LeBron making the headquarters of James’ fledgling marketing company LRMR into the Grand Central Station of a city’s hope and heartbreak. And perhaps the Cavaliers showed why they best know the biggest free agent in sports history when they delivered a presentation designed as much to steal a 14-year-old away from a traveling baseball team than woo a self-proclaimed disciple of Warren Buffett. Through it all, James’ old team probably played it perfectly. The Cavs understood their audience the best: LeBron James(notes) and his high school buddies, 25-year-olds trying to play the part of a global corporation but ultimately still reached at a meaningful level with cartoons and locker-room humor. A week ago, most teams believed they were chasing the Chicago Bulls for James, but that’s flipped in the past days and hours. “My gut tells me Cleveland,” an executive in the James chase told Yahoo! Sports on Sunday. “From what I hear now, it his decision alone. No outside influences.” Officials from teams who made these presentations went along with the charade, but some questioned the legitimacy of the process based on the kinds of questions that were thrown back to them. “It didn’t take long to realize you’re dealing with 25-year-old kids,” one source said. Cleveland executives are still on edge, but privately feeling far more confident now than they did weeks ago. As much as anything, William Wesley has been muscled out of the process in the past week or so, with teams insisting that communication to James goes directly through his business manager Maverick Carter. So unnerved over World Wide Wes’ ubiquitous presence in the process, Carter had to go public to undermine Wesley’s credibility and proclaim his own power. The wresting back of power into James’ Akron-based camp goes a long way to securing the Cavs’ chances for re-signing James. This could preserve James’ future with the Cavaliers, because those surrounding him will eagerly validate his decision to take more money, stay home and keep them all relevant in his career and life. Team LeBron turned this courtship of presentations into a marketing tool for the breadth of his brand, into a visual of the heavy-hitter suitors ultimately being rebuffed out of James’ loyalty and love for Cleveland. This entire episode made for around-the-clock news and Twitter frenzy. From the offices of LRMR, James has delivered a relentless reminder that’s he’s the world’s most wanted man in high tops. He needed the threat of leaving, even if there was never truly the intent. What’s more, James and his guys have ramped up the launch of a new personal website and foreshadowed it as the place to find out first the big news on his free-agent choice – one that possibly won’t be made until he’s done marketing the LeBron James Skills Camp in Akron through Wednesday. Read more: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-lebronfreeagency070410
