Letter to the Editor at Newsday:  

    The New York Knickerbockers need, and I stress need, Lebron James.  The team has been done more damage by James Dolan's negligent hiring of Isiah Thomas as President and G.M. of the Knicks, than a rehiring (I don't say firing, because Dolan does not believe in that) at that position could possibly fix in the next decade.  I happen to like and respect Thomas, who was a great player and has shown signs that he could be a good coach throughout his N.B.A. tenure, but the irreparable destruction of the team's foundation at Madison Square Garden will require a miracle move to recreate the great playoff contender of old.  Right now, as there has been since Lenny Wilkens was first hired, there is no team atmosphere or effort by the Knick's players.  Teams win championships, not individuals.  Michael Jordan had Pippen and others, Kobe had Shaq, Duncan had/has Tony Parker, and the Detroit Pistons had many very good players, but no elite players in their Larry Brown days.     
    Lebron James almost singlehandedly brought the Cleveland Cavaliers to the N.B.A. Finals last year, a miracle feat, but he did not win the Championship.  The reason of course is that the team sport requires a better army flanking the man.  The Knicks have more individual talent on their team than the Cavs do.  If the Knicks made some cap room in the next year and traded anyone on the team, except David Lee and Jamal Crawford whose relentless effort (even when down by twenty, or thirty points) does not go unnoticed, to acquire Lebron James -- who loves to dish the ball and racks up great assists -- would immediately propel whomever remained forward to a great team foundation which would quickly build up to a Championship caliber New York skyscraper.  Lebron James leads the league in scoring right now, but more importantly in my mind is his unbridled sense of team and his uncanny ability to take over any game in the fourth quarter.  He wills his team to win.  If the Knicks got James, then the Garden might bear a new banner for the first time in over thirty years.

R.J. Huneke

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