The recent LeBron James spectacle got me thinking of the lessons that could be learned by PR folks. First off is the spectacle itself — an embarrassing ESPN special on “The Decision” that ran Thursday evening. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t deny LeBron’s right to leave his current team and sign with the Heat, but I do take issue with how he announced his decision. Reportedly, he didn’t inform the Cavaliers beforehand – I think that’s bad form (approporiate communications with key stakeholders is an important consideration for PR people). They found out along with the rest of us sitting in front of our screens last night. And do we really need an ESPN special — complete with glowing video clips and related commercials. And all this after months — no, years — of speculation about where he was going. As a PR person, I’m OK with working to build buzz around an announcement, but I think this went too far — and I bet there will be backlash. And LeBron wasn’t the only one in this story that deserves knocks. There’s the former ESPN and NBC reporter Jim Gray playing inquisitor last night, asking a bunch of fawning questions before leading up to the big pay-off. And what about Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who trashed LeBron immediately after his decision, criticizing him for quitting on the team. Interestingly, Gilbert had nothing bad to say about his star player before this emotional outburst. I understand his anger, but wasn’t there a PR person around who could have controlled this rant. LeBron has a new team, ESPN had tons of viewers, and Gilbert had his say, but all in all none of these folks emerged from “The Decision” looking good from a PR standpoint, in my opinion.

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