Finally, on July 12, "Little Emperor" James officially announced through his social networking site: He will return to his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
James said that he made this decision because he wanted to go home, but he also said that Miami will always be his second home, and it was very difficult to leave those brothers.
Now, James is eager to bring a championship trophy to the Cavaliers and his hometown!
James is from Akron, Ohio, not far from Cleveland, so the Cavaliers can be considered his hometown team. In the 2003 draft, the Cavaliers, who held the No. 1 pick, chose it without hesitation.
James, and James played for the Cavaliers for the first seven seasons of his NBA career, but James failed to win a championship in those seven years, so in the summer of 2010, he made the decision to join the Heat.
While making the decision to return to the Cavaliers, James also explained his true inner feelings through a long and lyrical essay. "Before anyone cared about where I played, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio.
Boy. This is where I walked out, this is where I ran, this is where I cried, this is where I bled, it will always have a special place in my heart." James said, "Me and Ohio State.
The connection in the Northeast is bigger than basketball, and I didn't realize that four years ago and I do now."
James continued: "I always thought I would go back to Cleveland to finish my career, I just didn't know when. After the season, I didn't even think about becoming a free agent. But I had two
had a baby, and my wife, Savannah, was pregnant with a girl, so I started thinking about what would it be like to have my family live in my hometown? I looked at other teams, but other than Cleveland,
I wouldn't leave Miami and go anywhere else. The more time I spend, the more I feel like this is the right thing."
After James made that famous decision four years ago, the whole of Miami went crazy, but the whole of Cleveland was angry. Fans there burned his jerseys and did many things to vent their anger.
"I have a lot of mixed emotions, and it's easy to say, 'Well, I never want to be around these people again,'" James said. "I've met with Gilbert, face to face, man to man,
We've already talked about it. Everyone makes mistakes, and I've made them too, so I have no reason to hold a grudge."
"When I left Cleveland, I had a mission, I was going to pursue a championship." James said: "The hardest thing was leaving those guys. I worked hard with them for so many years, and nothing can change it.
Our experiences together.”
In fact, on Wednesday local time, Heat president Pat Riley went to Las Vegas to meet with James in an attempt to persuade him to stay with the Heat. "I went to Miami that year because Dwyane Wade and Chris...
Bosh was there too. We made sacrifices to keep Udonis Haslem." James said, "I'm happy to be Mario Chalmers' big brother, and I believe if we come together
, we can do some incredible things."
James continued: "I've talked to some of them, and I'll talk to others, and we are brothers in charge. The past four years have been four years of self-improvement for me, and I have become a
A better player and a better person. I also want to thank Mitch Arison and Pat Riley for an amazing four years. I will always be reminded of Miami as my second home."
Although he was very angry about James' departure four years ago, Cavaliers owner Gilbert was very happy about James' decision this time. He said in Twitter: "Welcome home @KingJames. I am very happy for Cliff
The fans and people of Lan and Ohio State are delighted that no one deserves a championship more than they do."
It’s okay for Gilbert to be happy, because the Cavaliers now have a four-overall combination of James + Kyrie Irving + Andrew Wiggins + Anthony Bennett. Throughout the history of the NBA, there is only one team, the Lakers.
Twice he has the "Four Number One Picks" combination.
Gilbert was extremely excited and had already issued a declaration immediately: "I am really happy for the fans in Cleveland. Now we only have one belief in our hearts, and that is to bring a championship to this city."
James' good brother Wade learned about James' decision to return to the Cavaliers on the plane. It is estimated that at that moment, the Flash's heart was filled with Balian Balian, but he expressed his understanding of James' decision and told
Bosh "Make your own decision."
But Heat fans are not as calm as Wade. Just like Cavaliers fans four years ago, some extreme Heat fans burned the Heat No. 6 jersey worn by James. They burned the jersey and cursed wantonly. This
For a moment, they thought James had "betrayed" them. On North 29th Street near Miami Avenue, on a giant mural of a Heat family portrait, James' face had been blackened by fans.
Varejao, James' closest former teammate, was still very happy. He said on Twitter: "Welcome back to the Cleveland Cavaliers, my brother @LeBronJames. I truly feel for this city and here.
Fans of #Cavaliers are very happy.”
After James decided to return to the Cavaliers, the famous betting company Bovada updated the winning odds for the new season. The Cavaliers' winning odds soared to 1 to 4, ranking second in the league (Warriors 1.1 to 1, Spurs 5 to 1, Thunder 6 to 1)
, Bulls 7 to 1, Rockets 8 to 1), while the Heat's winning odds plummeted to 50 to 1, tied for 16th place with the Grizzlies and Pelicans.
The day after James announced the news of joining the Cavaliers, which was July 13, Beijing time, according to ESPN reports, in view of the expectation that the NBA salary cap will further increase in the future, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers finally decided
Agreed on a 2-year contract worth $42.1 million.
It is reported that James' goal is to renew his contract with the Cavaliers before the start of the 2016-17 season. By then, a new television contract is expected to significantly increase the NBA's maximum salary contract.
In this contract, James has a player option and can continue to become a free agent next summer. However, according to sources, James has committed to staying with the Cavaliers for a long time.
"I will always believe that I will return to Cleveland and end my career there." James wrote in that lyrical essay.
Depending on the number of new television contracts by then, the NBA's salary cap is expected to increase to a maximum of $80 million in 2016. In addition, another reason why James chose to sign in this form is that he feels that the new labor agreement (to be implemented in 2017)
There are uncertainties, so you want to keep your long-term options open.
It is estimated that James' annual off-court income can reach up to 40 million US dollars, which allows him to take some short-term risks to maximize long-term benefits.
