LeBron best draw since Michael

The stirring saga of King James trying to become the Moses who leads the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first Promised Land despite a demolition derby that hit his supporting cast has ABC heading to the best NBA Finals ratings in 17 years.

And this is in a year when NBA TV ratings during the season were their lowest in seven years.

The last time the NBA Finals ratings were better was when Michael Jordan was still playing for the Chicago Bulls before his first retirement in 1999.

Defeated before the opening pitch

The home page of :The Undefeated” reads: “Presented by ESPN & Jason Whitlock. Coming Summer 2015.”

Maybe. Maybe delayed.

Either way, without one of the country’s most prominent African-American sportswriters, Whitlock. Deadspin, using internal documents and emails, painted Whitlock as a “catastrophe” as a manager.

Now, so does Whitlock’s bosses at ESPN.

Reminds of many smooth talkers who came to the BJ in management positions, but the rank and file recognized immediately that they weren’t up to their title.

Management would keep them around for 12 to 18 months, to avoid admitting a mistake, then one day you’d show up for work and they were gone without explanation.

Even Babe Ruth struck out. But he never pretended that he had hit a home run instead.