MIAMI—
LeBron James asked for it; Pete Carroll moved himself to the top of the draft order.
It started Tuesday, when, seemingly on a lark, the Miami Heat forward, in the midst of an NBA lockout that now has trimmed the first two weeks from the regular-season schedule, posted a query on his Twitter account to ESPN NFL analyst John Clayton, “When is the deadline for a team to sign a free agent?”
Clayton responded via the same medium, “Trade deadline next Tuesday 4 p.m. Free agency goes until last team is eliminated. Game on.”
Clayton followed with two more posts.
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First, “LeBron, because you have some time and you were a WR, the 49ers just signed Brett Swain. You might check with Buffalo.” And then, “LeBron, don’t look at the Philadelphia Eagles. You’re already on a Dream Team.”
It, of course, didn’t stop there.
Wednesday, James posted on his Twitter, “Cowboys, Dolphins, Browns, Lions, 49ers……..27 more teams. Who?”
That’s when Carroll, the charismatic Seattle Seahawks coach, jumped in and posted on his Twitter account a personalized LeBron Seahawks jersey.
LeBron’s response? “Nice!! Looks great.”
Carroll previously posted:
“Are you aware of what the League’s rookie minimum is?”
“I kinda think of you as a touchdown maker but is it true you think of yourself as a pass rusher?”
“Maybe you should head over to The U & I’ll set up a little workout for you to catch a few balls.”
Ah, lockout levity.
Collect it all.
iwinderman@tribune.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat.
