LeBron James, showing as much enthusiasm as he did during the Celtics series. (Photos by Denise Truscello)

LeBron James wasn’t going to come here unless he could get a table with Jim Gray and donate a few bottles of Patron to the Boys & Girls Club, but in the end, he relented and took his talents to The Venetian.

It must’ve been an easy decision considering the amount of top-level NBA talent that would be around him all weekend.

James kicked things off Friday night at Lavo, where he was joined by the Hornets’ Chris Paul, the Hawks’ Josh Smith, the Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay, the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo, the Bobcats Larry Hughes and just for good measure, Shaun Phillips of the San Diego Chargers. Teammate Dwyane Wade and the Nuggets’ Chauncy Billups turned up later after coming over from Tao. It was probably kind of scary for ‘Bron, all alone in the club without Wade or Chris Bosh at his table.

During the day on Saturday, Paul and Wade set up shop with James in a cabana at Tao Beach, while Alan Henderson and Glen Davis were floating around nearby. That night James took his crew of 30 to Tao for dinner. By the time he got to the club, the cocktail waitresses were decked out in Heat jerseys, and when Tao brought him his cake, servers held up placards that spelled out “K-I-N-G.” It’s about time someone did something to boost that kid’s self-esteem.

‘Bron kept it going Sunday night at Lavo, checking in around 1 a.m. with Damon Jones of the Bucks. The Lakers’ Lamar Odom was with brother-in-law Robert Kardashian at the next table over. Larry Johnson of the Redskins jumped on the mic to shout out James, which should now preclude him from ever signing a contract with the Browns.

Also at Lavo Saturday night, the Twilight Wolfpack, Julia Jones, Tinsel Korey and Alex Meraz started with dinner before moving up to the club. Coincidentally, now that they’re bumping up against cap space, next year’s Heat bench will be three pasty white kids just like the Twilight Wolfpack.

By Jason Scavone

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