With LeBron James announcing via Sports Illustrated today that he’ll be returning to Cleveland to join the Cavaliers next season, we got a decidedly different (but no less definitive) version of “The Decision” as we had in 2010. The best basketball player in the world is once again switching teams, this team seeking redemption in the city that four years ago he so publicly spurned.
But this decision to leave Miami doesn’t just impact LeBron. There are so many other people who will see their lives change as a result of James’ decision. Of course, there are his fellow free agents like Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony. But there are also team executives, owners, coaches, and others whose fates are all tied in with James’.
Some people are unequivocally better off this afternoon than they were this morning, while others may be lamenting James’ choice and how much more difficult it is going to make their lives. In these early post-decision hours, let’s take a look at the Biggest Winners and Losers from "The Decision: Part 2."
Loser: Miami Heat "Fans"
The fans of the Miami Heat are an easy target because, quite frankly, they make it that way. When you leave en masse when your team still has a chance of winning, as they did during Game 6 of the 2013 Finals, you kind of forfeit all rights to complain about people questioning your loyalty. Heat fans are probably more like LeBron fans, and we're guessing that many of them are on the internet checking if there's a way for them to trade their Heat jersey in for a Cavs one.
Winner: Chris Bosh
Look, the best move for Chris Bosh no matter what was to leave the Heat and go to Houston. He was always going to be overshadowed by Dwyane Wade and LeBron in Miami, and this way he gets to go to the Rockets and play in a great system for him with a couple star teammates in James Harden and Dwight Howard who will be happy to share the spotlight with him. Plus, nobody in Miami is really going to notice that he left; LeBron is such a big story right now, Bosh can just kind of slink away quietly. The Heat fans might not notice he's gone until next season starts.
Loser: Lambo
Born-and-raised Miami rapper Da Real Lambo cannot love this development. Why? ESPN contributor Bomani Jones put it best when discussing LeBron's mom's fiancée:
wait til october, when lambo sees that snow and gloria's leaving to get up with "some old friends." lambo so heated right now.
— Bomani Jones (@bomani_jones) July 11, 2014Let's not forget that the last time the James family was in Cleveland, there were some unseemly rumors about Gloria and another member of the Cavaliers. Let's hope history doesn't repeat itself.
Winner: Dan Gilbert
In the aftermath of LeBron's 2010 departure, Dan Gilbert has been called many things, ranging from a loose cannon to meddlesome to things not suitable for print. His infamous "Comic Sans" breakup letter to LeBron remained on the Cavs' website until just a few days ago, and his various guarantees and proclamations have virtually all failed to come true. Basically, the organization has been a wreck since LeBron left. But now, all that goes away as Cleveland's great stabilizing force returns and to once again make Gilbert look like a model owner.
Loser: Mike Brown
Talk about bad luck. Mike Brown was just a couple months away from getting to run it back with the player who basically made Brown as a head coach, but then he had to go and mess it up by putting together another miserable season without LeBron running his offense. We don't weep for Brown too much, though, because he is still going to collect all his paychecks from the five year, $20 million deal he signed prior to last season.
Winner: The City of Cleveland
We don't like to play favorites, but the city of Cleveland really deserved this. Cleveland has endured more sports-related hardship than pretty much any city in America, and it's about time that they finally had something work out in their favor. This fall, they're going to welcome Johnny Manziel and LeBron James into their professional sports scene, calling two of the biggest athletic stars on the planet their own. With all the attention they'll be giving Cleveland, ESPN may even look to save time and just move their headquarters up there.
Loser: Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins
ESPN's Bill Simmons pointed out a conspicuous absence in LeBron's love letter to Cleveland: there was no mention of Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins. Could that mean those guys are heading out of town in a trade? It certainly isn't a certainty, but it would be really weird of LeBron to mention just some of the guys on the team and not the previous two No. 1 overall picks in the draft. Obviously, we're reading a lot into something that could easily be explained away, and you can bet that Wiggins and Bennett would both rather stay alongside the best player in the game than move to Minnesota to play for a rebuilding franchise.
Winner: Kevin Love
Already said to be "intrigued" about the possibility of joining the Cavaliers, Kevin Love has said that he would be willing to commit to a long-term future in Cleveland if he were traded there. Imagine, if you will, a big three in Cleveland of LeBron, Kyrie Irving, and Love. Throw Anderson Varejao on the block and you've got one of the most beastly frontcourts in the league; play LeBron and Love at the big spots, and you've got a small ball lineup that would be one of the most potent offensive units in the NBA. We assume Cleveland has thought of this too, but if they haven't, hopefully they're reading this.
Loser: Danny Granger and Josh McRoberts
Remember two days ago, when Danny Granger and Josh McRoberts signed deals with Miami because they thought LeBron was coming back? Woops. Now, rather than being vital bench pieces on a title favorite, they become starters on a team that may well be heading for the lottery. At least McRoberts is still kind of young; with knee problems and fading numbers, Granger is running out of chances to attach himself to a winner. Now, rather than toasting a title run with their star teammate, both guys are probably on the phone with their agent seeing if they can get out of their deals.
Winner: David Blatt
David Blatt has hit the jackpot. Without even coaching a game in the NBA, he already looks like a genius. He's got the best player in the league, and even if he didn't say a word from now until June, the Cavaliers would still win 50 games and be a top team in the Eastern Conference. He told Adrian Wojnarowski today that saying he was thrilled to coach LeBron "would be understatement of the millennium," and we can't blame him for being so excited. LeBron joining Blatt's team basically guarantees the coach as many years on the job as he wants (see: Brown, Mike).
Loser: Dwyane Wade
While Dwyane Wade will likely now get a max deal (or close to it) to stay in Miami, that doesn't really help him. Instead of LeBron and Chris Bosh around him in crunch time, he's going to see Mario Chalmers on his left and a broken down Danny Granger on his right. Yeesh. Wade also is clearly on the downside of his career, having played just 54 regular season games last year and scuffling in the Finals. He can't carry a team anymore, but that may be exactly what he is asked to do next season.
Winner: Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving has played in the NBA for three years, and owns a career winning percentage of .339. That is not very good. Questions had begun to surface about his ability to be the star player on a winning team. That isn't very good either. Now that he's got the biggest star of them all as a teammate, though, those questions will immediately cease to exist. With a huge contract extension in hand and no longer counted upon to be his team's best player, Irving can sit back and play the supporting star role he was always meant to. He'll continue to grow and develop, and at just 22 years old he's still got plenty of time to turn into a go-to guy.
Loser: Pat Riley
Until this moment, it felt like Pat Riley was operating on a different plane than the rest of us. The Heat president was always the coolest, most confident guy in the room, and throughout LeBron's free agency Riley always seemed to carry himself with a swagger that suggested he always knew more than the rest of us. Only it turns out, he didn't. Riley was getting strung along just like the rest of us, and now he's left to rebuild a team in absolute shambles that is losing both LeBron and Chris Bosh. At 69 years old and with eight NBA championship rings from his career as a player, coach, and executive, Riley may simply decide to pack it in and call it a career rather than rebuild.
Winner: LeBron James' Legacy
With the public, humiliating fashion in which he left Cleveland, there was always going to be a blemish on LeBron's permanent record. Free agents come and go all the time, but few cause the kind of reaction LeBron did; the burning jerseys, Comic Sans letters, and deafening boos were all symptoms of a city mortally wounded. Now, though, if LeBron returns and delivers the city of Cleveland its first pro championship since the 1964 Browns, all that goes away. He instead becomes the savior of Cleveland, a man who made a city used to losing feel like a winner. All that's left for him to do, now, is win a ring.
