Everyone remembers the earth-shattering NBA moment when LeBron James announced his departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers and his intent to join the Miami Heat. He infamously announced “The Decision” on live television, an ESPN segment aired during prime time for the whole world to see. While it was LeBron who dropped his plans on air, the mastermind behind the show itself was some other guy.
That other guy is named Drew Wagner.
Apparently, the story goes that former ESPN contributor Bill Simmons published a mailbag column containing the email suggestion of one fan who signed simply as “Drew” with no last name. ESPN details the contents of that email:
“What if LeBron announces he will pick his 2010-11 team live on ABC on a certain date for a show called ‘LeBron's Choice?'” Drew wrote, with no last name published. “What type of crazy ratings would that get?”
From there, Simmons actually pitched that same idea to LeBron's inner circle, as well as ESPN execs, to see if there was interest. Well, there was indeed interest, and what happened changed the NBA forever.
Drew Wagner is a 38-year-old man who lives in Columbus, Ohio. Despite being in Cavs territory, he's actually a Detroit Pistons fan. When asked about where he got the idea for this, Drew pointed to the way college recruits make their announcement:
“I remember everyone was talking about where LeBron would go, and it seemed to me that LeBron should do the same thing these kids do and announce it live on TV,” he said. “I used to enjoy those Simmons mailbags quite a bit, and I thought it would be a fun idea to send it.”
Though he may not have directly influenced where LeBron was going, the manner became just as big of a deal in NBA and sports circles in general. “The Decision” is cited as the major groundbreaking event that sparked the player empowerment era, with the manner being as talked about as the decision itself.
Ever since then, NBA players have been a lot more vocal about their own preferred desires and destinations, for better or for worse. It came at just the right time along with the rise of social media. Twitter was beginning to be used as a platform to speak out, and getting your own voice to be heard became that much easier.
“The Decision” was just the tip of the iceberg. But unlike most of us outside observers, Drew Wagner can at least say he got his tongue stuck on it for just a second.
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