After seven years with the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James decided to take his talents to South Beach, Miami. Then, after winning two championships back to back with the Miami Heat, James has decided to take his talents elsewhere to another team that is presently still up in the air.
Now, the question that all basketball fans around the world would like to know is, which team will pick up James first? Or, which team is capable of convincing him to stay for the remainder of his career?
After Miami’s season-ending loss to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, James told reporters he would take a vacation with his family before considering his contract options. He had until June 30 to decide whether to opt out of the final two years of his contract with Miami.
“I was informed this morning of his intentions. We fully expected LeBron to opt out and exercise his free-agent rights, so this does not come as a surprise,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement. “As I said at the press conference last week, players have a right to free agency and, when they have these opportunities, the right to explore their options.”
“The last four seasons have been historic, and LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Erik Spoelstra have led the Miami Heat to one of the most unprecedented runs in the history of the NBA. We look forward to sitting down with LeBron and his representatives and talking about our future together. At the moment, we are preparing for the opportunities in the draft and free agency as we continue with our goal of winning NBA championships.”
Meanwhile, the other half of the Big Three have not determined their fate with the Miami Heat. Each Big Three member signed a six-year contract when they teamed up in Miami in 2010. These deals came with options to become free agents in the summer of 2014 or 2015.
Together LeBron, Wade, and Bosh won four Eastern Conference titles and two NBA championships, winning more games than any other team in the league. Who in their right mind would want to break that bond?
“Being able to have flexibility as a professional, anyone, that’s what we all would like,”James said last week. “That’s in any sport, for a football player, a baseball player, a basketball player, to have flexibility and be able to control your future or your present. I have a position to be able to do that. There’s a lot of times that you’re not in control of your future as a professional.”
[Photo: Issac Baldizon/Getty Images]Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
