CLEVELAND — LeBron James has passed Michael Jordan on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, in case you didn’t notice.
He’s now fourth behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant.
(I know you thought Ricky Davis and Darius Miles were up there, too, but no.)
James said the moment felt amazing.
We’ll have to take his word on that.
Because basically, James' special night was like watching the credits roll on a box office flop.
Has missing the playoffs hurt James' reputation? Not really.
Has it marred his legacy? No.
Not yet. (More on that later)
But make no mistake. In this first season in Hollywood, LeBron was the illustrious actor willingly cast in a bad movie.
Think Al Pacino in “Jack and Jill.”
Robert Downey Jr. in “The Shaggy Dog.”
Imagine James Lipton in an Actor’s Studio interview:
“Christopher Walken, sir, what prompted you to do “Gigli?”
So about the legacy:
James had his reasons for wanting to go to L.A. Some clearly were not basketball-related.
He felt empowered to make that choice in large part because of what happened in Cleveland.
He felt that 2016 NBA title — the one he says made him “the greatest player of all time” — solidified his basketball chops once and for all.
And that’s difficult to argue.
One problem, though, is that in L.A. there’s a basketball conversion rate that devalues most currencies, James included. He still hasn’t won as much (or scored as much) as Kobe and Kareem.
There, he’s one of the greatest players in NBA history. That’s not much of a devaluation, granted.
But there could be more to come, fairly or not, if in a few years James doesn’t have the Lakers poised to challenge for a NBA title.
The East vs. West quality of competition might indeed be cyclical. But those eight consecutive trips to the NBA Finals out of the East won’t look nearly as impressive if James falls appreciably short in the West, let alone if he misses the playoffs again.
One season is a poor barometer. This always figured to be a transition year on the court for James in L.A. If Anthony Davis or another great player joins the cast next season, this year won’t matter in the accounting.
But for now, you don't have to live in Hollywood to know a flop when you see one.
- It’s easy to sit and wonder what could’ve been had James and Kyrie Irving stayed here. So we will.
Every day of the season and twice on postseason Sundays.
- We think we know why James left here.
Irving is harder to figure. He wanted out to take over his own team, until he realized that was hard work.
Now, being the focal point isn’t comfortable for him?
“I didn’t really come into this game to [have] cameras in my face, be famous, be a celebrity. Whatever embodies that. So it’s a little hard for me," Irving told reporters.
Adam Silver was talking the other day about how unhappy NBA players are, especially nowadays because of just the scrutiny, exploitation that we go through of everything being judged, or someone being a very high stature and people are still throwing stones at him.”
- Honk if you’d like to be exploited as Irving is in Boston.
- Jalen Rose on Irving:
“It ain’t that hard. For those that don’t know, these media scrums, they happen like five minutes of your day. This isn’t like the media following you around like the paparazzi, 24/7, 365.
“You know when scrutiny happens? When you don’t meet expectations.”
And, well, yep.
- One more word on James passing Jordan. It comes from the Chicago Tribune.
And the non-sequitur award goes to...
- Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury insists the team has not already decided to draft Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray No. 1 overall.
The Cardinals are instead open to drafting anyone whose name rhymes with Tyler Curry.
- Eric Burkhardt, Murray’s agent, unloaded on former GM Charlie Casserly after Casserly cited sources at the Scouting Combine questioning Murray’s leadership and work ethic.
“First and foremost, Kyler is an exemplary person,” Burkhardt told Pro Football Talk. “He is everything you hope your own son grows up to become. We’re talking about a young man who has done everything right and worked relentlessly his entire life to achieve and push for greatness.
“We’re talking about the first human ever drafted in the top 10 in two major sports leagues, and who just completed the greatest single season in football history. You will not find even one former teammate or coach at any level in any sport who’s played with Kyler Murray who has anything remotely negative to say about him, his leadership, or his work ethic.”
Sounds convincing.
Especially when you take into account that no non-human has ever been drafted in the Top 10 in two major sports.
- Of course, Burkhardt also said this…
“We know we have the best quarterback in this draft. We know we have the strongest arm in this draft. We know we have the biggest playmaker in this draft, who also played in the best conference in America, against real defenses. We know (he) throws the best deep ball and he can throw it better on the run then these other QBs can standing in the pocket.”
…about Johnny Manziel when he represented him coming out of Texas A&M.
- Burkhardt dropped Manziel as a client in 2016, then took him back a year later. He easily could be right about Murray and wrong about Manziel.
Advocating for clients is what agents do after all.
As for Casserly, Burkhardt isn’t wrong when he points out what the game’s greatest coach once said of the former Washington and Houston GM.
“Who’s been wrong more than Charley Casserly since he left the Redskins?” Bill Belichick asked a number of years ago. “His percentage is like a meteorologist.”
C’mon now. When you look at the track records, it’s really unfair.
To meteorologists.
- According to Dan Patrick, an unnamed scout is suggesting Murray enhanced his height at the NFL Scouting Combine. He measured a shade over 5-10 1/8.
You know things are getting ridiculous when you can’t tell anonymous scouting combine claim from a Seinfeld episode.
- Murray weighed in at 207, which seemed to please many talent evaluators.
Even those who know full well he’ll be under 200 pounds after a couple of practices in the Arizona sauna.
- Mississippi State defensive end Montez Sweat set a combine record (4.41 in the 40) for defensive linemen.
And now any team drafting him hopes to never see him sprint 40 yards again unless it’s with a fumble recovery.
- The Chiefs intervened after seeing a posted video of Patrick Mahomes playing pickup basketball. Kansas City GM Brett Veach called Mahomes agent and “nipped that in the bud.”
A video of Browns defensive end Myles Garrett dunking a basketball also prompted concern among a Browns fan base fearing he might be inviting an injury.
I know teams want to be careful and reduce the risk of injury whenever possible, but when did playing basketball get confused with free solo climbing?
- Can you tell I watched climber Alex Honnold’s gripping ascent of El Capitan with no ropes in the Oscar-winning documentary "Free Solo?"
Haven’t felt a personal connection to that kind of danger since the last time I said, “Albert, do you have a minute?”
- Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman David Irving, suspended for violating the league's drug policy, says he is quitting the NFL over its rules against marijuana use.
"I don't think I'm a bad guy for choosing this route," Irving said in a social media video. "I stand up for what I believe in," he said. "It is bulls---. I'll 'Kaepernick' myself before they 'Kaepernick' my ass."
Nothing about Irving's decision says he's a bad guy. Or, after violating the same policy three times in three years, a particularly smart guy.
- Legendary writer Dan Jenkins, who authored "Dead Solid Perfect" and "Semi-Tough," died Thursday. He was 89.
I remember him holding court at the Masters. And I remember looking for any entry I could find into that court.
Two of my favorite lines:
"Part of the charm of basketball lies in the fact that it's a simple game to understand. Players race up and down a fairly small area indoors and stuff the ball into a ring with Madonna's dress hanging on it."
"I am among those who firmly believe a round of golf should not take more than three and a half hours, four at most. Anything longer than that is not a round of golf, it's life in Albania."
Rest in peace.
