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Lately the narrative from anyone with lips has been about the possibility of LeBron James running back to South Beach during the offseason. It’s a move that not many would have expected or discussed until the Cleveland Cavaliers were on the verge being down 3-0 to the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals, one loss away from James’ third straight championship defeat.
Conventional wisdom would tell a spectator that there is no chance of James returning to the Miami Heat after, seemingly forever, tying himself to the city of Cleveland in his “I’m coming home” letter professing his desire bring a title to Ohio — especially in the case of a Finals loss that would pull him to a 2-5 record when rings are on the line.
But is anything off limits following his first two unexpected departures, one from his hometown team and another from a franchise that went to four straight championship series?
Some would say that abandoning is James’ thing when he feels the need to upgrade his surroundings. He did it when he could not get superstar players to join him in Cleveland and again when Miami looked rundown and old against the San Antonio Spurs. So he traded them in for a younger, more injury prone (until Chris Bosh‘s bouts with blood clots) duo of stars.
The problem is that Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving never seemed as interested in sacrificing their games as Bosh and Dwyane Wade did. And the Chosen One probably never imagined that the Warriors would be a high-powered version of the nuisance Spurs, making the idea of James turning his short-term deal into a Miami reunion, with the added help of a budding Hassan Whiteside bonus a more than intriguing thought.
However, that is not the route that team president Pat Riley will be going. Someone unobtainable like Kevin Durant will be the “whale” that he will attempt to poach.
Riley is the type to definitely hold a grudge. Just ask Wade how much he despises the former teammates’ close relationship although said friendship brought James there in the first place. Or ask Norris Cole after being shipped away the same season (2014-15) he signed on with the James’ agent Rich Paul. It’s a tactic the team president was said to use to avoid dealing with a management team he felt played games with him during the summer of 2014.
In that same vein, Riley would not take James back because he is not as desperate — and way more prideful than Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert — to once again chase the “smiling face with a hidden agenda.” He would disregard the talent and choose to remember the guy that he once touted as the “best of all time” as nothing more than the man who ran from a challenge.
Even if James wanted to come back, Riley’s ego would not allow it. At least not while he is on his quest to prove that he could bring South Florida another ring without him.
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