LeBron on Cleveland: "If I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me."

[jonathanlambert33]

PDcavsinsider-

LeBron James says he made a mistake in he way he left Cleveland and tells Cleveland media he could see returning.

Asked about playing again for owner Dan Gilbert, who was so critical in the aftermath of his departure, James said: Dan is not the coach.

James on the possibility of returning: "If I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me.''

Antawn Jamison said he is surprised LBJ would go public w/ entertaining possibility of returning to Cleveland.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find out the reporter did some big time rearranging of words and such, but if Lebron actually came out and said this...

Seems disrespectful to the Heat and their fans.

 

[.infamous]

yep lebron will be back with the cavs when he can. book it

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I've always thought he would go back too, when was the question though.

 

[Asian Mamba Attack]

If only he fails to win a ring out of the next 1-3 years.

 

[elcheato]

I stated a month ago or so that I think there is a chance he'd come back after 2014, but I still think it's small. This seems like a PR move to me.

Also on the disrespect to the Heat and their fans, he said this stuff for 3 years about the Knicks to the New York media.

With all that said, it would not surprise me at all for him to return. Kyrie is better then any player he ever played with here.

 

[RipCity32]

I see it happening honestly. He will get a ring(s) in Miami and then go to Cleveland to try to fulfill his promise of getting one there too.

 

[DJT]

I can see him going back. Maybe not for a long time though.

 

[cruzg24]

I can see LBJ going back as well once the Cavs pick up another 2 or 3 top 5 picks, lol. Idk I just feel like the relationship with Dan and LBJ ended so badly that Dan wouldnt want to sign him again no matter what.

 

[Pugz]

another lottery pick, kyrie, and tt plus a few other guys and then add lbj....that team would be a powerhouse. I hope it happens. its yard to tell if it truly will though.

 

[footballplaya52]

Lebron made "the decision" (ha ha) to leave and now he has to deal with it. i dont think cleveland fans will forgive him.

 

[bestkeptsecret13]

Lebron made "the decision" (ha ha) to leave and now he has to deal with it. i dont think cleveland fans will forgive him.

As lame as I think it would be, I think they would take him right back.

 

[footballplaya52]

As lame as I think it would be, I think they would take him right back.

i kinda hope it does happen so i can laugh at all the people who burned their lebron related stuff when he left.

 

[Elite]

Of course they would, they would boo him during intros of the first game and then they would love him again because he's too good to hate if he's on your team.

 

[RipCity32]

Maybe they will realize he left because the teams he played on were shit, and forgive him for making a good choice for himself at the team.

 

[elcheato]

LeBron would not get booed if he returned with a new contract. He would probably get the loudest standing ovation of his career.

Also, the Cavs have a lot of assets and will be in a good position when he's a free agent. Kyrie/Tristan/Varejao/Gee/Sessions trade value/Jamison expiring contract/top 10 pick this year

And here is a list of all the Cavs owed picks:

2012 first round draft pick from Miami
Cleveland has the right to swap their own 2012 1st round pick with Miami's own 1st round pick. [Cleveland - Miami, 7/9/2010]

2012 first round draft pick from Sacramento
Sacramento's own 2012 first round draft pick to Cleveland (top-14 protected in the 2012 Draft, top-13 protected in 2013, top-12 protected in 2014, top-10 protected in 2015, top-10 protected in 2016 and top-10 protected in the 2017 Draft) If Cleveland has not received a first round pick from Sacramento by 2017, then Sacramento shall convey their own 2017 2nd round draft pick to Cleveland provided it is within the top-55 picks. If it is not, then Sacramento's obligation to Cleveland shall be extinguished. (Cleveland-Sacramento, 6/30/2011)

2012 second round draft pick from New Orleans
New Orleans' own 2012 2nd round pick to Cleveland via Miami. [Miami - New Orleans, 6/25/2009 and then Cleveland - Miami, 7/9/2010]

2013 first round draft pick from Miami
Miami's own 2013 1st round draft pick to Cleveland (top-10 protected in the 2013 Draft, top-10 protected in 2014, and unprotected in the 2015 Draft.) [Cleveland - Miami, 7/9/2010]

2013 second round draft pick from Orlando
Orlando's own 2013 2nd round pick to Cleveland. [Cleveland - Orlando, 6/23/2011]

2014 second round draft pick from Orlando
Orlando's own 2014 2nd round pick to Cleveland. [Cleveland - Orlando, 6/23/2011]

2015 first round draft pick from Miami
Miami's own 1st round draft pick to Cleveland in the "First Allowable Draft" (top 10 protected until the 2017 draft at which it will be unprotected in the 2017 draft). The First Allowable draft shall be the draft that occurs two years following the year in which Miami satisfies its first obligation to convey a future first round draft pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers. [Cleveland - Miami, 7/9/2010]

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Dan Gilbert would get down on his hands and knees for Lebron to return.

 

[elcheato]

In other news:

Jason Lloyd @JasonLloydABJ

Police sweeping Q right now with bomb sniffing dog. Asked a cop if this was standard before every game. "Nope, just for that asshole."

 

[elcheato]

LeBron James came to Cleveland with an unmistakable mission this week, the beginning of a campaign to soften the fans and ownership on his desire to return to the Cavaliers in 2014. Free agency is forever on his mind, and James is determined to make his hometown want him as much he wants it again.

This was no accident, no misspeaking, nothing out of context. Before mentioning Thursday his openness to playing in Cleveland again, James months ago had an emissary or two carry that message to the Cavaliers’ front office, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. His camp wanted the message delivered to owner Dan Gilbert, sources said, but so far, the response has been silence.

The Heat play the Cavaliers on Friday night in Cleveland, and yes, LeBron has manufactured the drama of his return again. James can’t opt out of his contract until after the 2013-2014 season, but he understands that the Cavaliers would have to make a decision to hold back on its rebuild, preserve cap space, and wait on him all over again. He has to convince Gilbert to make the leap of faith, and that includes first working over the fans.

Of his return, James said: “I think it would be great. It would be fun to play in front of these fans again. I had a lot fun times in my seven years here. … I’m here as a Miami Heat player, and I’m happy where I am now, but I don’t rule that out in no sense.

“And if I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me.”

And then, Friday morning, James tried to play the other side: “The fans of Miami shouldn’t be worried about anything at this point.”

At this point. Make no mistake: James will need to make this easy for Gilbert, make it a public mandate. It promises to be a delicate dance for Gilbert. After all that, how do you welcome him back. And, well, how do you tell that talent, that kind of winning and profit, no?

“He has started to lay the groundwork, and he’s waiting to see what Dan Gilbert’s reaction to it is,” one league source with direct knowledge told Yahoo! Sports.

Here we go again, yes. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio reported a month ago that James had expressed unhappiness in Miami, and that a return was on his mind. Different dynamics are working here too. James loves to be in perpetual recruitment, always wanting to be wanted. LeBron is the MVP of the NBA this season, and yet, he isn’t the story. And he likes to be the story. In the middle of Linsanity, James made a bid for some bold headlines – and that worked. It always works for him.

James’ doubts on his choice of Miami started as soon as his cable television show ended July 8, 2010, sources said, and it wasn’t until Gilbert released that hellacious public statement that James knew fully that he would leave Cleveland behind. Cleveland’s reaction still haunts him, and he never wanted to be hated there.

Those who know Heat president Pat Riley believe he has to be livid with the past 24 hours, because loyalty is everything to him. The Heat stood with James through the public evisceration of a season, the NBA Finals collapse, and, with three more trips to the playoffs under this contract still awaiting him, it is beyond belief James is publicly discussing his next stop in free agency.

James’ camp hasn’t heard a word out of Gilbert, nor will they. Under NBA tampering rules, Gilbert isn’t allowed to engage them on the matter. Gilbert hired a private law firm and spent several hundred thousand dollars to investigate what he believed to be tampering by Riley and the Heat when James was a Cavalier. He never made any of those findings – if there were any – public, or turned them over to the league office.

Gilbert hasn’t bothered to weigh the pros and cons of such a historic reconciliation, sources said, largely because it’s well over two years away. Things change. How James feels tomorrow could be entirely different than how he feels today. Within the Heat, they have to wonder about his investment with them, his commitment. As one league executive briefed on this matter said, “At least with Cleveland, this didn’t start until the last year, or year and a half. He has a long way to go there. “

Whatever his desire to win championships, LeBron James lives for the recruitment, lives to be wanted elsewhere. That never changes, and it promises to start the hysteria to 2014 free agency all over again. LeBron James comes home on Friday, and yes, he may yet come home again for good.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ArlgWdrbwASUb_whNXzQUa28vLYF?slug=aw-wojnarowski_lebron_james_opt_out_cavaliers_gilbert_021712

 

[.infamous]

This shit cray. They could have a nice team if Lebron comes back. It seems more and more that he is gonna come back. Dude probably can't stop thinking about what he did to Cleveland lol

 

[MR.ballin]

I really think he's gonna go back.