This was known for quite so time, but the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports it’s officially official:

“I’ve done it,” James said. “I already sent it in. I’m going to be No. 6.”

The NBA does not have to fulfill the request, players who don’t change teams have to apply to change their number in March before the previous season. However, the wave of new jersey sales the switch promises to trigger would likely be too enticing for the league to turn down.

Of course there are great marketing, branding and money opportunities with such a change. LeBron’s No. 6 will likely ascend to the top of the jersey sales list, and Nike will probably have a nice little No. 6 shoe or campaign revolving around it. LBJ has said this is to honor Michael Jordan. He says that no one in the league should be wearing No. 23 out of respect.

Synergy.

But there’s also other implications here, if we want to read into such things. And of course we want to read into such things.

Is The Chosen One hedging his bets? Did he file the paperwork now so that he has the opportunity to wear it in Cleveland next season, something he needs to do if he’s staying with the same team?  Or is this simply a playing-it-safe move to cover both bases? Make it appear as if he’s staying by filing the paperwork the season before, but also leave the option open to bolt and wear No. 6 all the same? If he’s switching teams in the offseason, he doesn’t have to file paperwork; a player can wear a new number without as much fuss so   long as it’s not retired at his new home.

Some food for thought: both the Bulls and Heat have No. 23 retired. So, you know, if he happened to leave Cleveland, that No. 6 would fit in on either team quite nice.

Read into that however you’d like.

Scottie Pippen, in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel:

If you want to ask me that then I’m going to probably go after the best player in the game and that’s going to be LeBron James. But I don’t know if LeBron James fits with the Chicago Bulls. I don’t know if I want Derrick Rose to give the ball up and let LeBron run the show. There are some great free agents out there. For me, you have to have the right fit. You just can’t go and get the best player. You got to have chemistry in this game.

Scottie, Scottie, Scottie, come on now. I agree that chemistry is important in basketball; you have to have pieces that complement each other.

But these two would work together just fine.

Here’s why:

They are both unselfish. Yes, LeBron can go off for 40 and dominate the ball in crunch time, but he can just as easily lay back in the cut and take what the defense gives him. He can score 25 by half, have teams adjust and double team him in the second half, and completely reverse his course of action by passing the ball. He averages 8.5 assists per game; he is one-part Michael Jordan (a prolific scorer), one-part Magic Johnson (a big body that passes and sees the floor like few others in the game).

If there’s one word I wouldn’t use to describe LeBron, it’s selfish.

As far as Rose is concerned, he’s only dominating the ball for the Bulls right now because he has to. The Bulls have one of the worst offenses in the league, don’t have a legit scoring presence inside and lack a go-to scorer. Earlier in the year — and last season in his rookie campaign — Rose was reluctant to take over in the fourth quarter.

In some sense, that’s just not the player he’s been, or wants to be. But he has to be for these Bulls.

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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.

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Watch the last play of the Bulls game from last evening, then let’s discuss:

OK, yes, there was some contact here. But it’s initiated by LeBron James’ arms/elbow, which doesn’t constitute a defensive foul. Joakim Noah went straight up. He doesn’t lean in at all to body James. He doesn’t reach in or hack him. And there’s certainly nothing I see here that shows Luol Deng fouling LBJ.

Further, it looks as if LeBron isn’t even trying to score; he’s simply looking to draw contact so he gets to the line.

I think it was a great non-call by the officials. And it shows that, every once in awhile, they don’t always give stars better treatment.

The NBA kicked off last evening, and thanks to only having Eric Gordon and Drew Gooden going for my fantasy team, I’m in last place! (Long season. Other guys had full rosters to play. I’ll be OK. I think. I hope.)

A few observations on last night’s C’s-Cavs game:

+ I will never get sick of LeBron James coming from behind and blocking someone. It’s more entertaining than half his dunks.

+ Shaq is old. And slow. I know it’s early and only one game. He’ll have a few monster games this year. (He went 10 and 10 last night.) But until he shows me otherwise, I’m convinced this move was nothing but a band-aid, an all-or-nothing effort to try and get a title in case James heads to NYC.

+ The Cavs looked sharp in the first quarter, but succumbed to the “stand-around-and-watch-LeBron-do something” routine the rest of the game, and they became stagnant. Then they lost. I’m not sure how much Delonte West helps in this game, but the Cavs need another option besides James to score. The Magic have Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter. The Lakers have Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, (Ron Artest). The Spurs have Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Richard Jefferson, Manu Ginobili. We know the Celtics are stacked, and have a good bench. The Cavs have LeBron, and … Mo Williams? West? Shaq? All other elite squads have multiple options for scoring. The Cavs have the best option in the league in James, and they have good components that work well with him. (Although the jury is still out on Shaq.)

But even Michael Jordan needed his Scottie Pippen.

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LeBron James apparently dislikes Braylon Edwards. (Although not for the same reason — the near-goose egg that Edwards is laying on the 2009 fantasy football season — as most folks, myself included.)

Why does he feel that way? Because Edwards allegedly assaulted his boy, Edward Givens, last night. Givens side of the story, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer:

“After the club closed, I was outside greeting and saying goodbye to people. Braylon comes up and started saying things, degrading me,” Givens told the Plain-Dealer. “He said if it wasn’t for LeBron [James] or the Four Horsemen, I wouldn’t have what I have, nor would I be able to get girls. Everyone knows Braylon has a problem with LeBron. So I had to speak up for myself. The conversation started to escalate. As some of his teammates started to pull him back, he punched me. I have a black eye and a cut. I’m not a violent guy.

“As long as I’ve known Braylon, I’ve allowed him and his friends to come into our events free of charge. Whatever jealousy he has with LeBron, he felt he needed to take it out on me.”

So, yeah. LeBron lashed back out in practice today, completing the necessary smack-talking cycle:

LeBron just ripped Braylon Edwards for (allegedly) punching his friend last night. Called Edwards “jealous” of him and “childish.”

Now, call me crazy, but I tend to think this might be the stupidest war of all time. Why do I feel that way? (And why do I keep asking myself questions? I have no idea.) Well, mainly because Edwards is a stiff and James is the greatest thing to ever happen to Cleveland.

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I like LeBron James, but he’s everywhere. He’s on The Daily Show, as well as just about every other talk show of significance. He’s on millions of posters. He’s even on the basketball court a lot. In fact, when I woke up this morning, I opened my blinds and he was just standing there outside of the window, grinning at me, face pressed against the glass. I promptly closed my blinds, because I live on the second floor and it was just too early in the day to deal with that sort of nonsense.

Whenever I feel the need to escape LeBron’s magnificence for a while, I go to the movie theater and stare at the screen. It’s the only thing I can possibly fix my eyes with the assurance that I won’t see him. And now, my refuge of last resort has been wrest from me, as not one, but two movies about LeBron James will be hitting the theaters. The bluntly-named “Fantasy Basketball Camp” is scheduled to begin shooting next summer.

We don’t yet know many details about the movie, but I think it actually has potential. LeBron seems capable of delivering a better acting performance than just about any other athlete who’s ever tried to act. If Judd Apatow or a reasonable facsimile could direct the movie, or if the group of grown men who join LeBron’s fantasy camp in the film are played from anyone in the Zach Galifianakis-David Cross-Will Oldham cabal, it could actually be outstanding.

Sigh. While looking up information about this movie, I came across a “WHO’S THE BEST BASKETBALL PLAYER” pop-up with LeBron’s face on it. I’m just saying.