Tomorrow, I'll post three reasons why he'll leave Cleveland.
Saturday, I'll provide my guess on what he will do.
1. He likes money. Lots of money. The Cavs can pay LeBron more than any other team. It's that simple. It's called the Larry Bird Exception [Rights]. In basic terms, when a player has been with one team for more than three years, that team can exceed the salary to cap to sign the player, up to the NBA maximum salary, when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. That's the basic definition. If you want to read more about it, Google it. Just know the Cavs can offer LeBron more money than any other team on July 1. What could they offer? Around six years and $120 million. No other team can match that. Does LeBron care about money? Have you seen his compound he lives in? Seen his cars? Seen his style? He loves the cash. And who wouldn't? I'd feel comfortable betting that LeBron is like countless other pro athletes in all the major sports who have gone where the money is. Over winning, over hometown loyalty, over anything. It's not far fetched that LeBron would be in the majority there. Guess Cleveland fans are lucky that he happens to already be in his hometown. So he can remain loyal, stay in Cleveland, with the piece of mind that he is getting the maximum amount of money possible. He looks like a hero and he gets rich beyond his wildest dreams (not that he isn't already).
2. He likes to win. The Cavs are the No. 1 team in the East. They are a safe No. 2 behind the Lakers as far as best teams in the league. For now. Expect that to change as we get into February and the Cavs continue to get better. LeBron has been in Cleveland six years, but no ring, One trip to the Finals, one trip to the East finals. But no ring. Proponents of LeBron leaving on 7-1 love to point this out. But this year may be the year where it all comes together. If the Cavs win a title this season and make moves in the offseason to sustain a long run of success, then LeBron goes down as one of the game's best winners. One ring would be great. Multiple would put him in the conversation with Jordan, Kobe, etc.. This assumes the Cavs will make moves to make this happen, resigning LeBron and that's it won't do the job. Bringing in another star to play along with him (younger than Shaq) would guarantee the Cavs remain as one of the top team's in the NBA for a long time.
3. His really is loyal to his hometown. Not much to say here, other than for everything I have read about LeBron, he is very loyal to Akron (Cleveland) and wants to remain here because his family is here, his friends are here and he really does want to bring a championship to Cleveland. Apparently he does really love the area and wants to stay. Apparently. You can read stuff that says the exact opposite. But based on the public comments he as made on this subject, he does love Akron and has never said anything about wanting to get out. The thing is, if you have a lot of money, like he does, you can live anywhere. He can buy condos in NYC, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Cabo or anywhere else he wants. He has his own private plane. He can fly in to Cleveland on game days from wherever he lives. That's the luxury that goes along with being rich. So people that say "He doesn't want to live in crappy Northeast Ohio", that is wrong because he doesn't have to technically "live" here. So throw that argument out the window.
* Photo courtesy of Getty Images
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