Can LeBron James return to Cleveland again? "The gates were never completely closed," he said. ” / Could LeBron James return to Cleveland again? ‘ The door’s not closed on that,’ he says
Published: February 20, 2021 US time
Publisher: the Athletic
Article author: Jason Lloyd
Article translated by de Gaulle
The All-Star Game has not yet started, but James, as the captain, has already attracted a lot of attention. All the events of this All-Star Weekend were held in Cleveland, so James was also a homecoming. Among the photos taken off the field, you can see James wearing Cleveland's iconic burgundy coat. On the training ground before the All-Star game, Cleveland fans also gave the highest decibel count shouts and cheers to the former city hero.
I don't know if I was infected by the strong friendship of my hometown, or if I had the idea of returning home in my heart, in short, in the Interview of All-Star Weekend, when I heard the question about "whether I will return to Cleveland for the third time to play", James did not say as vague as before, but gave a relatively meaningful answer.
"On this subject, the door has never been completely closed," James said, "of course, I don't mean to say that I will definitely come back to play, because I don't know what the future holds, I don't even know when I can regain my freedom." ”
Other questions may indeed be difficult to answer, but there is still a clear answer to the question of when James "will return to freedom". According to his contract with the Lakers, James will become a free agent after next season. After winning the championship in 2020, the Lakers and James renewed their contract for 2 years in advance, and this contract will officially end at the end of the 2022-23 season.
So what about after that? What choice will James make, and where will he go from here?
Previously, James has said in an interview that he has not considered the possibility of returning to Cleveland at this point in time, but as he mentioned in this All-Star interview, James's attitude towards his future is that he will never easily block any road. At that time, he may be like many NBA players, signing a one-day contract with a team he has a deep affection for before retiring, so that he can end his career in the place he knows best. But for James, there will certainly be more possibilities if he wants to.
James and Cleveland, when the two names are linked, always carry a variety of mixed emotions. In 2010, James announced his decision to leave Cleveland in a very extreme way. In the following 4 years, he reached the Finals in Miami for 4 consecutive years and won 2 championships. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers are deeply struggling to piece together a competitive roster. What really helped the Cavaliers achieve a revival was James, who chose to return in 2014. The city has tasted the championship again after 52 years, also because of james' presence.
In 2018, James left the Cavaliers again. But after another 4 years, today's Cavaliers have quietly returned to the ranks of the eastern powerhouses, and james's Lakers have been in an incomparable struggle for two consecutive seasons after winning the championship in 2020. Today's Lakers are full of old, expensive and underperforming players, so for James, there seems to be no better way for James to withdraw from Los Angeles now than to wait for himself to return to free reinvention.
Ahead of the All-Star Weekend vacation, the Lakers were beaten at home by the Bucks in a near-humiliating way. In an interview after that game, James said he was clearly aware that the Lakers today are not at the same level as the Bucks, and he "doesn't believe this team can reach that elite level." And now the Lakers are only 9th in the West, which also confirms James's idea. Although in a recent interview, James also said that after the trade deadline, the Lakers' locker room atmosphere has undergone a big change, but this spiritual incentive can bring much change and improvement to the Lakers' record, no one can say for sure.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers' general manager, Kobe Altman, has managed several successful operations to create one of the most youthful and capable lineups in the league today. Before the Arrival of the All-Star, the Cavaliers were in Fourth place in the East with a 35-23 record, just a 2.5-win gap from the Heat and Bulls, who tied for the top spot. In the All-Star Game, they also had two players, Garland and Allen, shortlisted. This is the first time in the last 30 years that the Cavaliers have had more than one player in the All-Star without James on the roster. In contrast, James, who came to the All-Star game as the Lakers' "only seedling", the gap between the two teams today is once again revealed.
"I think Kobe [Altman] and their management have done incredibly successful jobs in terms of drafts and trades," James said, "and I think their big man (Allen) is a success in the trading market." Dalius Garland proved himself, he was a big-scene player. They also have Kevin (Lofford) on the team, who gives these young people a lot of help. It is really not easy to see him, a veteran who has won the championship, willing to make such a sacrifice, and now take on the role of a substitute. So I'm not surprised by what they're doing so far. ”
Look back at the Cavaliers' actions in the 4 years since James left: Jarrett Allen was recruited from Brooklyn in the big deal hardened to join the Nets; Garland was selected by the team with the lottery pick in his hand and then slowly cultivated; Lefour recovered from the injury of the previous season and adapted well to the role of the sixth man; and the main position vacated by Lefou gave this year's Tanhualang Evan Mobley room to grow. Everything seems to be just right, but behind it is the continuous operation of the knight management.
Garland, who is stepping onto the All-Star stage for the first time, can't wait to shout the exit number for himself and the young knight. "All the players in our team want to leave their mark here," Garland said, "we have a new look for the whole team and a new feeling for each other." It's as if everything has a new lease on Cleveland, and it means a lot to all of us. ”
After listening to Garland's statement, a reporter immediately asked him if he would like to discuss the topic of James's possible return to Cleveland to play. Although Garland, like James, was a client of Riche Paul, the young man knew the problem too deeply, so he smiled and declined the reporter's question.
Compared with the convergence of young people, James, who is already 37 years old, has long reached the stage where he can express his views at will in today's league. In addition to the previous sentence "The door is not completely closed", he released a very topical and discussed sentence during the All-Star period, that is, he wanted to fight with his son Brownie for a year at the end of his career.
"In the last year of my career, I'm going to play with my son," James said, "and I'll go where the Brownies are." As long as I can play with my son for a year, I am willing to do anything. On this point, it is not a question of money at all. ”
To add a little background, James' eldest son Brownie is now in his third year of high school (high school in the United States is 4 years). Under today's league's draft rules, Brownies won't be eligible for the draft until at least 2024. And James's above paragraph is equivalent to shouting to all the teams in the league, if you want to get him in 2024, then choose his son in the draft.
For the average player, such a statement may be more often an expression of a good expectation. But when these words came out of James's mouth, they had an unusual power. This season, James entered the 19th year of his career, but James, who turned 37 at the end of last year, still maintained a very good efficiency. At present, the average data can be 29.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, without any downward trend.
"Life, there's going to be a change," James says, "and you start with only one task ahead of you, but you're going to want to set more goals for yourself." When I won the championship here [in Cleveland], I really felt like I wasn't going anywhere because I felt like I was complete. But then I realized that I still had a lot of things I wanted, I wanted to hit another level, I wanted to reach a whole new level, so I couldn't stop, and my life goals were not yet completed. ”
So, in this all-star interview, James shouted out another new goal in life, that is, to play the NBA with his son. For James, announcing such a goal in Cleveland couldn't have been more appropriate. Because the last time Cleveland held an All-Star was in 1997, when James, who was only 12 years old, lived in a small apartment with his mother, he probably did not expect that he would appear on the All-Star stage for 18 consecutive years, and would also appear on the All-Star stage as the NBA's 75 superstar.
Of course, that goal is in the future, and James's current goal, in addition to the upcoming All-Star game, is his remaining 1/3 season of the Lakers' season. He was not disappointed by the performances in front of the team and still had confidence in himself.
"We'll talk about this a lot later," James said, "because I can still play really well on the pitch." ”