“We wanted to be sensitive about guilting him” – Cavaliers executive reflects on trying to keep LeBron James in 2010 originally appeared on Basketball Network.
In the summer of 2010, the Cleveland Cavaliers encountered one of the biggest hurdles of the franchise’s history — LeBron James became an unrestricted free agent and he actively explored his options.
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James, a two-time MVP, was already arguably the best player in the Association, and the Cavs were determined to keep him on the roster. However, according to their assistant general manager, Lance Blanks, convincing James to stay was easier said than done.
“It was just obvious we were going to be competing to sign him,” Blanks remembered in 2020 via Bleacher Report. “It wasn’t, ‘Oh, OK, we killed it, he’ll be coming here’ or ‘We have no chance.’ We did as good of a job as we could to make him think about it. He might’ve known what he wanted to do by then, for all I know.”
“We didn’t necessarily know all the answers to the test,” he continued. “We wanted to be sensitive about guilting him, but we wanted him to have to leave something that was pretty special. Again, I think we presented the best case for that.”
Keeping LeBron was taxing
Blanks admitted that the whole Cavs front office struggled during LeBron’s free agency ordeal. They were grappling with trying to build a championship team and keeping James.
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Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of emotions going on — the entire saga was taxing not just mentally but also physically.
“The plan was to build the kind of organization he would want to grow in and stay with,” said Blanks. “We always asked ourselves, ‘Is it more critical for us to win a championship or more critical to make sure we keep LeBron?’ Because you could do short-term things that wouldn’t be good for the long-term health of the organization, economically or otherwise. Or you could do things for the long term that weren’t good for winning a title right now.”
“So, we were always trying to balance the two… It was an extremely stressful time period,” he reflected. “I personally got sick. Not like I had to throw up. Cellular-level stress sick. That pervaded over all of us with the desire and the brain power spent in trying to keep LeBron.”
The Decision
James met with six different teams during his free agency that year. Though the meetings were mostly quick, he carefully assessed what each franchise had to offer before making a firm and concrete decision.
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It didn’t take long before LeBron made up his mind. He famously took his talents to South Beach and joined the Miami Heat in one of the most historic free-agency moves in NBA history. James was also able to bring in fellow All-Star Chris Bosh to form a Big 3 with Dwyane Wade.
As for the Cavs, James’ dramatic exit marked the beginning of a devastating yet new chapter without their franchise player. Four years later, LeBron made an epic return to Cleveland and finally delivered on his promise, winning an NBA championship with his hometown team in 2016.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 14, 2025, where it first appeared.