New York City already welcoming LeBron James

BOSTON - The Empire State Building was lit up in green last night, much like a city of Knicks fans who had good reason to pull for the Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at TD Garden. While the Celtics were putting the finishing touches on the Cavaliers in Tuesday's Game 5 stunning blowout in Cleveland, the LeBronathon hit a fevered pitch.

And the Knicks inched a little closer to the reality that they could get that long-awaited shot at luring LeBron James to New York this summer.

Though regardless of last night's outcome, the Knicks - and everyone else - still have to wait until July 1 to officially begin the recruiting effort. But the campaign has already started with a cover story in this week's New York magazine that was presumptuously titled, "Hey LeBron, Welcome to New York." The magazine then listed 15 reasons why he should decide to come to New York and reported that the famous Carnegie Deli offered to create a sandwich - "The LeBron MVP" - in his name.

It gets better. Even the world-famous Manhattan gentleman's club, Scores, offered to honor him with a LeBron James Day and he would be welcome to eat for free at the club's steakhouse for the rest of his life.

These advances aside, the Knicks are believed to be preparing an overwhelming pitch that goes beyond perks and the red carpet treatment. What they're hoping for is to just get him to the table.

When they do, the first order of business is to build a team around him. Though the biggest criticism of the Knicks is that their roster is essentially empty and not even close to being championship-caliber, the Knicks believe players will flock to New York if they know James is there.

As they were building their championship team, the Celtics needed to trade for Ray Allen in the summer of 2007 to convince Kevin Garnett to accept a trade to Boston. In a chicken-and-egg scenario, the Knicks would likely have to have a deal in place with another high-end player, such as Chris Bosh or Amar'e Stoudemire, with the condition that James signs.

Buzz Bissinger, who authored James' high school memoir, "Shooting Stars," told HoopsAddict.com earlier this week that he believes James will leave Cleveland regardless of the outcome of these playoffs.

"He has aspirations beyond basketball," Bissinger said. "He wants to be a billion-dollar athlete. He likes challenges and bright lights. There is nothing like New York and the goal of making the Knicks champions again is an incredible one. So I say he goes to the Knicks."

Bissinger then added this caveat: "If they get the right supporting cast."

That is the part that other teams will try to sabotage. It's only May 14 and the playoffs still have two rounds to go. Commissioner David Stern was already annoyed that talk of this summer's free agency was already overshadowing what has been a relatively uneventful playoffs, save for this series. But the good news for Stern is that at least, with neither New York area team involved in the postseason, there is still a great deal of interest in what is happening.

And there is a serious rooting interest. But it should be pointed out that the light scheme on the city's iconic skyscraper had no connection to the Celtics.

It was in recognition for the Rainforest Foundation's awareness week.

LeBron awareness is already in full swing.