After a crazy opening day of NHL free agency a week ago today, action on that front has slowed down as we wait for Ilya Kovalchuk to decide where he wants to sign (hint: Los Angeles). So, the hotness this week has been the NBA free agent picture, as Dwyane Wade opted to stay in Miami, and Chris Bosh joined him, following in the footsteps of Mats Sundin and Roy Halladay as another franchise player to flee Toronto. The Raps hope to still complete a sign-and-trade to at least get some draft picks in return for Bosh, though it's a grim outlook... but the focus now has shifted to LeBron James; just as he wants it.

As you may have heard by now, James will announce his decision, or "The Decision", on ESPN tonight at 10pm. A one-hour long show all about LeBron, because he wasn't content with trying to be the story during the NBA Finals, along with all the media coverage since the Finals ended (which he managed to bring the Cavaliers to just once, getting swept in 2007). LeBron has transcended into villain status with tremendous speed, since the announcement was made on Tuesday. My dislike for this guy has grown ten-fold every minute since then.

When this embarrassing special is over, the media frenzy has settled, and the games start in the fall, how can LeBron face the media and say, "This was a team effort" after every win or, especially, loss? This guy has promoted himself totally shamelessly. He wants to be a one-man show, bigger than the team. He'd never say that, but it's not hard to figure out. He's the king. His "KingJames" Twitter handle shows that. His Twitter bio "King of Akron [Ohio]" shows that. These last few days have been the most disgusting, self-important displays I've ever seen from an athlete.

I love Steve Nash of the Suns. I was pulling hard for Phoenix to get a title for him this year. He only has a few more years to do it, and now he's without Amar'e Stoudemaire, who signed with the Knicks. Steve Nash would not pull this crap. Hell, 95% of the league wouldn't. Because it's embarrassing, it's disrespectful to teammates, both current and future, and it's the ultimate case of stringing the fans along.

The consensus is that Cleveland will be devastated if their own hometown boy bails on his city. Obviously James is aware of this. And if he's leaving, he's decided to make Cleveland's, and Ohio's, heartbreak an international television event. If he doesn't leave, he's strung Cleveland along all this time, just for the benefit of the LeBron James "brand". Now, how can you root for this guy? You can't. He's a jerk, regardless of where he decides to sign. I won't be cheering for him, but he better hope that he has a nice collection of championship hardware after this deal is up, because after all this self-promotion and fanfare, he'll be torn to shreds if he doesn't. And he'll have no one to thank but himself.

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