Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The King, as he’s called, holds court tonight on basketball’s grand stage. You can bet LeBron James will impress throughout the game, the particulars of which won’t be the story.

The real show takes place below deck, about 90 minutes before tip-off, when the 23-year-old wunderkind will face a swarm of inquisitors at Madison Square Garden, their cameras and microphones on hand to document even the slightest crack in what so far has been a steadfast hometown allegiance.

The courtship begins tonight. Unofficially, of course. National Basketball Association rules prevent the Knicks, or anyone else, from professing their love for James, who by himself makes a team a contender.

Don’t be surprised if the Knicks spruce up the visiting team’s locker room. A fresh coat of paint. Some air freshener. New carpet. Nowhere in the rule book does it say the Knicks can’t plant some of the New York Giants courtside, hoping the defending Super Bowl champions will convey to James in no uncertain terms what it feels like to experience the Canyon of Heroes.

Frankly, the Knicks don’t need to say anything. Listening to Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, enough is already being said.

“You keep seeing the same story over and over and over again without any new information and you start to wonder -- is this almost a campaign by a handful,” Gilbert told me earlier this month, even before the Knicks began making trades, clearing salary and positioning themselves as a destination for James, the free agent, in 2010.

Cling to Hope

The kid from Akron, Ohio, who plays for Cleveland is coming to New York, where a long-suffering fan base clings to the hope of him as their savior.

What do you think of New York they will ask, again and again, hoping cryptic answers with a slip of the tongue become something concrete.

What about that Yankees hat you wore during the baseball playoffs -- in Cleveland, no less. Surely that was some sort of signal. Wasn’t it?

What are your thoughts about the history of The Garden, which, seemingly out of habit, the folks around 31st street and 7th Avenue still refer to as the world’s most famous arena?

New York sports fans are dreaming big these days. Jets and Giants in the Super Bowl. James in New York, the No. 1 media market. Surely, bigger is better. What megastar wouldn’t want to play in New York. Or Brooklyn, future home of the Nets, who are owned in part by James’s friend and confidant Jay-Z.

Winning Makes Stars

“It’s unfathomable to some on either coast that he could want to live and stay in his own community and build a championship organization,” Gilbert says.

I’ve spent enough time with James to know that winning is his goal. He knows that championships, not dunks, made Michael Jordan a deity.

Let’s not forget that James, surrounded by so-so talent, led the Cavaliers to the 2007 NBA Finals, where they were beaten in four straight games by a deeper San Antonio Spurs club.

He watched last season as Kobe Bryant, flanked by Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, couldn’t get past the Boston Celtics and their so-called Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. The Celtics had already beaten the Cavaliers in seven games.

“This isn’t going to be a money decision for him,” Gilbert says. “The organization and the belief in winning a championship, the environment and culture is paramount to the difference of a little bit of money from sponsors.”

James is already a global icon. You should’ve seen the reception he received in Beijing, where he and Bryant were the biggest attractions at the Olympics.

Treasure Hunt

Any team hoping to land a free-agent treasure trove is taking a big risk. The Orlando Magic tried it, wining and dining Tim Duncan and Grant Hill. Duncan said no and remained in San Antonio, the 37th media market. They settled for Tracy McGrady and Hill, who promptly got hurt. The Magic never won anything. The man who presided over Orlando’s unsuccessful makeover was John Gabriel, who is now New York’s director of pro scouting and free agency.

James isn’t the only marquee player who can become a free agent after next season. Also available, just to name a few, are Toronto’s Chris Bosh, Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire. None of them compare with James.

Wade teamed with Shaquille O’Neal and won a title in Miami, the 16th-ranked market. From that came national ad campaigns. Winning, not market size, makes stars.

The Cavaliers, thanks to James, are national TV darlings this season. The Knicks, meantime, aren’t scheduled even once on ABC, ESPN or TNT.

James will be a star no matter where he plays. Just ask Chris Paul, who has become a household name in New Orleans, which, at No. 53, is the smallest media market in the NBA.

New York needs LeBron James. LeBron James doesn’t need New York.

(Scott Soshnick is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 25, 2008 00:05 EST