Rewriting LeBron's 2010 Free Agency

Image via Complex Original

Fueled by a desire to win on his own, LeBron tells Jim Gray on The Decision that he is staying home to win a championship with the Cavaliers. The very next day, Nike airs a commercial spot set to the Welcome Back Kotter theme song with kids running in the streets of Cleveland with tears of joy streaming down their face. NBA legends applaud James' desire to win it on his own, instead of taking the easy road. The rest of the summer is a 'Bron 'Bron lovefest...until the season rolls around. Even though his own game continues to improve with every year, the King continues to fall short of helping his team reach the mountaintop.

Playing with the same cast of characters in the 2011 Playoffs, the Cavs reach the Eastern Conference Finals where they go up against league MVP Derrick Rose and the Bulls. The series heads to an all-important Game 7 where Chicago comes out on top. Soon, analysts begin to focus their attention on D-Rose. The following year, the Cavs meet the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals which feels awfully similar to the two teams' battle in 2008. However, this time, the Cavs win the series and head to the 2012 NBA Finals, but fall short once again at the hands of the only Big 3 in the league, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

This is around the time where James starts slipping up in conversations, mentioning that maybe joining forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh would've been a better idea. The relationship between Cleveland and LeBron goes downhill soon after with the media there every step of the way.

Convinced that he and Derrick Rose could be one of the best NBA duos of all-time, LeBron decides to go to Chi-Town. It also helped that hours before the live telecast of The Decision, reports surfaced that the Bulls landed Carlos Boozer in a sign-and-trade with the Utah Jazz. Aside from Rose, the Bulls now sported a lethal starting five, which included King James, D-Rose, Boozer, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng. In their first season together, D-Rose and LeBron immediately gel and threaten the 1995-96 Bulls' record of 72-10. Their successful regular season bleeds into the playoffs where they easily capture the Larry O'Brien trophy.

That summer, analysts start talking about another Bulls dynasty brewing and rightfully so. Unfortunately, during the 2011 Playoffs, D-Rose goes down with a torn ACL in the first round and LeBron is never able to help his team recover from the loss of their point guard. The following season, the King balances fielding questions about Rose's apprehension to return and his play on the court. Eventually, the media gets into LeBron's head and the Bulls lose to the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2012 Playoffs.

With their crazy owner itching to make the front page and a shitload of cap space, the Nets talk LeBron into joining them on their planned takeover of the Big Apple. Once James signs with the Nets, the dominoes begin to fall as Wade joins Rose in Chicago, Bosh follows LeBron to the Nets, Amar'e still signs to the Knicks because of Dolan's checkbook and a familiar face in Mike D'Antoni, and Carlos Boozer takes whoever gives him the most money between the Clippers and the Heat.

Still in Jersey, and with LeBron and Bosh on the roster, the Nets try to build a team on the fly but it's not enough as they fall to the Mavs in the 2011 Finals. However, they make significant moves and put a bunch of shooters and willing defenders around their two stars just in time for their move to Brooklyn. This alternate reality means Jay Z nevers sells his piece of the team, Avery Johnson still has a job, and the Nets successfully take NYC by storm. James carries the Nets to back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013 and gives Knicks fans nightmares until he retires with at least five rings.

LeBron takes his talents to Hollywood rather than South Beach. What better way to stick it to Kobe Bryant and those who say he has no killer instinct than to take over Hollywood and bring a title to the Clippers? Nike execs nearly orgasm to death at the thought of a Battle for L.A.: Kobe vs. LeBron ad campaign. And Chris Paul doesn't end up in L.A. because David Stern vetoes the trade and doesn't feel like having a homicidal Black Mamba coming after him.

The combination of 2010 douchebag LeBron and the most evil man in the world a.ka. Donald Sterling makes the Clippers the most hated team in recent NBA history. Haters gonna hate but the man who took depleted teams like the 2006-07 Cavs to the Finals finally gets his ring in the 2011-12 lockout shortened season. Sterling celebrates by giving free chicken dinners to black homeless families that show up to the victory parade. He's always so classy.

The Knicks had the red carpet laid out for the King. His signature sneakers even had a New York edition called "The Big Apples." Donnie Walsh was finally able to make cap space by trading away big contracts and draft picks. New York managed to nab Amar'e but for a price. And they had all this money to throw at LeBron—the same money Carmelo's getting. Unlike Melo, James makes players around him better. However, the unlucky Knicks wouldn't have been a dynasty with LeBron.

During the 2011 season, with James and Amar'e, the Knicks make it to the Finals for the first time since the lockout-shortened 1999 season. But they run into a more complete team in the hungry, vet-laden Dallas Mavericks and lose in seven games. The next year, STAT starts to break down and LeBron is left to fend for himself. With James Dolan in his ivory tower playing the blues, the Knicks are still contenders but ultimately aren't able to build a team around James because of Stoudemire's contract. This causes LeBron to waive his player option during the 2014 offseason to chase that ever elusive ring and takes less money to join Wade and Rose in Chicago.