Randy Mims

Last night LeBron won best male athlete at the BET awards and he brought his business partner and longtime friend Randy Mims up on stage when he accepted the award.

Mims who along with Maverick Carter, Rich Paul and LeBron himself comprise the so-called four horsemen, aka LeBron's inner circle, decided to make a bit a of a fashion statement by wearing an "I Love NY" t-shirt under his blazer. He also wore a Yankee hat for good measure.

Just so we're clear let me rephrase the above, one of LeBron's 3 best friends in the world, whom he has known since 9th grade, who is from Akron, Ohio and is so close with that he wanted to bring him up on stage when he received an award not only wore a "NY" hat, but also rocked the most recognizable symbol of affection for a city that anyone could wear.

I'd love to hear how the Cleveland fans justify this one. I don't even care about the hat, I'm talking about Randy Mims choosing to flaunt his love for New York when he knew he was going to be on stage with King James.

The award show wasn't even in New York, so its not as if he was just showing love to where he was - they were in Los Angeles!

I read that it seemed to be "a subliminal shot aimed at Cleveland management to let them know trading for Shaq isn’t enough to keep LeBron James in town."

Subliminal? There's nothing subliminal about it, its a conscious, overt and intentional statement on an incredibly public stage.

We've written before that Maverick Carter's business mentality will likely push him towards New York in 2010, but now to know that Randy Mims is also on board, it seems like the Knicks are literally halfway there.