Looking back, knowing what we know now about Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, did LeBron James make the right decision to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers?
The path back to the team which drafted him. That path. When LeBron James decided to take his talents to Miami to build a Big 3 with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, hatred from the Cleveland Cavaliers and its fans stormed towards The King every time he returned to play against them.
In fact, the front office even vowed that the Cavaliers would win a championship before LeBron ever did. Well, they were wrong.
The Heat went to the NBA Finals for four consecutive years, from 2011 to 2014. During that run, Miami managed to win the title twice with LeBron named as the Finals MVP both times. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, had no playoff appearances during those four years.
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The only positive thing that happened to the Cavs during those non-LeBron years was that they were able to pick Kyrie Irving as the topic in the 2011 NBA Draft.
LeBron left and returned in 2014 to lead another Big 3, with Irving and Kevin Love, only to find out that he would be carrying the entire Cavs team against the Golden State Warriors during last year’s NBA Finals. Many said that LeBron James deserved the Finals MVP even though the Cavs lost in six games, but that’s a different conversation for a different time.
At present times, LeBron James and the rest of the (now healthy) Cleveland Cavaliers are facing a 2-0 series deficit against the Warriors heading into Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Warriors didn’t even need Stephen Curry to score more than 20 points in the first two games to grab the series lead. While most pointed out that the Cavs were a one-man team during last year’s Finals, because both Irving and Love were out due to injuries, having Irving and Love, who was hurt again in Game 2, doesn’t have that much effect against the Warriors.
Why?
Irving had 26 and 10 points in Game 1 and 2, respectively. The catch? He just made only 31 and 35 percent of his shot attempts, respectively. Kevin Love only had 5 and 17 points during the first two games respectively, making only 41 and 28 percent of his shot attempts in Game 1 and 2.
With his two star teammates visibly struggling, we just have to give credit to LeBron James. In Game 1, he had 23 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. In Game 2, he led the Cavaliers with another near triple-double performance, scoring 19 points, hauling down 8 rebounds and dishing out nine assists. Unfortunately, he also turned the ball over 11 times in the first two games combined.
While many are expecting a monstrous performance from The King in Game 3, especially if he wants to extends this series, we all know he can only deliver so much. He now needs all the help he can get, especially from Love and Irving. If things don’t work out well and the Warriors go on to win the title, again, who knows?
This team could look a lot different the next time they take the floor.
To answer the question of “Did he choose the right path to leave Miami for Cleveland?” The answer is pretty obvious.
No.
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He should have stayed with Wade and Bosh. Yes, Wade and Bosh were thought to be injury-prone but when they are healthy, they were very dangerous. Such a pity, isn’t it? Can Miami challenge the Warriors right now had LeBron stayed?
Who knows, but we can’t definitely say it would be different. At the very least, LeBron James would have better and more reliable teammates. That’s for sure.