As the LeBron James Festival - otherwise known as the Reebok Pro Summer League - prepares to open tomorrow at UMass-Boston to a week of record crowds, the answer to your question is ``yes.'' The Celtics did consider moving at least some of the games out of Clark Athletic Center, with its roughly 2,500 seats, to a larger venue.

With so many people interested in seeing the Cavaliers' former high school phenom, thought was given to moving some sessions involving James to perhaps the FleetCenter or Boston College's Conte Forum.

But ultimately the Celts decided less was more than enough.

``We did have some discussions about the venue,'' said Celtics executive vice president of marketing John Brody, ``but at the end of the day we unanimously came back to the fact that UMass-Boston suits this event. In many ways, UMass-Boston and the Clark Athletic Center are what summer league is all about. It's about kids and families getting to see NBA basketball up close and personal and having the ability to see this kind of basketball in a different sort of environment. Fans tend to get a little closer to the athletes and I think that gives them a more pure basketball experience.

``We talked about a lot of things once we realized who would be participating, but we kept coming back to the idea that this is a grassroots event. We give out thousands of tickets to youth groups throughout New England with the help of the mayor's office, United Way and Reebok, and we wanted the event to retain that feeling.

``This is kind of basketball unplugged.''