I don't really care who dunks on LeBron James.

Basketball players get dunked on.

What I would like to know is this.  LeBron's in his office.  Phone rings.  Nike is on Line 1 and the Cleveland Cavaliers are on Line 2.

Which call does he take?

I'm betting the call from Portland gets put through before the one from Cleveland.  After all, when have the Cavaliers ever taken a camera away from anyone for King James?

And who pays him more annually?  (Hint, we are witnesses).

That's why CameraGate matters.  It shows when LeBron sneezes Nike gets a cold.  And when LeBron's image gets challenged it's Nike who is there to erase the film. 

So it's a year from now.  James is a free agent two ways.  His Cavalier contract is up and his endorsement contract with Nike ends at the same time.

The phone rings.

Nike is on the line wanting to reup the man who says his goal is to be an "international icon".  Just one thing.  Before they make an offer, Nike wants to know where James is going to be playing.  Because LeBron James in New York is worth alot more to Nike than LeBron James in Cleveland.

From an artistic standpoint, the Nike storyline with LeBron James in Cleveland is played out.  "We are witnesses."  Yeah, hooray, contain my excitement.  Another year, another trip home without the hardware.  The pride of Ohio.

LeBron James in the NYC?  Whole different story.  New town, the biggest stage in sports, the big guy in the Big Apple.  That Nike can work with.  Maybe even a new uniform number to move a little merchandise.  Get this, no number, just a symbol.  The basketball player formerly known as King James.

Maybe LeBron wants to stay in Cleveland.  Maybe he was telling the truth to Trevor Ariza that he's coming back.  And maybe right now that's his intention.

But when more than half your income is riding on it, you owe it to yourself to listen to what Nike has to say.  And it doesn't make sense for Nike to say anything other than New York.

The question mark that hangs on LeBron James is what the mix of celebrity and basketball player is.  Seventy percent basketball, thirty percent celebrity?  Fifty-fity?  Thirty-seventy? 

What matters most, six story billboards or an NBA title?

The clue may have come with the petty little incident of the dunk video.  Wilt Chamberlain would have laughed long and hard about being dunked on by a kid.  Michael Jordan would have rolled his eyes and gone back and schooled him on the same tape.

LeBron stood by and watched corporate types take away the video.

LeBron James is headed uptown, and I don't mean University Circle.

The NBA.  All the action of crocheting and the excitement of soccer.  I say this after watching argueably the two best teams in the league (Detroit and San Antonio) slog their way to an 85-70 win for the home team in Motor City.

Don't get me wrong.  The NBA has magnificently talented players who can turn into human highlight reels faster than you can say ESPN.  But maybe that's the problem.  Too much focus on the jam and not enough on the hard work that generates open court basketball.  The Knicks and Lakers of the late 60's this is not.  Heck, it isn't even as watchable as a good Kentucky Colonels-Indiana Pacers game from the glory days of the ABA.

For the game both teams barely shot .400.  Put that in some perspective.  Your 45 year old, overweight next door neighbor who is sleeping off a turkey and egg nog overdose on your couch about now can hit .400 if open on the perimeter.  After the game the star being interviewed was Chauncey Billups.  Yes, the Chauncey Billups who went 6-17 and led all scorers with a blistering 20 point performance. 

The sequence that said everything you need to know about the game (and by inferrence the current state of the NBA) was when Brent Barry of the Spurs tried to shake and bake and ended up laying on the floor having faked himself loose from the ball.  The Pistons picked up the loose ball and initiated (insert gasp of excitement) a fast break.  Not just a fast break, but a 4-1 fast break punctuated by a missed dunk.

Let that sink in.  A 4-1 fast break that wasn't converted because a pass might have messed up a dunk opportunity.  By the best team in the league.  With a very good coach in Flip Saunders.  In a key game.  NBA action...it's fantasmic. 

I'm glad I have memories of Jerry West and Oscar Robertson.  That I saw the Larry Bird Celtics constantly moving and cutting to create scoring opportunities.  And even that I saw Bob Verga draining three pointers with the regularity of a Swiss timepiece.  For those of you just starting to watch basketball I guess you can cling to the memory of Chauncey Billups scoring 20 points and Tony Parker scoring all 8 of the Spurs first quarter points as his girlfriend, Eva Longoria of "Desparte Housewives" watched from the stands.  As for me, I think I'll turn on Univision and see if there's a soccer game on.