Not all analysts agree the price will be quite that high, but concede that the day of the $300 shoe is now upon us.

Nike officials declined comment about the accuracy of the projected price when asked by ESPN.

It was back in 1986 that Nike’s Air Jordan broke the $100 basketball sneaker barrier. The company eclipsed the $200 price tag 16 years later with the release of the Air Jordan XVII.

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NBA star LeBron James says he’s all in and would relish the opportunity to wear the red, white and blue for the third consecutive Olympics when the Rio Games come around in 2016. James, who was the best player on the American team that won the gold medal at the recently completed London Olympics, will be 31 by the time the next Olympiad arrives, but said he would relish the opportunity to again represent his country.

James has yet to formally notify USA Basketball of his intentions, but there will always be room on any U.S. team for the unquestioned best player in the world.

The London Olympics were the year’s coup-de-grace for James, who joined some rarified air when he followed icon Michael Jordan as the only players to ever be named the league MVP and win NBA and Olympic championships in the same year.

“He’s on that level,” Wade said, “but he has a lot more to do to get there. I think he understands he has an unbelievable opportunity to be one of the greatest to play this game. But that’s when he gets done playing, he can say that.”

“Right now, he has so much more to cover in his career. He’s just getting started at the same time when Michael kind of just got started,” Wade added. “We’ll see how it all shakes out. I hope it shakes out the same way. I’ll be a very happy man.”

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It was not supposed to be like this. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James said Team USA could beat the 1992 Dream Team of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, et al.

But could they beat Spain in Sunday’s gold medal game in the London Olympics?

Turns out, they could, but only after a late-game finish – keyed by tough defense and  – that pushed the United States to a too-close-for-comfort 107-100 victory.

It was hardly resounding, but it was good enough – for the gold and to squash discussions about comparing it to the ’92 team that crushed opponents by an average of 43 points a game.

In the scheme of things, it was only about the mission: winning gold. And the U.S. did that. How uptight and relieved were the Americans? When Chris Paul scored a layup in the final minute to put the United States up by 13 points, coach Mike Krzyzewski jumped as if his team had won the national championship.

Players, one-by-one hugged each other in exaltation in the waning seconds, their mission completely, if not dominant.

They had to overcome a strong effort by Spain’s Pau Gasol, who had 15 of his 24 points in the third quarter. The Los Angeles Laker took advantage of the Americans’ smallish interior defense.

The Americans advanced to the championship game by dismantling Argentina Friday, 109-83, on the strength of another outstanding perimeter shooting display.

This time, Team USA made 18 three pointers to overwhelm Argentina, which got 18 points from the San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili. His team would need to defeat Russia in the bronze-medal game Sunday.

That would be played before the U.S. takes on Pau Gasol and Spain for the gold medal. The same two teams played four years ago, with American taking the goal.

To get to Sunday, Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City led Team USA with 19 points and LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony contribute 18 each.

The Americans appear to be more potent and deeper than the team of four years ago. In the third straight Olympic semifinal between the U.S. and Argentina, the Americans kept pulling ahead only to see the Argentines climb back in — until James and Durant finally put them away for good.

Argentina hung around until early in the second half, just as it did Monday in the final game of pool play.

And just like that night, the Americans hit them with a wave of dunks and 3-pointers in the third quarter that turned it into a romp.

While not quite as explosive as their 42-17 period in Monday’s 126-97 win, this one had just as many highlights.

More concerning than the loss, however, was the on-court blowup of superstar Dwyane Wade.

During the third quarter last night Wade had a heated exchanged with head coach Erik Spoelstra after, according to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Spoelstra told Wade he was “playing like garbage.” Wade than began yelling at his coach, and at one point the two were face-to-face before Wade had to be restrained by veterans Juwan Howard and Udonis Haslem.

Spoelstra looked to downplay the event after the game, telling reporters, “Anybody that has been part of a team or has been a coach or been a player, you have no idea how often things like that happen. That was during a very emotional part of the game. We were getting our butt kicked. Dwyane and I have been together for a long, long time. We’ve been through basically everything.”

Haslem’s comments to ESPN after the game seemed to confirm Stephen A.’s explanation of what set off the exchange between Wade and Spoelstra.

“We’ve got a lot of alpha males in this locker room, on this team,” he said. “We’re going to encourage each other and get on each other’s case when need be. But it’s all constructive criticism. I don’t think it’s personal with anybody. Emotions get high. It’s the playoffs.”

Wade blew off the question regarding the altercation, saying simply, “I don’t even remember what y’all talking about.”

Wade’s struggles didn’t begin in the third, as from opening tip last night he looked uncomfortable and out of sorts. He missed 11 of his 13 shots and was outscored by offensively inept Joel Anthony. Wade’s frustration was blatant, and his lack of energy and burst led many to question his health.

“At this point of the season, no one is 100 percent,” Wade said.

With Chris Bosh scheduled to be out 2-4 weeks, that’s probably the last thing Miami fans want to hear.

"[if] Jeezy’s paying LeBron, I’m paying Dwayne Wade..."

"I was playing the song and realized that the word 'LeBron' is as offensive to some people as the ‘Seven Words You Can’t Say on the Radio,' " Java said.  So, I suggested to our programming department that we should treat the name 'LeBron' similarly."

"I think, of late, we're playing great together. We feel great on the court together. I don't think we look that terrible right now as people said we did earlier.'

"For myself, 44 minutes is too much," James declared. "I think Coach Spo knows that. Forty minutes for D-Wade is too much. We have to have as much energy as we can to finish games out." 

"If I had to go back on it, I probably would do it a little bit different,' James said. 'But I'm happy with the decision I made. There's always going to be a misunderstanding. I don't know what I would [have done], but I definitely would have changed it"

# @KingJames U have til the end of the day to RT me and if u dont....tomorrow u will not wake up happy...or al i ve about 1 hour ago via web

# @KingJames Me n Dan Gilbert love slappin ur mom around like the nigger slave she is about 2 hours ago via web

# @KingJames I cant really think of much more.LYNCH about 2 hours ago via web

# @KingJames Delonte n Marc Cuban r sharing her nig tits, Dave chapelle is masterbating....n now just jizzed inside her... about 2 hours ago via web

# @KingJames No guns allowed U povervity ghetto child about 2 hours ago via web

# @KingJames continuation to my last tweet, U r a big nosed big lipped bug eyed n!&&er. ur greedy, u try to hide ur ghettoness

Lebron James is on the cover of GQ magazine alluding to his strength and power.  He had some interesting things to say about Cav's owner Dan Gilbert and Charles Barkley.  Flip to the other side to find out what he had to say.

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 want him to make sure that he puts my name on that (list). I thought that his little one-hour special was a punk move.”

"I am hearing, that Nike wants LeBron in New York even more than ever, because of Tiger. And the reason they want it more than ever is because they know Tiger is going to continue to regress. That there's going to be a void to fill, even when he comes back and starts winning."