‘No idea’ on future with Cavs, James says
CLEVELAND — LeBron James knew the question would come after the Golden State Warriors had completed their four-game sweep of his Cavaliers in the NBA Finals on Friday night.
And it did, as soon as he had explained the cast on his right hand, which he broke punching a blackboard in the locker room after a frustrating Game 1 loss.
“Do you feel like you’ve played your last game for the Cavs?”
“I have no idea at this point,” said James, who can opt out of his contract and become a free agent this offseason. “The one thing I’ve always done is considered, obviously, my family. Understanding, especially, where my boys are at this point in their age. I’ve got a teenage boy, a pre-teen, and a little girl that wasn’t around (in 2014 for his most recent contract decision) as well.” LeBron James said his family will factor into his decision whether to stay with the Cavaliers or sign with another team.
His family, he noted, “is a huge part of whatever I’ll decide to do in my career, and it will continue to be that.”
James made “The Decision” to leave Cleveland for Miami eight years ago, and then returned to the Cavs four years ago.
“I came back because I felt like I had some unfinished business,”
James said, citing the Cavs’ first NBA championship, and the fashion in which it was won — coming back from a 3-1 series deficit — as “something I will always remember.”
So does one championship finish that business?
“That’s a trick question at the end of the day,” he said. “And I’m
not falling for that.”
This much we know: James’ decision won’t be an easy one, just like it wasn’t in 2014 and in 2010. It won’t be as bad as the first time he had to make it, though.
“I feel like ’10 was the toughest,” he said.
Whether he decides to stay with the Cavs, or go to one of the teams (Lakers, 76ers, Rockets) many have speculated, or throw a curveball and pick a different destination, “I still have so much to give to the game,” the 33-year-old said.
The two titles with the Heat left him wanting more. So did finally leading the Cavs to the Promised Land.
“It made me even more hungry to try to continue to win championships, and I still want to try to be in championship mode,” he said. “I think I’ve shown this year why I will still continue to be in championship mode.”
James averaged 34 points on 52.7 percent shooting, 10 assists, 8.5 rebounds, 1.3 steals and one block during this year’s NBA Finals. He averaged nearly 45 minutes, even after getting poked in an eye in Game 1 and breaking his hand in the locker room afterward.
In reaching the Finals for the eighth consecutive season personally, he carried the Cavs to their fourth appearance in a row. The player many regard as best in the world has played 11 of his 15 NBA seasons in Cleveland. He’s won the title once in those 11 seasons.
“It’s never a success in the postseason when you lose, not for me,” he said. At the same time, “being reliable to my teammates, being able to play the game at a high level with … as many miles as I have on my body, and put together a run like I had in the postseason, it’s something that I can kind of remember.”
It mattered to him in 2010 that he was able to play with “talented players” who are also “cerebral,” he said, and it matters to him now.
Like every other team in contention for the King, the Cavs can only wait and hope he chooses them.
“He’s a bad boy and I love having him on our team,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. “I hope he stays. I mean, we all know that.”