The Los Angeles Lakers have made it clear that re-signing Shannon Brown is their top priority. He has an excellent relationship with Kobe Bryant, was a significant contributor during their title runs, and would be one of the few returning faces on the team's revamped second unit. 

But because they're not the only team that covets Brown, the Lakers have been in contact with several available guards in case they need to replace his services. While they remain optimistic that the guard will choose to return to Los Angeles, there are several factors making his decision a difficult one.

The New York Knicks are trying to pry Brown away from the Lakers and they have put together an offer that will likely get his attention. While he is happy with the situation in Los Angeles, the Knicks can provide Brown with more playing time, a bigger contract, and a system that he could thrive in due to his style of play.

According to one source, New York is prepared to open up their wallet for Brown, offering a multi-year contract that would end up paying him roughly $4 million per season. The Knicks are willing to spend this money because they envision an increased role for Brown in New York playing under Mike D'Antoni. Joining Amar'e Stoudemire, Raymond Felton, Anthony Randolph, and Danilo Gallinari as part of the team's core, Brown would be able to receive his big payday and see consistent, predictable minutes for the first time in his career.

By offering the two things that the Lakers cannot, money and minutes, the Knicks are making Brown evaluate his priorities.

Is he willing to sacrifice those things to play for one of the best teams in the league or is he looking for the chance to contribute more and find stability on an up-and-coming team?

After winning two rings as a role player, some feel that Brown wants to step up and see what he can do outside of the supporting cast role. Many players turn down less money to join the Lakers' second unit, as we've witnessed several times this summer, but it's often to win a ring or gain exposure. Brown has done both during his time in Los Angeles and that's why some feel he's ready to move onto new things.

Brown will be forced to decide what he wants out of these next several years and which destination is better for his future. Both sides can offer different things and at the end of the day, he'll have to choose which situation is best for him.

I like this move. While I think it is unlikely that Brown will leave LA (multiple championships, best organization in the league, etc.) this is a good opportunity for him to step up to the next level. And a smart move by Donnie Walsh to get more talent without going the trade route (a la Chris Paul).

On Tuesday, the National Basketball Association sent its teams a delightful common-sense reminder not to tamper with players under contract like the New Orleans superstar Chris Paul, who had been the subject of numerous illicit trade rumors and seductive Tweets from Cleveland ex-pat LeBron James.

The following is the tampering reminder sent to the New York Knicks, who were among the teams reportedly intrigued by Mr. Paul:

1. If Chris Paul sends you flowers, send them back. See if he wants Eddie Curry, too.

2. If Chris Paul sends you Zabar's, send it back. Okay, keep the rugelach. But that's it.

3. If Chris Paul tries to friend you on Facebook, ignore the request.

4. If Chris Paul can get you two tickets to ''Merchant of Venice,'' don't go.

5. If you are introduced Chris Paul at a party, keep mistakenly referring to him as Ron Paul.

6. If Chris Paul asks to see the top of the Empire State Building, show him the roof of Gray's Papaya instead.

7. If Chris Paul wants to pitch the 8th inning for the Yankees instead of Joba, deny him. Actually, you know what? Let him.

8. If you see Chris Paul walking down the street toward you, immediately hold your phone to your ear and begin having a very loud, animated pretend conversation about your head lice. Or the Mets.

9. If Chris Paul asks for the name of a good Italian restaurant in New York, start laughing uproariously, and tell him there are no Italian restaurants in New York, and never have been.

10. If Chris Paul asks for the time, just tell him it's "Time to Bring in Bobby Valentine."

11. If Chris Paul asks to meet the two biggest celebrities in New York, bring him Ernie Anastos and Dr. Zizmor.

12. If Chris Paul moves into your apartment building, regularly steal his copies of Free Agent Point Guard and The New Yorker in the vestibule.

13. If you meet a person who is very ill, and their last wish is to meet Chris Paul, be respectful, but secretly try to get them excited about Amare Stoudemire.

14. If Chris Paul says he can explain 'Inception,' ignore him. Okay, listen for a minute and see if he's figured it out.

15. If Chris Paul comes up to you and whispers that he really, really wants to come to play for the Knicks, just walk away. But first, sneak him the rugelach.

Michael Jordan led the Bulls to six titles. And though "His Airness" had Scottie Pippen, there is little question the Bulls were Jordan's team.

So what does Jordan, one of the best-ever in the NBA, think of LeBron James joining with All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form a super team in Miami?

"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry, called up Magic and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team,' " Jordan told NBC Sports yesterday after finishing tied for 22nd in the American Century Championship golf tournament in Stateline, Nev. "But that's . . . things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."

Everything I have read about that era in the NBA: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isiaih Thomas, is that they thrived on the rivalries. It is what drove them to get better. Teaming up to stack the odds was never what they would have considered.

As Jordan puts it: "I was trying to beat those guys."

It was a wedding toast heard from Broadway to Bourbon Street.

During Carmelo Anthony's wedding Saturday night at Cipriani's on 42nd Street, Chris Paul, the superstar New Orleans point guard, predicted a future Knicks Dream Team.

Take that, LeCon.

According to a person who spoke with wedding attendee Amar'e Stoudemire, Paul made the reference during a speech of a potential union of himself, Stoudemire and Anthony, saying, "We'll form our own Big 3," Paul allegedly said.

The game ain't over yet. Still 1 or 2 more years left in the Donnie Walsh plan. The Dream Lives On.

"The Decision" was simultaneously the most painful and most hilarious television show I've seen in a long time. Its entertainment value rested almost entirely in its scope -- the same way a person goes to the Niagara Falls or to the Grand Canyon for that take-your-breath-away moment when the heretofore unimaginable vastness of the vista is first perceived, I watched "The Decision" in breathless awe of the sheer scale of the narcissism involved.

By any measure it was a landmark moment in the history of human self-involvement, eclipsing previous peaks in the narcissism Himalayas (Nero's impromptu fiddle concert as Rome burned, the career of the prophet Mohammed, Kim Jong Il publishing "The Popularity of Kim Jong Il") mainly because it was a collective effort. You can understand the citizens of Tsaritsyn cheering the decision to rename their city; if they didn't like "Stalingrad," they were getting lined up and shot.

But what was our excuse? The weird thing about this Lebron story is that seven or eight years ago, he seemed like a nice kid. All he did was step into a media machinery deisgned to create, reward, nurture, and worship self-obsessed assholes. He was raw clay when he went in, and now he's everything we ever wanted him to be -- a lost, attention-craving narcissistic monster who simultaneously despises and needs the slithering insect-mortals who by the millions are bent over licking his toes (represented in The Decision by the ball-less, drooling sycophant Jim Gray). 

Click on the link above to read the rest of his post.

Everybody Loves Raymond in the Knicks’ front office.

The clutch signing of point guard Raymond Felton to a two-year deal puts the Knicks in position to earn an eighth seed in the playoffs and a possible first-round matchup with LeBron James’ Miami Dream Team.

But Felton’s short-term contract also has allowed the Knicks to develop a new master plan and dream bigger.

The Knicks now can chase superstars who actually want to play in New York: Carmelo Anthony in 2011 and point guards Chris Paul or Deron Williams in 2012.

As I have said before, this was not just about LeBum. Donnie Walsh has done a masterful job at opening up enough salary cap space for a 2-3 year run in the free agent market. I love the Man with The Plan.

But there’s still one thing that sticks out for me. It’s one of the quotes James offered in that sham of an ESPN thing. He was asked if we would see the same LeBron James on the floor even though he was now sharing that floor and the basketball with the brilliant Dwyane Wade. James said, oh yes, we would see the same LeBron. And then he said this:

“We don’t have to have the pressure of going out, scoring 30 every night, or shooting a high percentage or logging long minutes and worrying about our team suffering because of that at times.”

LeBron James is 25 years old. He’s the most remarkable talent in the NBA. He is an unstoppable offensive force who can drive and create and pass and rebound and score. Is he REALLY looking to relieve the pressure of scoring 30 a night? Can you think of a great scorer who EVER wanted to relieve that pressure? Is he REALLY worrying about not having the chance to rest a bit more because his teammates would suffer? Is the man who calls himself King that eager to have the expectations lowered, to get more time to rest, to become the first global brand who can abdicate the starring role when he doesn’t quite feel up to it?

Maybe he just misspoke… there was a lot of that during the night. The whole television thing was a grotesque miscalculation — ESPN got some ratings, and LeBron got some face time, but both were diminished by the partnership.

But I don’t think he misspoke. I think that was as honest as anything LeBron James said. I think he has grown tired of the pressure and the blame that goes along with being the biggest star on the court. If he wanted to win a championship, Chicago seems a better fit. If he wanted to have the biggest stage, New York seems the better fit. If he wanted to be loyal and face the challenge, Cleveland seems a better fit.

But he went to Miami, to see if he could help Dwyane Wade win his second championship (and possibly third and fourth and so on). What seems so curious to others — that LeBron James would so willingly go to be A-Rod to Dwyane Wade’s Jeter — may have in fact been at the very heart of why he went to Miami. Now either one of them could take the last shot! And maybe Chris Bosh, too! LeBron James doesn’t have to score 30 anymore. He doesn’t have to play all those minutes anymore. He can relax. He can be ordinary if the mood isn’t quite right.

Very insightful comments in this post. In his own words, LeBum went to Miami to avoid the pressure of carrying a team by himself. This is as Un-Michael-Jordan-like as you can get. Fascinating.

Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith said Friday he was surprised James went to Miami because he thought the two-time MVP was "more of a competitor."

He said the "great ones" do it on their own and "usually stay in one location."

Yo mama so fat when her beeper goes off, people thought she was backing up.

LeBron James had another deal in the works leading up to last night’s now infamous "The Decision:" He paid the person hired to "grill" him during the one-hour ESPN special.

Jim Gray, the former ESPN and NBC reporter, was paid by an entity set up by reps for James, according to CNBC. It also paid for Gray’s travel to the Greenwich, Conn., Boys & Girls Club where James announced he would play for the Heat this season.

ESPN said the deal was presented to it as a package, including the stipulation that Gray would have the first chance to interview James and its analysts would follow.

Can you call this an interview when the person you are interviewing is the one that is paying you?