LeBron James will go play in New York.

There have been rumors to this effect for ages, mostly fueled by the fact that LeBron James and CC Sabathia,Yankees hurler, are close friends dating back to CC’s days in Cleveland.  Since Sabathia signed in the off-season with New York, there has been a lot of speculation that his tight friendship with Sabathia, who he’s been quoted as saying helped him remain grounded during all the craziness of his first couple of years in the NBA after becoming the bestest-ever draftpick ever ever EVAR (He got a 90 million dollar shoe contract.  Before he played a minute of pro ball.)

Earlier this week, James said he’s unlikely to accept a contract extension from the Cavs beyond this coming season.  Now, this could mean he’s holding out for more money, and wants to test the free agent market, but UPH finds that hard to believe.

Call us naive, but we think that this kid has more money than he could ever use.  In fact, he has, since before his career even began.  We can’t imagine a 24 year old kid whose life seems to be engaged in doing exactly what he enjoys, and doing it fantastically well, really cares about the exact number of millions.  Even with the economy as it is, he’s never functionally going to be able to tell the difference, moneywise.

And we don’t have any evidence–crazy clubbing habit, drug arrests, extreme bling–that he’s burning through those millions.   So we think LeBron’s leaving because he wants to. He’s 24 and he wants to live in the big city, hang out with his friends, and win.

He wants, in fact, “to be a part of it.”

New York, New York.