With due respect to Charles Dickens, the NBA has provided us with it’s own version of “A Tale Of Two Cities”. Better yet, let’s call this story “A Tale Of Three Cities”. At this point, I’ll bet you’re thinking of Cleveland and Miami – those involved in the Continuing Saga of LeBron James.

But what is the third city? Oklahoma City. Yes, Oklahoma City.

Why Oklahoma City, you might ask? It provides a contrast, a touch of drama if you will, a fine protagonist in this tale of money, hype, and out-of-this-galaxy egos.

For those who have recently been devoid of any media whatsoever (because it would take complete and total isolation on a desert island to have avoided this story), King James – otherwise known as LeBron James – has left the building. And his current throne. Well, he’s left the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland at least. LeBron, in search of the promised land (and his first NBA championship ring) has headed to Miami. Along the way, he joined Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade to create a sort of hypothetical-on-paper “Dream Team”. James and Chris Bosh signed six year contracts, each worth $110.1 million, and Dwayne Wade re-signed for $107.5 million for 6 years. That’s is a whole lot of money being spent for a net total of one championship ring (for Wade) in the 7 years since they were all drafted in 2003.

With Wade and Bosh and James, the Heat will be so tight on the salary cap that they will have to start the janitor and hot dog vendor in the other two starting positions. And one can only guess who is coming off the bench at this point. Beyond that, it will be interesting to see if the egos all fit on the court at the same time.

This is far beyond being a story of money or championships. All you have to do is look to Oklahoma City for the tale of, well, another city – and another player – that puts this all in perspective: Kevin Durant.

James could have made the same money in Cleveland, and could have had the team’s continued efforts behind him to build a cast of supporting players focused on the goal of an NBA championship. But it’s never that straightforward in the world of the ego-driven NBA. James was provided with a better supporting cast this season, and yet the Cavaliers faded in the playoffs. Some would make the point that James was actually a big part of that fade. But in the end, he went on national television, in what would at best be described as an over-hyped debacle, and told the fans of Cleveland that he was going to take the money and run to South Beach. I don’t blame Cleveland fans for being a little upset.

Neil Young once said “the King is gone, but he’s not forgotten”.

Well, I suspect he will eventually be forgotten in Cleveland. And perhaps rightfully so. You see, this may be a good thing for the Cavaliers. Sure, James sold a lot of tickets, scored a lot of points, and had them in the playoffs. But is he truly the all-world player that is going to step up, put the team on his shoulders, and win a championship regardless of who plays next to him? I doubt it. I don’t ever remember Michael Jordan whining about not having a supporting cast. And that will be just one of the reasons why James simply isn’t, and won’t be, “the next Jordan”. Seven years later, no rings to show for his efforts, and I have my doubts about him getting a ring in Miami either.

And by the way, Cleveland just collected 4 draft picks from the Heat – two first rounders and two second rounders - spread out over as many as seven years. Used judiciously, that could create a true team that could get the job done without James.

In the meantime, while everyone was awe-struck by James’ media antics, Kevin Durant signed a contract extension worth somewhere between $85 and $86 million for the next 6 years, and did so in the span of minutes. It took all of 140 characters posted on Twitter to make the announcement -

“Exstension for 5 more years wit the #thunder....God Is Great, me and my family came a long way...I love yall man forreal, this a blessing!"

Durant is a player with big stats, the 2009-2010 NBA leading scorer, and he even has some humility to go along with it. Hold on a second, this is the NBA. Are you crazy? Does he really play in the NBA? Is this guy for real?

Yes. Durant is the real deal.

General manager Sam Presti so eloquently summed up the insanity of the week by stating that

''At a time when people think 'I,' Kevin thinks 'we.'''

Durant’s approach to team sport is refreshing to say the least. He might use the line “there is no ‘I’ in team”, whereas James might be heard uttering “ah yes, but there is a ‘me’ in team”.

The real winner in this Tale Of Three Cities will be the first one to convert all of this into an NBA championship. So let’s add a little drama, and write a script worthy of Dickens himself. Miami versus Oklahoma City in the 2012 Finals, Durant as MVP, and that championship ring once again not appearing on the finger of King James.

And Cleveland fans rejoicing along the way.

Photo credit: Wikipedia