James

While thinking about the delinquent royal ladies in ancient China, I met a few of my colleagues and had a brief conversation on a topic that my friend VW recently discussed in his blog.

(See http://vwswong.blogspot.com/2010/11/manchester.html)

I shall not elaborate on the details of what we talked about. But, rather than Wayne Rooney, I kept thinking of LeBron James - the star basketball player of America.

For those who are not familiar with NBA, James was selected in 2003, at the age of 18, as the number one pick of NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, and soon became the brightest jewel in the crown of the Cavaliers. In the summer of 2010, however, he left Cleveland and joined the Miami Heat - (apparently) in order to have a better chance of winning the championship from the NBA Playoffs.

But, did the Cavaliers try to keep the star player? Of course. Certainly. Beyond doubt. What a question. James was treated as the King in Cleveland; his decision override that of the head coach repeatedly; and his salary rose from US$4M in 2003 to nearly $16M by 2009. From a strategic point of view, the Cavaliers put too much focus on keeping their small forward, and did not have a plan B in case he left - so much so the team's performance was abysmal in 2010.

PS. That's in fact a biological principle: Most animal needs at least two legs to support their body and walk. It is all right to have none - just that you must learn to crawl, like a snake. However, it is distinctly dangerous to support the whole structure by one leg.