Wow. That was pretty amazing. I watched game 5 between Cleveland and Detroit last night in the NBA playoffs, and for all those who were questioning if LeBron James could carry his team, I think there’s no longer any doubt. ESPN was calling it the “signature game of his young career.” In a critical game 5, with the series tied 2-2, James and the Cavaliers went into Detroit and stole the game in double-overtime. James scored 48 points in the game - including the last 25 points for Cleveland (and 29 of the last 30.) This included all 18 points for Cleveland in the two overtimes. He also had 9 rebounds and 7 assists, and, of course, the game winning layup with :02 left. It was a performance that brought to mind Magic or Bird.

I remember watching LeBron on ESPN as a high school senior, when the LeBron hype machine was just kicking into high gear. The first thing I noticed about him was his great passing, and I thought he might actually be the guy who could be the second coming of Magic or Bird. Some want to compare him to Jordan, but Jordan was never an outstanding passer. Of course, it’s hard to improve on something you so rarely do. LeBron had 7 assists last night. I’m not sure Jordan ever had 7 assists. Maybe in a series. Anyway, Kobe Bryant is a better comparison to Jordan. James is the closest thing I’ve seen to Magic or Bird in a while. If he only had some better players around him, he might start hanging banners like those guys as well. Of course, playing like he did last night, he might just do it anyway.

Speaking of the NBA, it appears that’s where Billy Donovan is headed. He has been named the new head coach for the Orlando Magic. I didn’t really think he would make the jump to the NBA, but the more I kept hearing that a new contract with Florida would be “announced soon”, and him saying he was “intrigued” by the NBA, I began to think more and more that it might actually happen. Apparently it has been “done for a while“, but it’s not evident exactly why the process took so long and Donovan wasn’t locked down. Regardless, the contract was never finalized and signed, and now someone else will be signing a contract to coach the Gators.

Kentucky fans are probably jubilant at this point. Not only have they scored a good coach in Billy Gillespie, but now the best coach in the conference is gone and they will likely expect to regain their throne as kings of the SEC. Florida still has a lot of talent, some we haven’t seen much of yet, and they’ll be alright for the immediate future. However, I suspect it’s a little less certain for the long-term for the moment. It will depend on who replaces him, but it certainly won’t be someone of Donovan’s caliber (as there are few that would fit that category to begin with, and most of them are at places they won’t be leaving, like North Carolina, Duke, Connecticut, etc.)

I heard VCU’s Anthony Grant’s name mentioned as the primary candidate on ESPN this morning. That’s talking head speculation, perhaps, but Grant, despite having been a head coach for only a season at VCU, did coach under Donovan at Florida for ten years before leaving for VCU. I would think Florida would be apprehensive about a coach with 1-year experience, considering the success of their program of late, but Grant was with them for a long time as an assistant, so that may factor in as well. Florida assistant (and former Clemson head coach) Larry Shyatt was also mentioned.

The other question is: will this affect incoming recruits? Any time a big-time coach like this leaves, that’s something that comes up immediately. After Donovan turned down the Kentucky job, I suspect their incoming freshman felt pretty confident they’d be playing for him next year. Of particular interest is Jai Lucas, who just signed with Florida a couple of weeks ago. I think he’ll stay at Florida, personally, but you never know how kids are going to react to a change like this. We’ll see.