LeBron’s gone
James to sign $154M deal with the Lakers.
MIAMI — LeBron James left South Florida stunned only once. He now has broken hearts of Northeast Ohio fans twice, this time with Sunday’s announcement of a fouryear, $154 million NBA free-agent agreement to join the Los Angeles Lakers.
Although linked to James’ free agency over recent months — much of it little more than speculation and conjecture — the Miami Heat lacked the salary-cap space or trade assets to gain traction for a reunion, a possibility all but ended with James’ Friday decision to opt out of the final year of his Cleveland Cavaliers contract.
Then came Sunday’s stunning departure from his hometown, the second time the All-Star forward has opted for palm trees over Ohio winters.
“Oh man Staples Center is bouta be on fire,” Heat guard Josh Richardson posted on Twitter about the Lakers’ home court shortly after James’ announcement.
Unlike James’ 2010 nationally televised ESPN announcement, titled “The Decision,” that he was joining the Heat, or even his Sports Illustrated letter about his return to the Cavaliers in 2014, this time there only was a Twitter post from his representation agency, Klutch Sports Group, with no other declaration planned, nothing like his smokefilled introduction at American-Airlines Arena in July 2010.
James’ agreement does not become offi--
cial until Friday, the first day contracts can become official following the NBA’s signing moratorium. The free-agency negotiating period began Sunday.
James, 33, has appeared in the last eight NBA Finals, the first four years of that run coming with the Heat, winning championships alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in South Florida in 2012 and ’13.
Then, four years after he left the Cavaliers to join the Heat in the 2010 offseason, James returned to the Cavs in the 2014 offseason, winning the 2016 championship for Cleveland, that franchise’s lone NBA title.
The three finalists for James apparently were the Cavaliers, Lakers and Philadelphia
76ers, whose team officials met Sunday with James’ representatives.
It is the first time that James has changed teams without a meeting with Heat President Pat Riley.
Recent weeks had been rife with speculation about a James return to South Florida, including a recent visit to the area amid his son’s basketball competition. There even had been socialmedia reports of James meeting with Riley and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, conjecture that was inaccurate, with team officials expressly forbidden from contacting impending free agents prior to July 1.
The most significant impact from a Heat perspective from Sunday’s low-key announcement, one issued on the letterhead of his representation agency, is James’ relocation for the first time to the Western Conference, effectively eliminating the Cavaliers as a significant playoff contender.
The Heat finished sixth in the Eastern Conference this past season, two spots behind the Cavaliers, having never finished ahead of James during his four seasons back in Cleveland.
Now the Western Conference continues to grow stronger, not only the twotime defending champion Golden State Warriors with Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, but also the Houston Rockets with James Harden and Chris Paul, the Oklahoma City Thunder with Russell Westbrook and Paul George, and now the Lakers with James and another star player almost assuredly to jump in alongside this offseason.