Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

I know you’ve heard the all-knowing talking heads of sports TV and radio talk endlessly about LeBron James’ new need for moving boxes, a U-Haul and some change of address forms.

They gave their opinions, so you don’t have to. I don’t say that because I don’t want to hear your opinion (actually I don’t, but that’s another rant), but because I’m trying to do you a favor.

That opinion might cost you the summer vacation money.

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert can still sashay off to whatever hideaway he chooses, but he’ll have to trim $100,000 off his caviar and champagne bill.

That’s how much NBA boss David Stern fined him for a rather raw and honest bout of emotion in response to James’ choice of South Beach over The Great Rusty North.

In his opinion, as a fan as well as a Cavalier owner, he feels it’s “bitterly disappointing,” and LeBron’s leaving is an act of “cowardly betrayal.”

Sounds a little over the top me to talk that way about a guy who makes baskets for a living rather than making, say, electricity. But, if getting that wrapped up in this thing makes him feel better, then let it out, oh Danny Boy.

But when you consider that many a Cavs fans offered to help him pay the fine, with money that’s probably better off going toward their bloated mortgages, you have to wonder if he’s that far off-base.

Then again, he’s not all that with-it, either. “LeBron James needs to go to another team with two superstars already so he can win a championship,” he said. “We will win a championship before the Heat do.”

Um, Dan, the most rounded player in the league is gone. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, right after giving my spell-checker a fit, packed up his truck and is headed to Miami as well, and Shaquille O’Neal’s looking for packing peanuts. Gilbert can hope to sign a big-time star to begin the quest to score a title before the Heat, but what NBA star wants to to go to Cleveland and have to slip right into James’ vacated shadow?

But anyway, Dan’s rant is out there, a six-figure one, so I hope he got his money’s worth.

$100,000 for an opinion. I have an opinion about that, and I don’t care if I have to reach for my checkbook. Here goes:

The fine is complete and utter Grade-A Prime stupid.

Stern said that while James, “was entitled to leave,” he also said that Gilbert was, “entitled to his opinion.” Entitle him, then fine him? C’mon, David.

Gilbert already lives in Cleveland, where they’re already looking forward to the Browns season because the Indians give no reason to do otherwise. Fining him after what he’s been through the last week or so amounts to piling on, which the NFL has been known to fine players for.

Stern, obviously not subscribing to The First Rule of Holes (“When you’re in one, stop digging”), went on to say that James’ prime-time, waste-of-an-hour “Decision” program was, “ill-conceived.”

Maybe so, but that’s just Stern’s opinion, and oh boy, did he share it! So is he going to fine himself?

While he’s at it, can he do a bit more than just wag his finger at Jesse Jackson, who said publicly that Gilbert has, “a slave master mentality” and saw James as a “runaway slave,” which are some harsh 21st Century words.

Stern did call Jackson’s comments “equally imprudent” for turning the free-agency free-for-all into a racial issue. But I wonder if Stern would like to hear Jesse’s thoughts on how the NBA, a game dominated by 6-foot-9 black men is largely coached by 5-foot-10 white men.

I bet Rev. Jackson has an opinion on that, as well as the checkbook to back it up.

ooo

All I’ll say about George Steinbrenner and how he used to bully and fire people is this: In 1973, he bought the New York Yankees for under $9 million. Today, they are worth $1.6 billion.