If LeBron James doesn’t re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers when his contract expires in the offseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers “would gladly welcome” the impending free agent:
“Multiple team and league sources told ESPN the Cavaliers would gladly welcome James back this summer if he wanted to return to Cleveland for his 24th NBA season and third stint with the team,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reports.
Cavs To Reunite With Lakers’ LeBron James In Offseason?
James has played for the Lakers for the past eight seasons.
In that time, he has remained elite, earning All-Star and All-NBA records every season. He’s broken numerous league records, including becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. He added another championship to his resume when L.A. defeated the Miami Heat in the 2020 NBA Finals.
However, his stint in the City of Angels hasn’t been heavenly. Not completely, anyways. While he’s rearranged the NBA record book, personal records of his have been broken.
LeBron James’s Disappointing Lakers’ Stint
After 13 straight playoff appearances, he failed to clinch a postseason berth in his debut season with the Lakers (2018-19). Two years later, James was bounced out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time in his career. The next season, Los Angeles failed to make it into the playoffs again. This marked the first time a James-led team missed the postseason multiple times.
Since the 2022 NBA Playoffs? James has been swept and eliminated in the first round by the Denver Nuggets, albeit in different postseasons. Last season? Yet another first-round exit for James’s team.
Forget the fact that he had never had a serious injury until he went to Los Angeles. As he got older, his body was bound to become more vulnerable. The groin, foot and ankle injuries that have caused him to play 56 games or fewer in half the seasons he played for the Lakers could have happened on any team.
But for a player whose career has been defined by steady and consistent dominance, he hasn’t been able to achieve that in Los Angeles. Now, that same franchise has prioritized the younger and fresher Luka Doncic, causing a somewhat conspicuous power struggle. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Lakers governor Jeanie Buss may not be as much of a fan of James as originally thought.
There’s No Place Like Home
If the Cavs sign James in the offseason, it’ll be The Return of the Prodigal Son Part 2.
After being drafted first overall by his home state in 2003, he played for Cleveland for seven seasons. His dominance proved that he was worthy of being considered Michael Jordan‘s successor. However, without a ring, he was still in Jordan’s shadow and hadn’t gained enough separation from Lakers legend Kobe Bryant as his true heir apparent. As a result, he left the Cavaliers in 2010, signing with the Miami Heat as a free agent.
In some ways akin to a college experience, James spent four seasons with the Heat, refining his game and winning two rings. Then he went back to Cleveland with all of the lessons he learned, the Cavs reaching the NBA Finals every season he was there. Though the Cavs only secured one championship, it was the first one in franchise history. Just as importantly, it was won in a miraculous fashion, making it a sacred gift.
James just hasn’t had that type of success with the Lakers. He isn’t getting the same type of love anymore either. And as they say, there’s no place like home.
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