By Jim Scott
DNAinfo Senior Editor
MANHATTAN — Suddenly, LeBron James may be one loss away from becoming the next big thing in New York.
The thought of the Knicks landing James as a free agent in July was thought to be a pipe dream for Knicks fans until his shockingly poor performance in the Cavaliers 120-88 loss to the Boston Celtics in front of a hometown crowd in Game 5 of their playoff series on Tuesday.
James' Game 5 performance wasn't just bad, it was so mind-boggling that Cavs fans booed the super star and his teammates in the fourth quarter. James only scored 15 points on 3-for-14 shooting, but more alarming was his lack of emotion and competitiveness throughout the game.
James' performance has already tarnished his image as a winner while sewing the seeds of doubt about his future in Cleveland.
The Cavs, who've won over 60 games in back-to-back seasons, now must win Game 6 on the road in Boston Thursday night to avoid getting bounced from the playoffs and possibly losing the best player in basketball to boot.
What's bad and foreboding for Cleveland, is music to the ears of suffering Knicks fans, who are hoping to land a legitimate superstar to build a team around for the first time since they drafted Patrick Ewing in 1985.
"We need LeBron," Lee told the News before Game 5. "I think there's a better chance of LeBron ending up in the orange and blue the sooner [the Cavaliers] are kicked out of the playoffs."
Even several New York basketball legends are beginning to get excited about the possibility of putting King James into a Knicks uniform.
"I'm going to do all the wishing that I can for it," NBA legend Willis Reed told the Daily News. "If LeBron came to the Knicks, it would be like Christmas in July."
Reed teamed up Walt Frazier to help the Knicks win NBA titles in 1970 and 1973, the last time New York brought home a basketball championship.
"This would be the biggest thing that has happened to New York as far as the Knicks," Frazier, a Hall-of-Fame point guard, told the News. "To get this guy, the city would go crazy."
