So what? LeBron likes the Yankees.

There have been, since the day that the Cavs won the lottery, talks about LeBron leaving Cleveland for a bigger market.

Those talks need to stop.

He's building a $14(?) million dollar estate in Akron. His family and friends are there. He's in a city that is committed to building a team and franchise around him like the a temple to the gods of nature. Few other teams in the league (in big markets) would be willing to give him that respect and leeway.

He is Cleveland's basketball history. You can be assured he'll always be just the next-comer in a major market -- He'll never rise to the fame or status of Jordan in Chicago, or Abdul-Jabbar (or Kobe, Magic) in LA, or Bird or Russell in Boston. Most sportswriters/fans from those major cities will get caught up in the comparison, and forgo the here-and-now respect he gets in Cleveland. And Cleveland readily recognizes him as the center of their basketball universe  -- That their time has never been better, nor will ever be better without him.

That is not to mention that the "clauses in endorsement contracts" (that may or may not exist) which elevate $$$ in different markets are fundamentally unfair and terrifying to professional sports with a salary cap. What if Dan Gilbert through Quicken Loans (or a newly created shill company) offered an endorsement of $0.99 that increased to $50 million if LeBron stayed in Cleveland? Couldn't a team owned by bigwigs at Nike offer unfair outside-of-NBA-jurisdiction soft contracts that destroy the back-and-forth of NBA talent? Do we need a New York Yankees of basketball (And when the word gets out about how this works, football and hockey)? How is this not the same problem with 'soft money' we see in politics?

The league needs to disallow endorsement contracts of this nature. They are unfair to the competitive nature of basketball.

Now, LeBron goes on record to root for the Yankees. That's not really a big deal, or media worthy. I wonder how many other athletes from any city root across the board for that city's team? At least he's honest.