by Bill Livingston, Plain Dealer Columnist , Plain Dealer

Many Clevelanders have had enough of James wearing a Yankee cap to a playoff game at Jacobs Field, wearing Yankee-pinstriped sneakers at Madison Square Garden, wearing Big Apple red sneakers at the Garden, and saying "We're going to get him" when asked about ex-Tribe pitcher CC Sabathia going to the Yankees.

Apparently, even with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as inspiration, Nike doesn't care a shoelace about designing anything for Cleveland.

James wants to play with a team that has a chance to win championships. The Cavaliers, not that ESPN, Sports Illustrated and other East Coast media outlets have noticed, are such a team right now. They are on pace for more than 60 victories, with a young core of players who have meshed as teammates.

The Knicks, not the Cavs, are shedding their selfish, limited players - as fast as suckers turn up to take them - in a salary dump to make a run at James and other free agents in 2010.

Cavs General Manager Danny Ferry got rid of team cancer Larry Hughes last season and then used salary cap leverage to get Mo Williams for the expendable Damon Jones and the aging Joe Smith.

Ferry might turn into this year's Danny Ainge, the Boston GM who transformed the Celtics' personnel and won it all, but only passing their toughest test against the Cavs.

Legitimately great as James was in Game 7 against the Celtics, when he scored 45 points on the road, he was as terrible in the series opener at Boston. James, the NBA's leading scorer, shot 2-for-18 from the field, scored 12 points, and committed 10 turnovers in a 76-72 opening loss.

It's part of his permanent record. Although there have been many peak performances to counter it, the need to improve the supporting cast, which James virtually demanded after the seventh game, needs to be balanced a little bit by the memory of that game. Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson might have had such big-game performances, but they do not spring readily to mind.

The Cavs were good enough to win it all last year, despite the injuries and holdouts, because Ferry wasn't afraid to remake the team just before the trade deadline. The players, James included, know last season's team was a much better one than the 2007 NBA finalists. All of coach Mike Brown's emphasis on defense seems finally to have worked this season. Unlike former Cavs coaches Paul Silas and John Lucas, unlike for that matter, the Browns' Romeo Crennel, Brown did what he promised to do. He has turned the Cavs into a top-flight defensive team. James wants to keep his options open. And even if he leaves, the fair-minded will have good memories of him.

The biggest bad memory will be this silly, self-aggrandizing game of "Where's Waldo?" that is projected to the future and called "Where's LeBron Next?"

TNT cable television's Charles Barkley correctly criticized James for this.

It is immature. It is a distraction. James' teammates, the front office, and his fans deserve better.

To reach Bill Livingston: blivingston@plaind.com, 216-999-4672

Previous columns online: cleveland.com/columns

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