July 14, 2013
On July 8, 2010, James shocked the sports world and his hometown fans by announcing via a horrifically staged TV special entitled “The Decision,” that he would be “taking my talents to South Beach” — AKA the Miami Heat. LeBron’s choice to form a “super-team” with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, combined with a bravado-filled pep rally where “The Big 3” bragged that they’d not only win 1 championship, but 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on…, set the stage for the Miami Heat to become an instant target as the most hated franchise in all of basketball. Players and executives believed that a top heavy team like Miami would steamroll the rest of the league, making the sport of basketball uneven and very unsportsmanlike.
During the past 4 seasons, the Miami Heat were dominant, but not as much as everyone assumed they’d be. LeBron and company won 2 championships out of their 4 years together, but after losing to the San Antonio Spurs this past June, King James saw the writing on the wall — it was time to ditch his slowly sinking ship and move on.
LeBron and his handlers built up his return to Cleveland as a feel-good story, with LeBron announcing in a letter to Cleveland fans how necessary he felt it was in his heart to right his wrong from 4 years ago:
Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. It’s where I walked. It’s where I ran. It’s where I cried. It’s where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart. People there have seen me grow up. I sometimes feel like I’m their son. Their passion can be overwhelming. But it drives me. I want to give them hope when I can. I want to inspire them when I can. My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now.
Hogwash! This may all sound good on paper and to the ears of Cav fans who are eager to see their homeboy return, but the truth is LeBron is making this move because wants to win more championships. He just wants the easiest path to get there — oh, and a few “perks” along the way.
The Miami Heat began showing their wear and tear this past season. They proved they were getting older, slowing down and with an often injured Dwayne Wade, there were no guarantees they could make it to the big dance year after year. However, since LeBron left in 2010, the Cleveland Cavaliers have gotten younger and faster, have won multiple first round draft picks and are even due next year’s draft pick from Miami for taking LeBron James in the first place. The Cavs also have a ton of cap space to bring in nearly any player King James covets (which currently happens to be Kevin Love of Minneapolis). Also, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has allowed James to do whatever he wants in previous years. Before he left for Miami, if LeBron wanted the team to not practice on a certain day, the team didn’t practice. If LeBron wanted the team plane to remain overnight in a city for him and his cronies to hang out and party, the plane stayed grounded just because LeBron said so. Miami GM and President Pat Riley had reportedly grown tired of LeBron’s antics and his need to always have a large entourage in the locker room and on the team plane, but Dan Gilbert was all for it if it meant LeBron coming back home.
So, make no bones about it, LeBron returning to Cleveland is a great story — but it’s a selfish one too. LeBron gets to go back home, gets welcomed back as royalty to his hometown fans, gets to make max money, gets to pick and choose the teammates he wants, gets to do whatever he wants whenever he wants, gets the easiest path to more championships, oh and gets to opt-out of his contract and become a free agent once again next year if things don’t end up looking all that rosy in northern Ohio. Not a bad deal for what was billed as a feel-good story. This also means that LeBron could conceivably end up leaving Cleveland (once again) to go play in New York with one of his best buds, Carmelo Anthony, who just re-signed with the Phil Jackson led New York Knicks. Hey, anything is possible.
 |
| Phil Jackson lands Carmelo Anthony for the New York Knicks |
So, this one man — LeBron James — has somehow settled the NBA back down to normal. Miami no longer has a “super-team” and even though the Cleveland Cavaliers are stacked to make some noise in the NBA, next year’s championship is legitimately up for grabs.
What do you think of LeBron James returning to Cleveland?
TAKE OUR POLL:
(function(){var voice = document.createElement(‘script’); voice.type = ‘text/javascript’;voice.src = (‘https:’ == document.location.protocol ? ‘https://’ : ‘http://’) + ‘d3atj1huicz51x.cloudfront.net/widget/p.js’;var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(voice, s);})();
I think the whole thing was a publicity stunt and Lebron knew he was going back to Cleveland for a while. I found this quote online to back up what I'm saying. "I think it was before [the NBA Finals]. Here’s part of the problem, though, Dan. It’s hard for me to know what’s true and what isn’t, because people are talking about so many different things. But one thing that surprised me, and I heard it from a number of places, is that LeBron’s wife and LeBron’s mom didn’t want to actually go. When he was talking about going back and telling Pat Riley that he needed to talk to his family, he was talking about La Familia — the group of guys around him. Again, I don’t know what to believe, and I need to talk to LeBron about it. And get honesty from LeBron about it, and… Read more »