LeBron James opting out of his contract didn’t come as a surprise to many because there has been a strong suggestion for a while that he’d go this route. One person in particular who isn’t surprised is Heat team president Pat Riley, who released a statement on NBA.com
“I was informed this morning of his intentions. We fully expected LeBron to opt-out and exercise his free agent rights, so this does not come as a surprise. As I said at the press conference last week, players have a right to free agency and when they have these opportunities, the right to explore their options. The last four seasons have been historic and LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Erik Spoelstra have led the Miami HEAT to one of the most unprecedented runs in the history of the NBA. We look forward to sitting down with LeBron and his representatives and talking about our future together. At the moment, we are preparing for the opportunities in the Draft and Free Agency as we continue with our goal of winning NBA Championships.”
Riley has been around the block a time or two, so he knows that there is a business element to all of this. He’s also probalby not too worried about LeBron leaving either.
