King James’ summer vacation should remind him there’s no place like home

Tour de LeBron rolls on overseas

Everywhere you looked this summer, there was LeBron James.

It began with “The Chosen One” being grilled about a refusal to shake hands after the Orlando Magic knocked his Cleveland Cavaliers out in the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals.

That was followed by questions as to whether James had a hand in a decision by his principal benefactor, Nike, to confiscate videotapes showing him getting dunked on during a pickup game at his own basketball camp.

Then there was James’ admission, in a book called “Shooting Stars” and scheduled for release in September, that he smoked marijuana during his junior year in high school and had a hard time handling sudden fame.

About the only thing James hasn’t weighed in on yet is the debate over health care, perhaps owing to the fact that he’s in China on the front end of a promotional tour for his new movie, “More Than A Game,” that will take him to Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles.

Even the few times James wasn’t talking, it seemed like somebody was talking about him.

“He’s the captain,” Shaquille O’Neal said shortly after arriving in Cleveland via a blockbuster trade. “This is the time in my career where I can fit in. I’m now in the security business. My job is to protect the King.”

About the only thing James needs protection from at the moment is overexposure. Only 24, he’s set for life, in part because of business instincts every bit as sharp as his nose for the basketball. Yet it’s the one piece of business he left unfinished this summer that could turn out to have the biggest impact on James’ career.

Two weeks ago, at an event in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, staged to unveil the latest edition of his sneaker line, James made clear that for all the things the Cavaliers had done to keep him happy, they’d better be prepared to do more. He’s set to make $15.7 in the final year of a three-year deal and indicated that he would likely become a free agent rather than sign an extension the club offered.

“It would make no sense for me to sign that contract,” James said about his previous deal, “if I didn’t keep my options open. I’ll let you fill in the blanks.”

Newspapers in New York have been doing just that for a while now. They picture James in a Knicks uniform and he’s done little to tamp down the speculation. Under salary-cap rules, Cleveland can offer James as much as $30 million more than the next-closest bidder, but the appeal of staying home isn’t limited strictly to dollars. James already owns Cleveland in a way he would never own New York.

James is too shrewd to turn over any cards at this point in the negotiating game, but it’s clear who’s holding all the good ones.

If he wants to make the Shaq experiment work, he almost certainly can. O’Neal will be a much better fit in Cleveland’s half-court offense than he was in Phoenix’s helter-skelter variety, and by attracting attention close to the basket, he opens more room on the court for James.

It will require the King to be patient, and it might not happen right away. But if James wants to fulfill the promise he made to Cleveland when the Cavaliers drafted him — to light the town up “like Las Vegas” — it’s hard to see a better opportunity materializing anywhere any faster.

Then again, if Shaq proves ineffective, or too old and banged-up, or too big a personality to share the stage with, James can end the experiment, too. O’Neal is in the last year of his contract, and with just a nod from James, Cavs management could make him disappear by February’s trading deadline. That would leave the club plenty of time and money to chase LeBron’s “Redeem Team” mate and close pal Chris Paul, or another big-time signing in the offseason, and start all over again.

Either way, James’ championship clock should be ticking loudly by now. He’s got plenty of years left to get a ring, but one or two titles might not be enough to lock up the spot in the starting five of all-time that James so clearly covets.

His “What I did this summer” essay will be interesting, but we’ll have to see the depth of his commitment through next fall and spring to know whether the tale ends happily.

Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org