Lebron James' new number

No doubt, the good folks in Cleveland are jubilant over their hometown (sort of -- he's from Akron -- close enough) hero returning to play for their basketball team. So pardon the pun, but in a quite cavalier way himself, King James is trying to stir up even more interest amongst the northeast Ohioan hoop fans before he even sets foot on their hardcourt.

He wants them to choose what number he will wear on his uniform. A couple theories have already been put forth. James wore #23 during his former tenure with the Cavs, and #6 while with the Miami Heat. So 23 + 6 = 29. Or 23 - 6 = 17. Tweet and Instagram away to Lebron and the majority will supposedly rule. Nothing like a little more publicity along the way -- as if he needs it.

We can likely rule out both #6 and # 23. Cavs fans wouldn't want him wearing the same #6 he did while in South Beach. And Lebron himself has suggested the NBA retire #23 in honor of Michael Jordan. This is ridiculous of course, as was Major League Baseball mandating the league-wide retirement of Jackie Robinson's #42. Why should all the teams that competed against the likes of Jordan and Robinson be forced to honor their numbers forevermore? They wanted to beat them and their teams while they were playing. Making them icons in their own home towns was the furthest thing from their minds. But this is what happens when bureaucrats more concerned about being politically correct than seeing the obvious get to make the rules.

So what should Lebron Ramone James' new number be? How about a dose of reality? Even Nate Robinson of the Denver Nuggets has suggested that NBA players be allowed to wear numbers in the triple digits. Nate has said he'd gladly wear #206 to represent the area code of his home town of Seattle.

So why stop at three digits? Let there be as many as necessary to properly represent a player. Lebron James is set to make a $20,644,400 salary next year. Add the 7 years he previously spent with Cleveland, subtract the 4 he spent with the Heat and, just for good measure, throw in the two NBA titles he won.

By my math, the logical number on his new Cleveland jersey should be 20,644,405. Then 82 times a year, plus the playoffs, everybody would know EXACTLY what he represents. There's a reason, actually millions of them, for those $10 watered-down beers and $8 nasty hot dogs.