One year ago tomorrow, LeBron James announced live on ESPN that he was taking his talents to South Beach to sign with the Heat. “The Decision” became a must-see television event, and the reverberations from both the announcement and James’ move from Cleveland to Miami were felt throughout sports business the last 12 months. THE DAILY takes a look back at media reaction to -- and fallout from -- "The Decision.” July 9, 2010 :
July 12, 2010 :
July 13, 2010 :
LOOKING BACK AT THE WEEK THAT WAS : SI.com spoke to "four key behind-the-scenes operatives" about their respective roles in "The Decision." Former William Morris Endeavor Partner Mark Dowley: "Ari Emanuel called me and said, 'What do you think of the idea of doing the show?' And I really liked it. I like the whole notion of the emancipation of talent. No one could have guessed the level of interest this would get. We had never seen anything like that." Connecticut state Sen. Scott Frantz, who provided the connection to host "The Decision" at the Boys & Girls Club in Greenwich, said, "Mark didn’t put duct tape over my mouth or anything like that, but the strong hint was that, 'Let’s get this organized and not spill the beans.' I didn’t even tell my family." CitationAir CEO Steve O'Neill, whose private jet company flew James to Greenwich, said, "One plan involved Miami. Another involved canceling the flight if he went with New York and would celebrate there. We needed to make sure we had enough fuel to fly to California if he chose Los Angeles, and a crew that could fly at least six hours. ... I was told shortly before the show started that it was going to be Miami. I was probably the only person at CitationAir who knew what was going on every step of the way." In retrospect, Dowley said, "We came came up with an experiment. I’m fond of experimenting, and I’m proud of doing something different" ( SI.com, 7/1 ).
