File this story under “Throwing poop at a wall” and cross-reference it with “Duhhhhhhhh”.
Back when LeBron James told Jim Gray in an exclusive one-hour special on ESPN known as “The Decision” that he was “taking his talents to South Beach”, there was a small side conversation that a few sports talking heads had – I don’t remember who and I haven’t had enough coffee to check, but I agreed with whoever it was so whatevs – about the possibility of James returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers after his contract with the Miami heat was up and he’d won not one, not two, not three, etc. championships.
Fast forward to what is either a really slow news day or the most incredible inside scoop since Maverick Carter called Stephen A. Smith and told him James was going to Miami. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (via our comrade at Larry Brown Sports) claims that “sources” say that James is unhappy with the Heat organization. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…
Sources in Miami say that while James still thoroughly enjoys playing alongside fellow stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, he doesn’t particularly care for the heavy-handed and disciplined style of team president Pat Riley.
James can opt out of his contract at the end of the 2013-14 season, and speculation is he will strongly consider it if Riley remains in his current role. And the team James would be eyeballing most in free agency, say those close to the situation, would be the Cavs.
If this happens – IF! – I can’t even imagine the criticism James will receive. It would blow the post-decision hatred and all of last season’s booing out of the water. Sure, the fans in Cleveland would probably forgive him in 1/10th of a heartbeat if he came crawling back, but Heat fans, Los Angeles Lakers fans, Boston Celtics fans and New York Knicks fans would DESTROY HIM.
Granted, this is two years from now, and he’s probably going to win a title or two before this matters, which would render all of that hate moot. So again this speculation is probably just pot-stirring. But it’s worth pointing out that writers are trying to get in on the ground floor of the “LeBron will return to Cleveland” prediction, but it’s way too obvious. Anybody who brags about that might as well join John Edwards in “predicting” that Khloe Kardashian will get knocked up this year. So bold, fellas.
