NBA fans — especially the basketball romantics — love players who stick it out with one franchise through the rough patches and eventually cash in on the payoff.
The late Dolph Schayes was definitely one of those guys. That explains why LeBron James‘s 2010 offseason move rubbed him the wrong way.
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We’ve hashed it out a million times. Back then, James ditched his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. He wanted to cook up a superstar squad. You’d think an old-school guy like the late Schayes would rip the Heat part. Nah. James’ walking out killed the one-man, one-team legend story.
That’s what got him.
One-team loyalty
Schayes knew a thing or two about staying put. He joined the Syracuse Nationals (later the Philadelphia 76ers after the move) in 1948. Then spent his whole 16-year NBA career there.
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A phenomenal rebounder and free-throw shooter, a very good scorer with outside range, “The Rainbow Kid” piled up over 18,000 points, led the league in rebounds and won the 1955 NBA title. Then he coached that same team through 1966, becoming a true franchise legend.
Schayes shows how rare that unbroken bond with one team really is — maybe not back then, but damn sure in today’s NBA. James had that chance, too.
He was drafted by the Cavaliers in the iconic 2003 NBA Draft. All signs pointed to the Ohio native staying there forever. Eventually, though, it turned out that forever was just seven years, as James bailed in that big ESPN special, “The Decision.”
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We know what happened next.
With his new team, the Heat, LBJ won two titles and was named Finals MVP both times. Credit where it’s due. Still, as Schayes figured, first staying and then winning in Cleveland would’ve actually meant more.
“It would have been a more satisfying thing with him as the go-to guy,” he said. “In the same way as [Michael] Jordan’s Bulls or Kobe Bryant’s Lakers, history would have recorded that James took his team — and his city — to the heights.”
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Indeed, just like James, Jordan and Bryant joined their teams in pretty dire shape — just like the Cavs in 2003 — but still reached the promised land a few years later.
Lingering resentment
That sentiment lingered. By 2013, Schayes wasn’t over James leaving the Cavs for the Heat. The 12-time All-Star admitted to still harboring “resentment.”
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Dolph said it stemmed from LeBron being “disloyal to Cleveland.” It also came from him teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh down south to “try to win a championship.”
Both points drew plenty of criticism over time, especially the first one. After all, it meant that LBJ willingly walked away from that “one player, one franchise” legacy. That’s what gives guys like Jordan (even with his late Washington Wizards stint) or Bryant such a lasting aura.
For James, though, that critique only half applies these days. After all, he came back to the Cavs in 2014. Better yet, he delivered their first-ever title two years later. And what a historic fashion it was. Almost single-handedly, the league’s all-time leading scorer led them back from a 3–1 series deficit against the Golden State Warriors.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on May 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.