I forget he's there until one of the camera operators says, "I think Kanye West fell asleep."Īt the biggest non-sporting sports event in a while, Kanye West fell asleep before anyone announced anything. He seems chill, he's wearing his glasses indoors, and he's not making sudden moves. I spend the first 15 minutes or so honed in on 'Ye's every move. Seriously.Ĭourtney Cox, a former ESPN studio stage manager who worked on "The Decision," couldn't pinpoint exactly why the rapper made the trip to Greenwich, but she claimed West missed the most important part of the evening.įrom Cox's 2013 reflection on "The Decision": Kanye West was in attendance for "The Decision," and he fell asleep during the show. "They should have paid me," Gray said of ESPN. His one regret? He didn't ask for money because he knew all proceeds were going to charity. "We did a television show - a television show!" Gray told The Ringer's Bryan Curtis in 2016. Gray didn't initially understand the high volume of criticism, and he still couldn't comprehend it years later.
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James' team insisted Gray, who had interviewed James while he was in high school and spoken to Carter and agent Ari Emanuel about doing a TV special, be involved in the broadcast. Network executives wanted someone like Bob Ley or Stuart Scott to sit across from James at the Boys and Girls Club in Greenwich, Conn., according to Van Natta. Jim Gray wasn't ESPN's first choice to host "The Decision" - he didn't even work for ESPN at the time - but there was no room for negotiations. Still, Stern wouldn't budge from his stance after calling the whole thing "ill-conceived, badly produced and poorly executed."ģ. It also raised more than $2 million for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. "I think probably because the player was in charge here," former ESPN executive John Skipper told Van Natta.Īdam Silver, who took over as commissioner after Stern retired in 2014, reportedly felt differently about the special, noting the ridiculously high ratings for ESPN (an average of nearly 10 million viewers). Former NBA commissioner David Stern really, really didn't want "The Decision" to happen. ESPN didn't immediately greenlight the idea, but it eventually reached an agreement with James.Ģ. Simmons later pitched the special to James' business partner Maverick Carter at the 2010 All-Star break, according to ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr., who chronicled the genesis of "The Decision" as part of the network's "Backstory" documentary series. "I'm pretty sure they'll pony up $44.99 for 'Decision 2010: LeBron's Verdict,'" Simmons wrote. It was actually a fan suggestion from a Bill Simmons mailbag.Īn email from a man identified as Drew of Columbus, Ohio, landed at the top of the November 2009 mailbag and asked, "What if LeBron announces he will pick his 2010-11 team live on ABC on a certain date for a show called 'LeBron's Choice'?" Simmons agreed the event should be televised and proposed a pay-per-view option. The original idea for "The Decision" didn't come from James, a member of his inner circle or a TV producer. But there are a few details about "The Decision" that slid under the radar.ġ. You probably remember the big-picture talking points that were hammered into the ground and the intense backlash James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh faced at the time. He showed he had learned from his mistakes that year, sharing a letter through Sports Illustrated announcing his decision. He reached four NBA Finals, won two championships and captured two MVP trophies while in Miami before heading back to Cleveland in 2014.
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(Just look at Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard.) It also marked a shift in how the basketball world perceived free agency and launched the year-round rumor mill.Īnd for James himself, leaving the Cavs and joining the Heat ultimately proved to be a smart choice. It ushered in the player empowerment era and allowed superstars to take control of their careers. Fans and pundits alike ripped James and ESPN for the poorly organized show, setting the stage for a season of LeBron and the Heat playing the league's biggest villains.ĭespite its flaws, "The Decision" did cause a major ripple effect that benefited James' NBA brethren.
"The Decision," an unprecedented ESPN special that brought an end to one of the wildest free-agency periods in sports history, was instantly viewed as a total PR failure more than a decade ago. Why get straight to the point when you can unnecessarily drag things out and infuriate an entire fan base? It took him quite some time to actually say those words, of course. On July 8, 2010, LeBron James changed the landscape of the NBA for years to come with a few simple words: "I'm gonna take my talents to South Beach."
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