!eBron?

“This is very tough. In this fall I’m going to take my talents to the Rocky Mountains and join the Denver Nuggets.” — LeBron James, The Decision IV

Fiction, fantasy, foolishness, fabrication or fact?

The Kroenkes have caused a kerfuffle in Colorado.

So far they haven’t spit a drop.

Four days ago the Nuggets reached out to LeBron to ask about his intentions. According to his agent Rich Paul, LeBron, a free agent again after leaving the Lakers abruptly, is seriously considering Denver as a destination.

Seriously.

 LeBron is in indecision mode, saying he won’t choose where to take his talents until late July or even into early August. He wishes to go on a weekend family trip to contemplate and meditate.

Perhaps Nuggets president Josh Kroenke should exploit as his best recruiting tactic on LeBron an invitation for another joint Mediterranean voyage on the 218-foot, $150 million yacht Aquila belonging to Nuggets owners Stan and Ann (Walton) Kroenke. Close friends James and Josh vacationed on the ship together in Italy in August 2016 after LeBron had won the NBA championship. At one point when Josh jumped into the sea LeBron shouted (and posted online): “You are the real MVP JK.”

In 2018 Josh tried, sort of, to lure James to Denver by sending him a Nuggets throwback jersey. It had futile and laughable results. LeBron signed with the Lakers and said that despite his relationship with the younger Kroenke, he didn’t think or blink for a moment regarding performing at a mile high.

Now he definitely is – for many moments.

 Kroenke also should invite Nikola Jokic on the cruise.

(Full disclosure: Josh once was my neighbor. He didn’t invite me on a rowboat ride.)

How about Jokic and James off the Amalfi Coast talking basketball intelligence and strategy and the pick and the roll to a title.

Imagine The Joker, King James, Blue Arrow, Mr. Nugget, Cam The Man, Pey-Wat, Braun and Brown, DaRon (rhymes with LeBron), Marvelous Marvin and the Jones Triplets as a team.

 When he transferred his talents to south Florida LeBron said he desired to average a triple-double for a full season. His closest chance to the rare achievement was 2017-2018 with 27.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 9.0 assists per game. Nikola last season reached his personal pinnacle at 27.7, 12.9 and 10.7 averages.

Could Jokic and James combine for a sextuple-double? Would James serve as a starting point guard who also could switch to small forward, power forward and center? LeBron should finish his career with the Nuggets, the only NBA franchise to hold a winning record (25-23) against the legendary icon.

Always recall that on March 18, 2012, Peyton Manning, as a free agent, made his decision to bring his talents to Colorado.

 LeBronco to LeBron?

James should understand that Manning won the NFL Championship and retired just as John Elway and Ray Bourque had done before.

 LeBron will be in his last season, at last. He could play in his 11th NBA Finals and win his fifth championship and pass Go and collect a monopoly of awards.

In the meantime as free agency moves full ahead the Nuggets stay way behind. Stan Kroenke possesses the richest sports ownership empire in the world at a value of $28 billion with holdings of the Los Angeles Rams, Arsenal, the Nuggets, the Avalanche, the Rapids and the Mammoth (a white elephant). The elder Kroenke is one of the largest personal landholders in the United States.

For the national milquetoast media to describe the Nuggets as “cash-strapped” is entirely ridiculous. Kroenke could buy Cape Verde.

The franchise hasn’t made a trade, dealt its quality first-round choice to the adversarial Spurs and picked up two puzzling second-rounders who talk a good game. While their cohorts, the Avalanche, have been busy signing and swapping multiple players, the Nuggets have sat on their assets. They have not agreed to a new contract with Peyton Watson and couldn’t pull off a better trade for Jaylen Brown or any other available stars. Nobody in the league respects any of the Nugs’ players other than Jokic. Only Jokic and two general managers (one too many) respect them.

The Joker and The King has a ring to it.

It’s all – LeBron and Nikola – or nothing for the Nuggets.