GQ interviewed LeBron James before and after “The Decision,” and is publishing a story in the September issue chronicling those pressure-packed days surrounding that widely-panned ESPN special.

Moehringer had unprecedented inside access: a pair of face-to-face meetings shortly before The Decision and a follow-up phone call six days after the fact. During that postmortem interview, when Moehringer asked James what he’d change if he had a do-over, James replied, “Nothing at all.” Bottom line: LeBron doesn’t really care how it went down.

James on Cavs owner Dan Gilbert: “I don’t think he ever cared about LeBron. My mother always told me: ‘You will see the light of people when they hit adversity. You’ll get a good sense of their character.’ Me and my family have seen the character of that man.” He went on to say that Gilbert’s post-Decision screed “made me feel more comfortable that I made the right decision.”

Wow, he wouldn’t change a thing about “The Decision”? This guy really is living on another planet. How could someone be so pigheaded as to not admit that the hour-long special was a bad idea?

And while I agree with the sentiment about Dan Gilbert’s character, by preceding his wise little anecdote about his mother with a reference to himself in the third person, he loses all credibility.

The author of the piece, J.R. Moehringer, answered a few of TrueHoop’s questions. One thing he said was especially interesting:

…but it seems to me that [James] has one formula for success in his life and that comes out of his high school experience.

This really comes across when you watch the “More Than a Game” documentary about LeBron and the Akron Fab Five. He thrives, he’s happiest, he does his best when he is surrounded by friends. He just didn’t feel like that was happening in Cleveland. It seems pretty clear that Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh aren’t just the best talent he can surround himself with, but they’re a combination of talent and friends. He’s looking for camaraderie. That’s the formula that has worked for him — and the only one that has worked for him. And that comes out of his early childhood when he was completely alone in the apartment he shared with his mother, not knowing his father, not knowing when or if she’d come home. It seems to me these were formative scarring moments that created this need for constant intimate contact. It came across to me watching the documentary. It came across to me reading Buzz’s book. And it especially came across to me when he was introduced to the fans in Miami with Wade and Bosh by his side. He’s not just looking to win. He’s also looking to be happy, and he’s only happy when he’s surrounded by people he cares for and trusts. He’s at his best when he has his brothers in arms around him and he’s at his worst when he’s completely alone.

This puts his decision into a different context, especially when those rumors about Delonte West are thrown into the mix.

Via the New York Post:

While a host of Redeem Team members were interviewed on the Radio City stage during yesterday’s Team USA scrimmage, LeCon became the noticeable exception. Nike did not want its World Basketball Festival to turn into a boo-fest.

“We wanted to stay away from that,” a Nike official said.

First of all, you have to love the Post writer, Marc Berman, calling him LeCon. It’s clear that the Knicks faithful — even the beat writers — are not going to let this summer’s snub go anytime soon.

Chad Ford comments on TrueHoop:

We shall see where this goes from here, but IMHO James being muzzled and kept off-camera is a development that will be dissected and debated ad nauseum by the sports business media, and deservedly so. When the biggest basketball star in Nike’s stable is front and center yet silent and relatively unseen on one of the world’s most famous stages, it certainly qualifies as a strange circumstance.

It’s certainly an odd thing for a company to bench his biggest name even if it meant he was going to get boo’ed by the Knick faithful. This might just be a symptom of a bigger problem, which Charles Barkley alluded to on Fanhouse.

“This thing that he’s taking mental notes, I’m bothered by him taking mental notes,” Barkley said. “He thinks he can’t get criticized. Every player who ever played the game has been criticized. I played against Michael Jordan. They said he couldn’t win in the beginning (of his career before later winning six titles). It’s the notion you can’t get criticized I have a problem with.”

While Barkley doesn’t have a huge problem with LeBron’s decision to play in Miami, he thought “The Decision” was a ‘punk move,’ but told Fanhouse that it was a poor choice of words.

“I should have never used that word,” said Barkley, sounding at first as if was an apology. “It was bull (bleep). Bull (bleep) is a better word.”

Gotta love Charles. The guy always speaks his mind.

The Associated Press is reporting that Tracy McGrady will sign a one-year contract with the Detroit Pistons for the league minimum ($1.3 million).

I thought that the 31-year-old would perhaps sign a two- or three-year deal for $3-$4 million per season, and if he had been willing to accept a role off the bench, he may have been able to strike such a deal. The Bulls were interested, but when he balked at a reserve role, they moved on to Keith Bogans… Keith Bogans. Think about that for a second.

T-Mac is officially in Allen Iverson territory.

Presumably he agreed to sign with the Pistons in a starting role, but what does that mean for Rip Hamilton and/or Tayshaun Prince?

Granted, the defense isn’t very good in the All-Star Game, but the sheer amount of talent on the floor gives a few of these sequences some credence.

The Miami Herald spoke with Jeff Van Gundy, who is…um…very optimistic about the Heat’s chances this season.

“They will break the single-season win record [of 72],” Jeff Van Gundy said. “And I think they have a legit shot at the Lakers’ 33-game [winning] streak [in 1971-72], as well. And only the Lakers have even a remote shot at beating them in a playoff series. They will never lose two games in a row this year.

“They have put together a much better roster than anybody could ever have expected,” Van Gundy added. “There is now no good way to defend them. They are unguardable. They are indefensible. They are just too good and have added so much shooting and are so versatile that they will score at will.

I’m not quite that optimistic. The Heat will have a few kinks to work out, and will have a bull’s eye on their backs for the entire season. I don’t think they’ll break the Bulls’ record 72 wins, but they should definitely finish with 60-plus.

They may very well win a title next year, but I don’t think they’ll be a juggernaut until the 2011-12 season when the kinks are worked out, the newness fades and they can add one or two cheaper veteran players.