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Since the ill-fated "Decision," it has been all downhill for LeBron James. Downhill, and now out of sight.

LeBron James opted not to speak at the Team USA scrimmage, unlike his friend Chris Paul. (AP)
The latest botched attempt at protecting James' bruised public image came Thursday night at Radio City Music Hall, when James was shielded from the spotlight during a Nike-sponsored Team USA scrimmage on the stage that belongs to the Rockettes. James was the only NBA star seated courtside who was not shown on the giant video screens or handed a microphone to speak publicly.air max shoes As if it was possible to hide the sport's biggest star in the middle of its showcase event on the most famous performance stage in the country.

Nice try, but James hiding from public scorn is worse than the boos that would've ensued in his first public appearance in New York since he shunned the Knicks as a free agent. And surely, such boos couldn't have been as bad as the heckling James recently experienced while shooting baskets at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio.

But I digress. James' missteps didn't end there, proving that he doesn't even have to be around to do something wrong. Air Max Nike shoes James did not attend a Jordan Brand breakfast and public appearance at storied Rucker Park in Harlem on Friday morning in conjunction with Nike's elaborate World Basketball Festival. Teammate Dwyane Wade and pals Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul showed up to pay homage to Michael Jordan, posting pics on Twitter to commemorate their appearance with the man they called "legendary" and "the greatest." Not LeBron, though, as far as anyone saw.

So, I called LeBron's New York-based publicist, Keith Estabrook, to confirm that James -- who unlike Wade, Melo and Paul isn't a Jordan Brand athlete -- was, in fact, [url='http://"http://www.nikeeb.com/']nike shoes[/url] not in attendance.

"No, he's LeBron James," Estabrook said. "He's his own brand."

As the great Steve Martin used to say, well, ex-cuse me.

No, James isn't a Jordan Brand athlete. But he is Nike's highest-profile pitchman now that Tiger Woods' life and golf career are in freefall. air max classic The World Basketball Festival, a four-day, Nike-sponsored and Nike-produced event surrounding Team USA training camp in New York, has been staged without so much as a peep from King James.

Well, no peeps, but a memorable tweet. While presumably en route to New York for the week's festivities, James tweeted Tuesday: "Don't think for one min that I haven't been taking mental notes of everyone taking shots at me this summer. And I mean everyone!"

I'm most assuredly already on that list, so joining it is not my motivation for writing this.[url='http://"http://www.nikeeb.com/nike-air-max-tailwind-2009-mens-c-19.html"'] air max 09 [/url]The motivation comes from disappointment with the sad spectacle of the Summer of LeBron, and also from curiosity.

Is James simply laying low, unsure of how to ease himself back into the public eye after a summer of PR gaffes that sent his "Chosen One" image tumbling? Or is this attempt to separate himself from his peers -- and from Jordan on Friday -- a calculated move.

Perhaps Jordan, LeBron's alleged basketball muse, is on LeBron's mental-notes hit list after he criticized the King's decision to join forces with Wade in Miami.[url='http://"http://www.nikeeb.com/']nike max air [/url]Perhaps Charles Barkley, who eviscerated James in a radio interview this week, wasn't having an event that James could blow off.