Knicks’ failed LeBron 2010 promo reel revealed
It was worth the wait.
The Knicks’ 2010 pitch video to LeBron James has finally been unearthed, and it features The Sopranos, Trump and The Post.
Former ESPNer Pablo Torre obtained the video from the Knicks’ meeting with James and his camp in Cleveland, and revealed some of its contents on the latest episode of his “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast.
It features James Gandolfini and Edie Falco reprising their iconic roles as Tony and Carmela Soprano — and gives credence to the theory that Tony did not die when the screen famously cut to black in the series finale.
The scene begins with a screen that says “Two Years Later (Somewhere in New York)” and shows Tony reading the June 17, 2010, edition of The Post, with the back page headline “ROAD RUNNERS” spotlighting the Mets’ win over Cleveland the night before.
Carmela says she’s glad the pair moved to New York and that life is so much better for them now.
Here is the rest of the exchange:
Tony: “Yeah, life’s good here Carm, even if we are in the witness protection program.”
Carmela: “Now we’ve just got to find a place for your friend LeBron to live. What’s he like?”
Tony: “He’s a modern guy, but he respects tradition.”
Carmela: “Could do something classy on the East Side.”
Tony: “Is it big enough? He’s gonna be entertaining a lot of people in New York.” Carmela: “It’s very expensive.” Tony: “Oh, that’s not gonna be a problem. But you’ve gotta find something magnificent, something that there’s nothing in the world like it, one of a kind like he is.”
Carmela: “Here’s a place. It says it gets really loud there. Take a look.”
(Carmela pulls up a photo showing Madison Square Garden
during a Knicks game.)
“Oh yeah. Yeah, that’s it. That’s gonna be perfect for him.”
Tony then sticks his tongue out toward the camera as Jay-Z’s “Public Service Announcement” plays, and the screen cuts away to the phrase “City of Winners.”
Ironically, as Torre pointed out with his guests Jason Concepcion and Rob Perez, James and his camp had just met with Jay-Z, at the time a part-owner of the Nets, right before the meeting with Knicks brass.
The scene was filmed in Gandolfini’s actual Manhattan apartment, according to Torre, and he “was super into this.”
The video then transitions into Donald Trump saying that “the real winners of the world want to be” in New York.
The rest of the video features, in order of appearance: Richard Parsons, Reggie Jackson, Rudy Giuliani, Chris Rock, Earl Monroe, Mark Messier, Mike Bloomberg, Robert De Niro, Harvey Weinstein, Thelma Golden, Alec Baldwin, Spike Lee, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley and Walt Frazier.
A No. 6 LeBron James Knicks jersey was shown unfurling from the Garden rafters, as if to show his number one day being retired.
“We tried to put him in a New York state of mind,” thenKnicks coach Mike D’Antoni said after the meeting. “Hopefully it worked out. I’m cautiously optimistic.”
James, of course, chose to sign with the Heat during his infamous “The Decision” TV special on July 8, 2010.
He won two championships over four years with Miami, returned to Cleveland and won a ring with the Cavaliers in 2016 and is now in his sixth season with the Lakers, with whom he won a title in 2020.