LeBron James has probably been the most talked about sports figure in the world over the past ten years. Many hated him for his decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010 as he joined the Miami Heat, mostly because of the way he did it - live on national television. James ended up winning two NBA titles with the Miami Heat, before returning back to Cleveland in 2014. He promised the Cavaliers fans that he would bring an NBA championship to Cleveland and in 2016 the Cavaliers did just that. Led by LeBron James, the Cavs came back from down 3-1 in the NBA Finals and won the title against the Golden State Warriors.
It was their first NBA championship ever. The King, as he's often called, has two years left on his current contract with the Cavaliers but will likely opt out of the final year of the deal and become a free-agent in 2018. With Kyrie Irving now gone, many are rightfully wondering: will LeBron James leave the Cavaliers again?
Kevin Durant weighs in
The team that has been mentioned a lot this summer as the potential landing spot for James in 2018 is the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron has close personal relationship with Lakers' president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and he also owns a luxurious home in Los Angeles. The Purple And Gold will have enough cap space to land LeBron next summer and possibly one more superstar, therefore it's no wonder that LeBron James joining the Lakers in 2018 is a no-brainer.
The sports media has been talking about this all summer long, and most recently even Kevin Durant commented on James' future. Durant appeared as a guest on The Bill Simmons Podcast and when he was asked about LeBron's potential departure in 2018 and this is what he said: "I personally always said he was staying. I told him this." Durant obviously feels there's no chance that LeBron will leave Cleveland again as he maybe hopes to face him one more time in the NBA Finals.
Mutual respect between the two stars
The friendship and the rivalry between James and Durant are well known, as well as the respect both of them have for each other. They've already played against each other twice in the NBA Finals. LeBron won the 2012 NBA Finals when he was with the Heat and Durant played for the Thunder, while Durant got his first title last season as his Warriors beat James and the Cavaliers.
During his recent podcast will Bill Simmons Durant also added: "That's me. I feel like he's going to end it in Cleveland. That's his crib now. He run it and he gonna turn it into something mega when he's done. He's going to do something." The respect and the admiration Durant has for LeBron James is obvious as he apparently thinks James will do something special with the Cavaliers even when he retires. Will James maybe become a part-owner of the Cavaliers? We'll see. For now, let's just enjoy the greatness on the basketball court.
