MARKET WATCH COLUMNIST
“LeBron, Make it Here” Ellis Henican Column, amNewYork, May 27, 2010
Hey, LeBron: Are you really thinking of playing someplace besides New York? 
Go look up the name “Dom DiMaggio.” That’ll turn you immediately into a proud New York Knick.
The baby brother of Yankees great Joe DiMaggio spent his baseball career in Boston. One of the finest center fielders in Red Sox history. Four .300 seasons. Lifetime batting average of .298.
Poor Dom!
Outside of Boston and some Strat-O-Matic fanatics, Joltin’ Joe’s baby bro is mainly a Wikipedia entry and an answer in Trivial Pursuit. He even got stuck witha boring, college-town nickname — “The Little Professor.”
So what do you say, LeBron James? Who do you want to be when you become a freeagent July 1? Joltin’ Joe or The Little Professor?
The big money, fame and possibilities all call New York home.
All those other teams that want you — Cleveland, Chicago, LA, Dallas, Miami — they’re all lovely places, no doubt. But not one of them can do half for you of what New York can.
Look at what it’s done for others. Without New York, Mike Bloomberg would probably be an accountant in Medford, Mass., like his father was. Without New York, Hillary Clinton might have faded like some latter-day Lady Bird.
Quick: Name another arena that is half as charged as Madison Square Garden.
You can’t.
If you can, go shout it off the top of the Nutmeg State Building — or whatever it is they call skyscrapers in places that aren’t New York.
Where would Phil Jackson be if he hadn’t first been a winning Knickerbocker? And what about Bill Bradley? After he won here in 1970, he got to go to the U.S. Senate. If he’d spent his playing career in Cleveland, he’d be calling sports talk shows now as “Jersey Bill.”
“America’s Mayor” didn’t serve in Newark. And after a splendid New York run, you know “Law & Order” will flop in L.A.
Truly, there is nothing new about any of this.
The New York sports connection goes way, way back. Remember that Babe Ruth started in Boston and wasn’t anything until he came to New York.
All he left behind were jealous fans and the Curse of the Bambino.
Be kinder to Cleveland than that!
E-mail ellis@henican.com. Follow him at twitter.com/henican.
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