LeBron James has finally brought Cleveland a championship, but rumors of him bolting have already popped up.
The Cavaliers became the first team to ever erase a 3-1 series deficit to win the NBA Finals, completing the comeback and ousting the Warriors, 93-89, in Game 7 on the road Sunday night to bring Cleveland its first NBA championship.
James was instrumental in the monumental comeback, putting up 41 points in each of Games 5 and 6 with his team on the brink of elimination and then scoring a team-best 27 points and notching a triple double in Game 7. Now, there are already reports he could be on the move.
The NBA Finals MVP infamously bolted Cleveland for Miami in 2010 and won two titles while appearing in four straight NBA Finals with the Heat. After appearing in his sixth straight final round and winning his third title, there is a belief he will opt out of his contract come July 1 and possibly leave Cleveland again.
Two possible destinations for LeBron are the Heat and the Lakers, according to ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith:
“From what I’ve been told, the Lakers and Heat are possiblities as a destination for LeBron James this summer.”
- Stephen A. Smith— Mike & Mike (@MikeAndMike) June 20, 2016
The Lakers just bid adieu to one huge superstar in Kobe Bryant, who retired at the end of the 2015-16 regular season as Los Angeles set a franchise mark for worst overall win-loss record in franchise history for the third straight campaign. Bryant went out with a bang, putting up 60 points in his final game back in April.
With the Lakers having a void to fill, James could end up heading to Los Angeles this summer, Smith reported.
"I'm also hearing that it's a huge, huge possibility if indeed he decides to depart from Cleveland that the Los Angeles Lakers will be in the mix," Smith said Monday on ESPN's 'First Take,' according to NESN. "There are some changes that LeBron would want made if he's going to go to L.A. and wear the purple and gold. He obviously has aspirations beyond basketball. Being in the Los Angeles market wearing the purple and gold could very well facilitate all of that."
Even before Game 7 and the NBA Finals wins, the rumors of James leaving Cleveland once again started to surface.
"Franchises are on watch again," The Vertical reported about James last week. "There's a belief that James comes into play again, a line of thinking that his inner circle has done nothing to dissuade."
While everything should be taken with a grain of salt, James' future is once again a source of speculation.
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