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The suspense is over
After 11 days of weighing his options as a free agent, LeBron James has decided to sign with the franchise that represents his home state – the Cleveland Cavaliers. The superstar announced the decision via an exclusive first person essay with Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated.
James became a free agent on June 24th after he informed his former team the Miami Heat that he had exercized his early termination player option, thus forgoing the final two years in the contract with the team. He only recently met with Heat team president Pat Riley who had traveled to Las Vegas to pitch a proposal to the 4-time league MVP to return to Miami.
However James said no to Riley and the Heat and instead picked the team that drafted him as the first pick overall in the Draft of 2003 – the Cavaliers.
The past acrimony with Cleveland has been buried
Leading up to his decision to sign with the Cavaliers there was a lot said about the infamous letter written by owner Dan Gilbert calling James “a coward” and mocking his nicknames such as “The Chosen One” and “King James”. Although the letter was removed from the Cavaliers website a few days back, James denies it being a hurdle while he was making his decision.
"I've met with Dan, face-to-face, man-to-man. We've talked it out. Everybody makes mistakes. I've made mistakes as well. Who am I to hold a grudge?" – LeBron James
His aim with the Cavaliers as mentioned by him in the essay would be to team up with 2011 number one overall pick Kyrie Irving and young Andrew Wiggins, who was the number one overall pick in the Draft of 2014. The franchise had cleared essential cap space earlier this week with a trade involving two other teams, which allows them financially to sign James now that he has made his decision to return home.
A turnaround that can turn the fortunes of the Cavaliers around
This decision comes as a complete turnaround from the one James made four years ago, when he joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami following his fallout with the Cavaliers ownership and management in 2010.
No doubt LeBron enjoyed tons of success on a personal and team level during his four years with the Heat. Still, being the best player on the planet and certainly at the peak of his own talents, James is determined to bring some championships back to his home state of Ohio.
