Former Cavaliers player, and Cleveland hometown hero, LeBron James announced his move to the Miami Heat in South Florida last week via an hour-long ESPN special, The Decision. While some blasted the move as a sign of James' ever-growing ego, it was made at least somewhat palatable by the fact that all the money made from the program went to charity. The ESPY awards -- ESPN's own sportstastical and somewhat comedic extravaganza -- found the funny in the prime-time special they were a key part of and created a spoof with actors Steve Carell and Paul Rudd.
Steve Carell plays himself in the video -- filling James' seat, and Paul Rudd tackles the role of reporter Jim Gray. What follows is three minutes of humor that points out how ridiculous The Decision was in the first place. Carell and Rudd nail the overly serious tone of the original program (honestly, it was a guy signing a basketball contract -- it wasn't Walter Cronkite reporting that JFK had died) while delivering a series of funny moments thanks to Carell's deadpan delivery. Rudd makes a good straight man for the comedian, but it's Carell's presence that really makes the whole thing work. Even obvious jokes (such as the one about "the man upstairs") are funnier than they should be thanks to Carell's talents. Plus, the actual "decision" is pretty hysterical too. Hurray for random humor.
Check out the full spoof after the jump. Kudos to ESPN for once again being cool enough to poke fun at themselves and milk a few laughs out of what's sure to be one of the biggest sports stories of 2010.