Given James will be only 25 at the oldest before he could get a big-time sidekick, it’s worth it for him to shut up and see what happens. If nothing happens, he could turn down his own player option for 2010-11, and at age 26 decided to sign with a team whose fans won’t rag him for wearing a New York Yankees cap. James would then become the greatest player to change teams in his prime since 28-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, whose get-me-out-of-here request was fulfilled by the Milwaukee Bucks when they dealt him to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975.

James has another reason to shut up, no matter what the Cavaliers do. One measure, a very important measure, of a player’s greatness is whether he makes his teammates better. That’s what separates James from the likes of Bryant.

Part of the reason Bryant hasn’t yet been traded is that while he’s a better player than James right now, he has been a pain since day one in the NBA, when he demanded before the draft that only certain teams pick him, and that Charlotte, who did take him, was most definitely not on the list. Another reason is that Bryant has not been able to throw his teammates on his shoulder and lead them deep into the playoffs, as James has, though to be fair Bryant is playing in a much tougher conference.

Still, the Chicago Bulls’ reluctance to trade for Bryant is more than just their love of Luol Deng. It’s an acknowledgement that for all of Bryant’s ability, he would have the potential to ruin the Bulls’ team chemistry and turn Chicago into a team that stands around waiting to see what Bryant does. James would face no such resistance the day he declares free agency.

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Of course, James isn’t being a good egg for merely Machiavellian purposes. He long has had a well-earned reputation for looking out for his teammates. Ask Maverick Carter, his old high school teammate now working as James’ manager.

James also has one more reason to stay quiet. He has meant so much to a previously irrelevant Cavaliers franchise, and means so much to Northeast Ohio as a whole, that he doesn’t have to tell owner Daniel Gilbert and general manager Danny Ferry to do right. They know, James knows, and everyone in the 216, 330 and 440 area codes knows that while James would love to stay, he also needs the Cavaliers to give him reasons to stay.

In fact, the biggest difference between James and the other, more petulant superstars is that James doesn’t have to say a word to get what he wants. If James is unhappy, when the time comes he can just put a “See Ya Later” sign on Gilbert’s door and walk out — with his reputation intact.

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