July 27, 2026
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Michael's Daily Notes
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King James, Take 2
On Saturday’s CNN program I said I might be the only person in Philadelphia not ecstatic that LeBron James is coming to town. Judging by my mentions, the other 1.6 million of you took attendance and confirmed it. Several offered to help me pack. On live TV you get one take. Consider this my take two.
Let me be clear about what I actually believe: I’m thrilled the Sixers landed LeBron. When word broke Friday that the greatest player of his generation had picked Philadelphia for his final chapter — “my last decision,” said a man who knows his own catalog — I felt the same jolt as everyone else. He arrives at 41, on a two-year, $8 million deal that amounts to couch-cushion money by superstar standards, to chase ring No. 5 alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. And I will root for this team as I always have. Loudly. Nervously. All the way to June.
But here’s the part I won’t take back: a piece of me wishes he’d finished the story in Cleveland.
Not because I don’t want him here — because I see Cleveland the way I see Philadelphia: a great town that never quite gets its due. We’re kindred cities, Cleveland and Philly. Hardworking. Self-deprecating. Forever described as “gritty” by people who don’t always mean it kindly. They’ve got the burning-river jokes; we booed Santa. And when the kid from Akron ended Cleveland’s 52-year championship drought in 2016, it was the rarest of sports stories: the deserving town actually won. Part of me wanted the last chapter written there, too.
Flip the script and you’ll feel my point. If a Philly kid announced tomorrow that he was closing out a legendary career in Cleveland “because the Cavs give me the best shot at one more ring,” we wouldn’t say “good for him.” We’d jam the phone lines. We’ve even lived a version of it: we watched Lower Merion’s own Kobe Bryant win five titles in another city’s laundry. RIP.
Laundry. Which brings me to Jerry Seinfeld, who explained fandom better than any sociologist ever has. “Loyalty to any one sports team is pretty hard to justify,” goes the old bit — the players change constantly, so “you’re actually rooting for the clothes, when you get right down to it.” The guy you booed yesterday puts on your shirt and becomes your guy today. “Same human being in a different shirt… Boo! Different shirt! Boo!” We’re all just rooting for laundry. See: Philadelphia’s sudden, citywide amnesia regarding two decades of hating LeBron James.
In my fantasy world, it doesn’t work this way. In my fantasy world, you play for the place that raised you. Think Jamie Moyer: a kid out of Souderton High who skipped school to watch the Phillies’ 1980 World Series parade — and 28 years later, at age 45, led the Phillies in wins, started Game 3 of the World Series, and rode down Broad Street in a parade of his own. He kept the pitching rubber as a souvenir. Call it the World Cup model: Messi plays for Argentina, period. Nobody transfers to France because the midfield looks deeper.
But that’s not the world we live in. In the real one, the King is taking his talents to Broad Street — and Cleveland, once again, gets to watch somebody else’s parade.
Anyway… LeBron: welcome to Philadelphia. The first cheesesteak is on me. And if there is a parade next June, look for me on the route — I’ll be the guy swearing he was ecstatic from day one.
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Why is President Trump so much less risk-averse in his second term compared to his first?
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