With LeBron Day just over two weeks away, the Knicks are rounding up celebrities, notable New Yorkers, and former local athletes to try to convince free agents like James to come to New York. (Hey, that sounds familiar!) Team spokesman Barry Watkins confirms to the Post that they’re in the process of assembling a committee of “friends of the Knicks” who will “show free agents that there is no better place to play and to win.”
The Knicks’ plan is for the celebrities to meet with the free agents and perhaps show them around town. The team can’t actually reach out to James or anyone else until free agency officially begins, but that doesn’t mean committee members can’t prepare what they’d tell LeBron. Chris Rock, for example, gives his pitch to the Post: “You really want to live in Cleveland? That’s what I would tell him. Where do you want to live?”
In the interest of being thorough, here’s every name included in the Post article, including those who have already signed on to the committee and those who are expected to: Donald Trump, Tracy Morgan, Boomer Esiason, Spike Lee, Charlie Rose, John McEnroe, Donny Deutsch, Mark Messier, and Phil Simms — plus former Knicks players Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, and Earl Monroe, and former Knicks coach Whoopi Goldberg.