Just pitch, Harvey; LeBron vs. Michael & fitting Nack tribute . . .

Of course the story of

who is not yet 30, is still being written.

I hope he becomes the latest guy who can figure out how to become a pitcher and not just a thrower, out of necessity, and be a part of the story the Mets are trying to write this season at Citi Field.

But he has to have enough selfawareness to know that when

tells him, at least in the short run, that he’s a relief pitcher and not a starter, then he’s a relief pitcher. This applies whether his feelings are hurt or not. It isn’t his call. It’s the manager’s.

my oldest, posed an interesting question the other day:

How would be judged, by both people who love him and people with a weird obsession about hating him, if there had been no

What if we simply judged him on his own immense merits, starting with the fact that he has played in seven straight NBA Finals, with two different teams? Maybe the question is this: If The King weren’t competing against the mythology attached to Michael, would people like LeBron more, and respect him more? I actually think they would. I think he’s being compared, constantly, by all of us, to an almost impossible standard.

And somehow, when he goes out the way he did the other night and scored 46 of his team’s 100 points and gets that team a game it desperately needed, somehow his own greatness is treated as being routine. Except it’s not. Look at what he’s got around him now.

Look at what happens to the Cavs when doesn’t show up the way he did Friday night.

Once and for all: LeBron isn’t Michael. He’s different from Michael. And the greatest all-around player, at any position, who has ever played his game. That’s his own mythology.

is like the political version of Christian Darling, the main character in brilliant short story, “The 80-Yard Run.”

Somebody who used to be somebody.

Who in this world ever thought the Pelicans would sweep their series against the Trail Blazers? By the way?

continues to show you that he is the transformative player in New Orleans that everybody thought he was going to be when he came out of Kentucky.

it again:

is one of the truly great two-way players in bigleague baseball. And getting better. Like, by the day. Don’t you sometimes get the feeling that the Secret Service has to make Trump go to the airport in West Palm Beach and leave Mar-a-Lago?

I have two favorite TV shows, both at the top of their respective games right now, one on Showtime and the other at Amazon:

Start with “Billions,” which just gets better and better, despite the impossibly high bar fans of the show like me keep setting for it.

And then there’s Season 4 of “Bosch,” from brilliant series about an LA cop named Harry Bosch, where

continues to give one of the best performances anywhere. If you did not see piece at SI.com about the passing of his friend and colleague

I urge you to find it, and read it. It will not just make you appreciate what a wonderful writer Bill Nack was, at Newsday, and at Sports Illustrated.

It will make you appreciate what a wonderful writer Tim Layden is. Tim’s lovely piece ends this way: “It has been our honor to read Bill Nack’s words. It’s our privilege that they remain behind, even while he is gone, beseeching us to remember.” On Friday and Saturday,

played four sets in Monte Carlo against two of tennis’ most gifted young guys, and Nadal beat Thiem, 6-0, 6-2. Beat Dimitrov, 6-4, 6-1. I don’t want to get ahead of my skis here, but I’m starting to think that Nadal is no flash in the pan on red clay.

Goes for his 11th French Open in a few weeks.

Used to think was the best I ever saw on red clay. He won six at Roland Garros. Just sayin.

Best thing for men’s tennis this year would be if we got one more vs. Rafa at Wimbledon in July. If the Cavs don’t make it out of the first round this year, how could anybody possibly think that LeBron will still be playing there next year?

Sometimes you get the idea that the Warriors have more weak ankles than they have All-Stars.