It’s been relatively quiet on the LeBron front lately — unless you count recent campaigns to bring him here organized by a moving company and a couple of hopeful 12-year-olds — so even though his reported endorsement of Tom Izzo’s hiring in Cleveland might not end up factoring into his decision at all, it nonetheless qualifies as newsworthy as July 1 approaches.
Izzo, of course, hasn’t actually taken the job, and one imagines it’s a considerably less appealing gig if LeBron decides to sign elsewhere. Like LeBron, Izzo doesn’t seem to be tipping his hand one way or the other: When asked by a boy at a basketball camp whether he’d be staying at Michigan State or leaving for the Cavs, he replied, “Bad question.” Take that, inquisitive young minds!
There’s also a difference between “100 percent” endorsing Izzo’s hiring — as the Cleveland Plain-Dealer’s “high-level source” words it — and wanting to actually play for Izzo in Cleveland. Even the Plain-Dealer notes that “James isn’t believed to be giving anyone a hint to what his personal plans will be once he hits free agency on July 1.” That’s just seventeen days away now, by the way.