After a week of being courted by potential suitors LeBron “King” James has made his highly anticipated decision where his new castle will be.
James, the biggest prize in the free agent market, announced late Thursday his intentions to sign with the Miami Heat and join fellow-superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
“It’s a very tough decision, but I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat,” James said in an unprecedented hour-long TV special aired by cable network ESPN. “I feel it’s going to give me the best opportunity to win for multiple years,” James said. “Not to win five games in a row or three games in a row. I want to be able to win championships, and I feel I can compete down there.” The announcement by the reigning two-time NBA Most Valuable Player came one day after Wade decided to re-sign with the Heat and free agent forward Bosh agreed to join him after playing in Toronto the last seven seasons.
“I can’t say it was always in my plans, because I never thought it was possible,” James said. “But the things that the Miami Heat franchise have done, to free up cap space and be able to put themselves in a position this summer to have all three of us, it was hard to turn down.
“Those are two great players, two of the greatest players that we have in this game today. You add me we’re going to be a really good team.” Adding three of last season’s top nine scorers suddenly transforms mediocre Miami into a favourite to emerge over Orlando and Boston for Eastern Conference supremacy. It may even give James his elusive first NBA title.
“A team is not built on two or three guys, it’s built from top to bottom,” James said. “But I’m going to try to lead this franchise to a second championship.” Over the last days, James listened to enticing presentations from the New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, the LA Clippers, Chicago Bulls and the Cavaliers.
The Bulls appeared the likeliest destination, especially after adding power forward Carlos Boozer to an already attractive roster that includes All-Star point guard Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng.
James said his heart and loyalty were always with Cleveland, where the 25-year-old was born and raised. He could have received a six-year contract worth roughly 30 million dollars more than the five-year, 99-million-dollar pact the Heat can offer. But it was not about the money, it is about the ring. Could the championship-starved star win a title for the title-starved city? “I took that franchise to places that the fans had never seen, but at the and of the day I feel awful that I’m leaving,” James said. “I feel even worse that I wasn’t able to bring an NBA Championship to that city, because I know they’ve been wanting it for a long time.” “It’s very tough because I know how loyal I am,” he said. “It’s hard to explain and it’s heartfelt because in the seven years I’ve played I’ve given my heart to that franchise. Those 20,000 fans every night watched me grow from an 18-year-old kid to a 25-year-old-man.” Minutes after his announcement, upset fans in Cleveland were shown burning their hero’s popular wine-and-gold number 23 jersey in disgust.
“It’s going to be a transition,” James said. “We’re going to go back to that city twice a year and hopefully those fans will be respectful, but at the same time I don’t expect that to be.
“It’s going to be a challenge going in there and being on the other side of the court, going to the visitor’s side of the locker room.” James was relieved he made the right move after talking to his mother earlier in the day.
“One thing my mother told me you have to do what’s best for you and what’s going to make you happy at the end of the day, because no one can live with the consequences or anything that comes from that decision but you,” he said. “Once I heard that from my mother, who is the person I always look for guidance it was easy.”
