LeBron James would love to stay with the Miami Heat beyond this season. Kind of, sort of. He thinks.
Much ado is made over LeBron’s impending free-agent nuptials. When he hits the open market again in 2014, much like he did in 2010, teams will go coo coo for cocoa puffs, then they’ll begin recruiting LeBron.
Spectacular conspiracy theories still abound about his initial move to South Beach. Was it planned years in advance? Were he, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh planning this since they were drafted in 2003? How does Bosh’s neck compare to that of a giraffe’s? Those are the types of questions we’re asking as 2014 slowly, but surely approaches.
But before we go all bonkers, trying to figure out where LeBron is or isn’t going, why not try to end this now? Why not just ask him what he’ll do?
Because he doesn’t know. LeBron doesn’t know what he’ll do next summer. It all depends on this upcoming season, whether or not the Heat win a championship, how much of a pay cut Kobe Bryant will ultimately take and which city is willing to fashion him his own brand of shampoo so that he may fulfill his lifelong dream of being ironic.
Just because he doesn’t know, however, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to glean an answer from him. That’s exactly what ESPN’s Chris Broussard did. He asked him what he was going to do next summer:
“I have absolutely no idea,” James recently told ESPN.com. “I would love to spend the rest of my career in Miami with this great team and great organization as we continue to compete for championships. That’s ideal. But we don’t know what may happen from now to the end of the season. That’s the nature of the business. It’s the nature of not knowing what tomorrow brings.
Spoken like a true marque free agent who has done this before.
Some Heat fans may be encouraged by what LeBron is slinging when really, they shouldn’t. I myself am encouraged only because LeBron is getting better and better at deflecting pressing questions. Once his time in the NBA comes to an end, he may have a career as a politician. Or maybe he could take his evasive maneuvers on the road, doing children’s birthday parties and other various group events.
All we can see from what he said here is that he’s still unsure. Very unsure. If the Heat fall short of another title, he could leave for greener pastures and a younger supporting cast (sup, Kyrie?). If they win, he could also leave. Or he could re-sign. Or he could just opt in for another year, in which case we would have to do this all over again in 2015.
Like LeBron, we just don’t know. So let’s promise not to pretend we do. If we can all abide by those simple rules, I promise I’ll continue to bring you coverage of this situation as much as possible, the same situation that no one, not even LeBron, will have any real insight on for a good nine months or so.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
