Back in June, LeBron James put up one of the greatest individual Finals performances in NBA history. He was so good that there was significant debate about whether he deserved the Finals MVP award despite the Cleveland Cavaliers losing the series to the Golden State Warriors in six grueling games.
Soon after, he and a handful of his celebrity friends took a much-needed vacation to the Bahamas, but all the banana boat rides in the world couldn’t prepare him for yet another season filled with overblown expectations and round-the-clock media coverage, as he told Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports at the opening of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ training camp on Monday.
LeBron James: I could definitely use a couple more months off.
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) September 28, 2015
Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and one thing weighing on the King’s curiously full-looking hairline is the fact that Tristan Thompson and the front office have still yet to reach an agreement on a new contract after months of stalled negotiations. Thompson was absent at media day due to the ongoing contract talks, and it remains unclear whether the Cavs might be willing to cave on the three-year, $53 million deal Thompson and his camp have put on the table or whether he’ll have to settle for Cleveland’s one-year qualifying offer worth $6.9 million, which would make him an unrestricted free agent next summer.
LeBron claimed earlier in this process that re-signing Thompson to a max deal was one of the team’s first priorities this offseason, but he’s softened that stance in recent weeks. Still, the uncertainty surrounding that situation is more than enough to make everyone wish summer vacation was a little bit longer.
