LeBron tastes Big Apple -- and you know he loves it

NEW YORK -- We'll never know exactly what LeBron James was thinking when he was scoring from every spot on the Madison Square Garden floor right from the opening tip Friday night, turning the World's Most Famous Arena into the World's Most Expensive Practice Court. Only he knows how it felt to hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter and flash the three-finger sign to celebrity row, which amounted to the Yankees' bench plus Jay-Z.

The hidden meaning behind his latest effusive praise of this city, not to mention the motives behind his open letter to New York published in the Daily News -- those shall remain a mystery, as well. But after attracting one of the rare nights of electricity in the Garden, a night that only this place could have, there was no misinterpreting what LeBron meant when he said this:

The spotlight of New York fits LeBron James just fine. (Getty Images)

"I don't know who made the schedule for the Cleveland Cavaliers to only be here once," James said before his one and only scheduled visit to the Garden this season. "I'm kind of disappointed in that. It's our one and only time, so we've got to make it good."

With all due respect to Kobe Bryant or anyone else who dares to include himself in this conversation, LeBron made good on that promise in ways that only he can.

"It's hard not to feel good coming into this building, guys," LeBron said. "If we could trade places, you guys could understand as a player what it's like to be in this building and to play on this court."

Greatness followed LeBron on this night, converging on him the way the Knicks hope it will if he ever entertains in this building on a nightly basis. The invitation, as you know, already has been printed, gold-embossed, and framed with diamonds.

The stars aligned so that James' one visit to New York this season coincided with the Yankees' championship celebration, something Cleveland hasn't experienced in nearly half a century. The champs sat courtside -- A-Rod, Joba, Melky, and LeBron's buddy, C.C. They came to see him. He attracts greatness, the way Michael Jordan did once and the way nobody else in basketball does now.

After scoring 33 points in the Cavs' 100-91 victory -- 19 of them in a freight-train of a first quarter -- James was asked what he'd remember most about this night. "The atmosphere," he said, and then proceeded to list nearly every celebrity who had lined the court to see him.

"A lot of stars in the building," James said. "It's humbling to know that you have guys like the Yankees come out, and Jay-Z, and you saw some of the Giants. I saw John Legend, Chris Rock, a lot of people. You almost feel like you're a performer sitting on this stage and they're watching you perform."

LeBron claimed he was napping when his favorite team was being paraded down the Canyon of Heroes earlier in the day. He was plenty rested by tipoff, receiving a warm ovation from a crowd that stood from Bernie Williams' guitar anthem all the way through introductions. They even cheered the puff of talc, which gives you an idea how little there has been to cheer here for so long.

"I think the NBA is missing out on the fact that the Knicks haven't been great in a few years now," LeBron was saying before the game, rocking a new pair of designer, Mars Blackmon-style glasses for the occasion. "We all know the history of the Knicks and what's happened in this building and what the Knicks franchise has done for this league. So as a fan, I think it'd be great some day, one day, when this franchise can be particularly good."

Once again, James addressed his impending foray into free agency, on July 1, 2010. And again, there was little substance but a lot for you to interpret, depending on your perspective. But more than anything James could ever say or think, the tantalizing decision was framed by his mere presence in this building -- and his surroundings, both good and bad.

There was the atmosphere, second to none -- Sinatra blaring, celebrities craning their necks to see what he'd do next, the whole house standing at tipoff. LeBron could own all of this, on a nightly basis, and he knows it. His letter to New York, in conjunction with Nike, announced the opening of seven practice gyms around the city where high schoolers can play for free. If he's already larger than life, he'd be even bigger than that here. And if you think the greatest basketball player in the world couldn't be a bigger star here than in Cleveland, then I've got Eddy Curry's contract I'd like to trade to you.

"We look at New York as, if not the top, then one of the top basketball Meccas," James said. "It's the Mecca of basketball that we have in America, if not the world."

I'm not here to tell you what LeBron is going to do eight months from now, because he doesn't even know. But his visit here, the way he embraced the stage to the peptic unease of his current organization, is as good a time as any to finally dispel three ridiculous myths about the decision LeBron will make in a few months.

Myth No. 1: LeBron doesn't need New York to be a global icon. In the digital age, when people all over the world watch NBA games on their laptops, there might be some truth to that. But the point is seriously flawed. Ask Reggie Jackson, who became one of the most famous athletes ever by virtue of being a World Series hero in New York. Ask Derek Jeter someday.

The real question is whether LeBron would feel like a bigger icon if he played here. Madison Square Garden has cramped hallways, a musty visiting locker room smaller than most Manhattan apartments, and the slowest elevator in the mechanized world. But when you put basketball greatness on the court here, something happens that can happen nowhere else.

Myth No. 2: LeBron wouldn't play for the Knicks because, well, they suck. Evidence supporting the second myth was on full display Friday night, so bear with me. Even Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni lamented that the Knicks are a long way from being the main attraction here when the great ones come to visit. LeBron would have to be some kind of hopeless mercenary to give up his chance of winning titles to come here and play with ... this.

But that's wrong, too, and here's why. Greatness attracts greatness, or at least enough goodness to win. Look at the roster James went to the Finals with in 2007 and tell me he's not good enough to raise the talent level around him. To test my theory, I posed it to an admittedly biased observer -- Knicks president Donnie Walsh. I asked him what great players want.

"If you're talking about New York, New York's got a lot to offer," Walsh said. "Everybody knows that. A great player wants the right coach. He wants good teammates at some point." A winning culture? "Yeah, I think that's important," Walsh said. "But those guys usually create it."

So LeBron isn't going to be dissuaded by an imperfect roster here or there when his free agency decision arrives. The NBA landscape is dotted with one imperfect roster after another. Any roster without LeBron is imperfect by definition. And this isn't just me saying this; this is how great players think.

"I think that it's more, 'I'd like to play there,'" Walsh said. "It's visceral more than mental. Although there'll be mental, too, because there's money involved. They'll look at it from a lot of angles, I'm sure."

Myth No. 3: LeBron would be viewed as a disloyal turncoat if he left Cleveland. This one bothers me more than anything else about James' flirtation with free agency. So you mean to tell me that an Ohio boy becoming a pro up the road from his hometown, remaining true to his roots every step of the way, single-handedly revitalizing his franchise and leading it to the Finals -- maybe even a championship before he's finished -- is not enough? What do people want, a lifetime contract? Teams dump players all the time in sports when they're finished with them. Players get to do the same thing, and LeBron has earned the right to decide where he wants to play. He's been loyal enough.

On this night, LeBron got all aspects of the decision that awaits him, got it from all angles. The atmosphere was there. The talent on the other side was not. He was the constant. He was the magnet.

The crowd that he pulled into his orbit stayed around long after the final buzzer. They waited while he hugged Jay-Z and his Yankee friends near midcourt. He left to Billy Joel's New York State of Mind and another ovation.

"It's never low-key coming into the city," LeBron said.

Just the way he likes it.