As the United States trade representative who dreams of being the next NBA commish, Ron Kirk knows something about trading and basketball. If he ever gets the gig, look out LeBron James. When we asked him why he’d like Commissioner David Stern’s job, Kirk’s first thought was about James and his shocking decision last year to leave his Cleveland Cavaliers to jump to the rival Miami Heat. “My wife is from Cleveland. I cannot tell you the harm that it did,” says Kirk. While he doesn’t begrudge “King James’s” move, he thinks that the star should have stayed and helped the Cavs get better. “I know my memories are richer because Magic Johnson and Larry Bird went to bed every night thinking, ‘How can I beat this guy?’” he says. Of course, the former Dallas mayor has one exception—for his beloved Dallas Mavericks. Kirk says if he was the NBA commissioner, “maybe then I could jury-rig the rules to get LeBron James and Dwyane Wade at the Dallas Mavericks, and just once
in my lifetime, I could see the NBA trophy hoisted.”
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