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LeBron James was seen at the Cleveland Cavaliers training facility this week.
For the first time in his career, LeBron James passed up an opportunity to become a free agent when he decided to exercise his $52.6 million player option to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers next season. James decision was so stunning that even accepting another year with the Lakers has been widely interpreted as evidence that he plans to leave them.
Trade speculation surrounding James has been seemingly inescapable over the past week, since he picked up the lucrative option. To be fair, James himself has not been without fault in sparking the widespread rumors. Or at least, his agent Rich Paul — who presumably speaks with approval from the “King” — shares some blame.
After confirming that James would be accepting the option, Paul told ESPN, “LeBron wants to compete for a championship. He knows the Lakers are building for the future. … We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future.”
It didn’t take much reading between the lines to interpret Paul’s statement as meaning that James would look to get out of Los Angeles, unless the Lakers switched quickly into “win now” mode — which they show little sign of doing.
No Talks on James Contract Extension
In addition, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, James and the Lakers never held any talks on a possible contract extension before James unilaterally exercised his option to return to Los Angeles.
Windhorst said that the Lakers as a result now view LeBron as playing on an expiring contract, a situation that often leads to a trade either before or during the season.
Nonetheless, with a no-trade clause — as well as simply the stature that comes with being the NBA’s most iconic player — James still holds control over his basketball future.
So what was he doing this week when he was spotted at the Cleveland Cavaliers training facility? He also was seen in an online image apparently playing golf in Cleveland while wears a baseball cap emblazoned with the words “welcome home.”
James, of course, is a native of Akron, Ohio, and grew up as a devoted fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was drafted by Cleveland with the top overall pick in 2003 and spent the first seven years of his career there before leaving as a free agent for the Miami Heat, where he won two NBA championships.
After four seasons in Miami, he signed with Cleveland again, winning another title, this one for his hometown team.
‘King’ Posts Message on Cleveland Return Rumors
The online images did not escape the King’s notice. On July 4, he took a moment to post his own strong message, shooting down (at least for now) speculation that he would return for a third stint with the Cavaliers, to finish out his career near his childhood home.
“I live here still and train every summer,” James wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account. “Got damn yall bored man! Go get a plate of food somewhere and enjoy the 4th of July!”
Not everyone was buying James’ seeming denial, however. The often outspoken retired Washington Wizards three-time All-Star Gilbert Arenas had a few things to say on his own social media.
“One, nobody golfs in Ohio, okay? Yeah, you only got one golf course in the top two hundred. Ain’t nobody going there, okay?” Arenas wrote. “Two, we seen your swing. … Uou don’t golf, okay? That’s not what you do. You play video games.”
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin
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