So, after taking out the Heat last night in Miami — Dwayne Wade’s silly dunk aside –  in front of Michael Jordan who was in the stands, LeBron James declared he will be dropping No. 23 in favor of No. 6 out of respect to Jordan, and he’s urging others to do the same. (Ziller has a list of who else in the league is rocking 23.)

Here’s the oh so special quote, courtesy of one of the best beat writers going today, Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

“I just think what Michael Jordan has done for the game has to be recognized some way soon,” James said. “There would be no LeBron James, no Kobe Bryant, no Dwyane Wade if there wasn’t Michael Jordan first.

“He can’t get the logo, and if he can’t, something has to be done. I feel like no NBA player should wear 23. I’m starting a petition, and I’ve got to get everyone in the NBA to sign it. Now, if I’m not going to wear No. 23, then nobody else should be able to wear it.”

This is all well and good, and being a big Jordan fan myself, I suppose I agree with it. No. 23 is the most iconic number in all of American sports; so much so that the Heat have it retired, and Jordan never played there. You think 23, you see someone else wearing 23 on the basketball court, you think Jordan. I’m not sure there’s any other number that does that to people, at least not to me.

But there’s also another side to this, one that has nothing to do with any sentiments James feels for his idol, and everything to do with his brand and marketing. Another number means more exposure, more money, more opportunities. A reinvention, if you will. That’s what happened when Kobe Bryant changed from No. 8 to No. 24; that’s what will happen to James as well. It also heightens his free-agency suspense: he could be going somewhere else and wearing a new number.

And as Windhorst also noted on his blog, James has been planning this for awhile now; this wasn’t a spur of the moment move. It was one he was waiting for the perfect time to unleash to the masses.

Three different times in the last two days he’s just issued edicts, seemingly off the top of his head, that will have wide-ranging results. But even as he’s done it, what he says is put together and thought out and makes it seem as if he was planning his actions and just waiting for the proper time to let his thoughts out.

Then tonight after the good win over the Heat with Michael Jordan sitting nearby, he says basically in passing to Craig Sager of TNT that he’s probably going to drop No. 23 after this season out of respect to Michael Jordan. This was not stunning to me, I knew LeBron had been considering this move for the last year or so.

In fact earlier this year I wrote a whole story about it.

But then afterwards talking to a small group of reporters following his main media session, LeBron elaborated on the decision and backed it up with some good points and strong statements. Then he issued a challenge to the other players who wear No. 23 to think about doing the same. Like he had been working on the idea for months in his head.

This is LeBron James — always advancing his brand and bottom line, while being dominant in his profession. He’s a hustler, he’s a mogul.

But we all know the real reason he’s doing this, right? He’s signing with the Bulls in the offseason, and he sure as heck can’t wear No. 23 inside the United Center.*

*This is 100 percent speculation. But it would be pretty awesome if it were true.