A multimillionaire king at age 25 who is the world’s best at his profession does not by any means indicate that person is a wise and noble soul. Nor, despite all that wealth, is the king’s court of well-paid minions and sycophants composed of persons given to ­handing out good advice.

The unfortunate result is that King James of Akron came away from one of the worst ­television interviews in history looking like the straight man for the court jester, Jim Gray. This routine got even worse the next day when LeBron James and two of his new courtiers, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, pranced around a stage in Miami like three clowns in short pants walking through fake smoke screens.

Actually, nobody involved in this fiasco came away unscathed. Most of all, ESPN, the network that delighted in putting on “The Decision,” one of TV’s worst sports shows in memory.

ESPN proudly defends itself by quoting the ratings figures and audience size that watched this travesty, Thursday evening, July 8. Sure, a large audience viewed “The Decision.” But these fans were watching because they wanted to know what National Basketball Association team LeBron James would move to after seven years with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The audience did not want to hear Jim Gray’s silly 20 questions that wasted so much time.

The list of folks who had their reputations muddied or further damaged by this sham that was LeBron James’ long-awaited pronouncement included James himself, Gray, once considered a good TV reporter who asked hard questions, Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, ESPN and its producers and directors involved in “The Decision” production, Pat Riley, president of the Miami Heat, the team LeBron and his two free agent buddies, Wade and Bosh, chose to sign with, LRMR, the personal PR and marketing firm created by and for LeBron James and run by three of his longtime friends, and even the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who overreacted to Gilbert’s idiotic remarks concerning LeBron’s decision to move to the Miami Heat.

NBA Commissioner David Stern may be the only sensible figure in this whole circus. Often the target of criticism himself, Stern rightfully chastised LeBron James for the way he handled his announcement to move from Cleveland to Miami while emphasizing that LeBron, Wade and Bosh did nothing unethical or in violation of NBA rules. Then, Stern fined the Cavaliers’ owner, Gilbert, $100,000 for his reaction when he publicly called James a “coward” among many other things and accused James of “quitting” during the recent NBA playoffs.

Rev. Jackson erred in saying that Gilbert treated LeBron like a runaway slave by resenting James’ decision to leave Cleveland. That was slightly over the top, since James made millions and millions of dollars as a Cleveland “slave.” But Rev. Jackson’s feelings are understandable, considering the ugliness of Gilbert’s indefensible remarks.

In one of LeBron’s earliest blunders during this ugly process, King James never gave the Cavaliers the courtesy of informing them about his decision prior to the TV interview. Despite Gilbert’s terrible behavior, LeBron owed his former boss that little bit of recognition.

Until this point in LeBron’s career, the big man was highly respected as not only the very best basketball player extant but also respected as a fine young man given to aiding charities generously and for behaving well in his off-court life, something too many athletes find difficult to do in their pampered lives.

But now, LeBron has tarnished that image by totally bungling one of the most highly anticipated moves by a free agent professional athlete in history. From start to finish, King James and his court mangled the operation so much so that suddenly the Miami Heat has become the most hated team in the NBA, if not in pro sports.

That Miami Heat logo of a basketball in flames now represents the fires of Hell to other teams’ fans, particularly to Cleveland Cavalier followers.

Since “The Decision” aired 10 days ago, accusations have gone back and forth involving the principal actors in this comedy.

CNBC reported that Jim Gray was paid by LeBron James to do the ultra soft interview opening “The Decision” show. ESPN immediately denied any knowledge of this, and Gray vehemently denied any such payoff from James or his LRMR marketing firm in Cleveland.

However, Gray is no longer an employee of ESPN, one of numerous networks he has worked for over the years. He is a freelance sports analyst who was apparently chosen by James and LRMR to do the questioning during this decision show that was proposed to ESPN by LRMR’s CEO, Maverick Carter, in the first place.

Everyone knew LeBron’s decision boiled down to five teams — moving to the Miami Heat, the New York Knicks, the Chicago Bulls or the Russian-owned New Jersey Nets or staying with the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was naturally a big point of curiosity and anticipation among NBA fans.

In order to quell fans’ curiosity, LeBron James and ESPN staged as ridiculous a moving announcement as one could imagine. He did it in the gym of a school in Greenwich, Conn., which is a town made up of men and women like James himself — multimillionaires. Greenwich had as much to do with Cleveland, Miami, the Nicks, Nets or Chicago Bulls as snow has to do with South Beach in Miami.

Of course, Greenwich is not far from the ESPN headquarters bunker in Bristol, Conn.

King James claimed he was doing this with the commercial money made on the show going to aid the girls and boys school or club shown in that gym scene. Couldn’t LeBron have used a setting of Cleveland or Miami poor children, where one must believe there are many more youngsters in dire need than there are in Greenwich, one of the nation’s wealthiest towns. Just another foolish part of this bad show.

Then there was the awful interview by Gray.

He opened by asking of James those two all important questions everyone was awaiting: “What’s new? What’s been going on this summer?”

The show went downhill from there.

Gray then proceeded to ask 18 more inane, scripted questions of James that did not get to the point, including, “Does the team you are going to know?” Gray asked when James made his decision and LeBron answered, “This morning.” So what.

Where the hell are you going, LeBron? That’s what people wanted to know. Listening to and watching Gray’s interview was like having teeth pulled very slowly without anesthesia.

Gray no longer stands as an incisive reporter. Too bad. TV needs intelligent questioners, not courtiers.

Finally, Gray got around to asking where LeBron was going, and King James finally told the world he was going to the Miami Heat. Thus ended the teeth extractions.

If ever a team has to win an NBA championship and do it within a year or two at the most, it is the Miami Heat. Failing that, King James and his new court will really feel what heat is.

Gordon White served 43 years as a sports reporter for The New York Times. His e-mail is sports@thepilot.com