For LeBron, Contending With Kidd Deal Not Easy

CLEVELAND -- The Spurs' locker room was full of smiles and jokes, but down the hall at Quicken Loans Arena LeBron James shook his head at what could've been. No, this isn't a sappy recap of the moments following Game 4 of the NBA Finals last June. It was an accurate portrayal of Wednesday night, and it had nothing to do with the Spurs' 112-105 come-from-behind victory on the back of Manu Ginobili. Before the game, the dominant conversation -- well, in between the Roger Clemens talk -- was on the Mavericks' potential pickup of Jason Kidd for a large package of players, draft picks and cash. The deal may still be pending, but all were assuming it would get done eventually. Two weeks ago, James said he thought being paired with Kidd would lead to a championship in Cleveland. But with Kidd likely going to Dallas, and Devin Harris going to Jersey, the Spurs seemed to feel better about their chances. In the past, Harris had burned the Spurs, including an 18-point, five-assist game earlier this season. Maybe they would never say it to camera and microphones, but based on the locker room chatter, it sounded like the Spurs players would rather deal with Kidd instead of Harris at this point. Not to mention the Spurs wouldn't mind not seeing Jerry Stackhouse in two weeks when the teams meet up. Meanwhile, James, who had been hoping against hope that his front office could pull off a minor miracle to land his newest NBA star friend, tried to hide his disappointment. "No, I'm not disappointed, can't you see it in my face?" James said, staring ahead as if someone had told him his dog died. "Of course I wanted him to be part of our team but if we couldn't get him, I am glad he is out of the East. I hope he does well for that franchise. He's a great player and a great leader." James said he was being realistic about the Cavs' chances to pull off a major trade before next week's deadline. He said he would "never trash any of my teammates." But he would still rather be in the shoes of Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and now, if it does get done, Dirk Nowitzki as another megastar comes to join them. "I think the [front office] probably has been trying to do some things, I don't know," James said. "We all know we need to get better, that is simple. To me, I want to win now, I don't want to sit around and wait. Sometimes you have to." The Spurs, as usual, are winning now. After losing the first two games of their "rodeo" roadie, Wednesday's big win helped them finish the trip 6-3 heading into the break. All of it came without Tony Parker. The Spurs had lost four straight regular-season games to the Cavs, were down heading into the fourth and allowed James to put up 18 points down the stretch. That doesn't sound like a winning formula until you compute Ginobili, who had 46 points on 15-of-20 shooting. He matched James with 18 in the fourth and added four assists when the Cavs double-teamed him, making the difference. So even as their Western rivals load up, the Spurs head into vacation apparently still feeling very good about themselves. "That's been the best part of the trip, our focus and mental toughness has really increased," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It's a chance to start to focus the way you need for the playoffs."