{"id":701809,"date":"2026-04-06T18:23:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/701809\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T18:23:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:23:23","slug":"lebron-james-cavaliers-return-takes-new-turn-after-latest-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/701809\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James\u2019 Cavaliers Return Takes New Turn After Latest Comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"LeBron\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

LeBron James shares his mindset after Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves injuries shake the Lakers\u2019 lineup.<\/p>\n

LeBron James<\/a> has been in the news a lot lately, but that isn\u2019t something we haven\u2019t seen a million times over the last 20-odd years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

James is now left trying to steer the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> to a first round playoff victory without any star help by his side.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lakers stars Luka Doncic<\/a> and Austin Reaves<\/a> are expected to be sidelined several weeks after incurring a pair of rough injuries last week. Unless Los Angeles is able to somehow upset the odds and get past round one, it is quite possible Doncic and Reaves won\u2019t be seen in uniform until the fall.<\/p>\n

James, too, could be in another jersey by then.<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old Lakers star is close to the final stage of his iconic career. He has moved three times already in his career, all as an unrestricted free agent. James will possess that designation again this summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"LeBron<\/p>\n

GettyLos Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.<\/p>\n

Given where James is in his career and him volunteering retirement talk over the last few years, many have linked the four-time champion to where it all started with the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It would be a feel-good story, no doubt, but there is perhaps no other reason to believe returning to Cleveland is something on James\u2019 mind.<\/p>\n

Especially when considering the comments he made recently that have gone viral.<\/p>\n

LeBron James\u2019 recent remarks suggest new twist in Cavaliers rumors<\/p>\n

For the first time in James\u2019 career, he is playing out a season without being under contract for the following one. Yes, never before has James played a season in the NBA<\/a> without owning a guaranteed contract for the next one.<\/p>\n

If he decides, James can simply wait for free agency to open and walk to any team willing to offer him a deal. Of course, the Lakers are still in play. James came to L.A. with many motivations, many of them weren\u2019t related to basketball. He chose Los Angeles to help him smoothly venture into his career after basketball. It is hard to believe he would walk away from that at 41 knowing there isn\u2019t much basketball left in his future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recently, the four-time MVP rattled off some comments that caught the ears of the entire basketball world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA random f\u2014ing Tuesday in Milwaukee staying at the f\u2014ing Hyatt at 41 years old, you think I want to do that s\u2014?\u201d James said. \u201cBeing in Memphis on a f\u2014ing random ass Thursday.\u201d<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t stop there. James also mentioned the city he resided in for 11 of his 23 NBA seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c41 years old, it\u2019s two cities I do not like playing in right now,\u201d James said. \u201cThat\u2019s Milwaukee, and that\u2019s Memphis. What is the problem? I don\u2019t like going home either. S\u2014, and I\u2019m from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, there you go.\u00a0<\/p>\n

James surely adores Cleveland for what it has meant to his career, but he still doesn\u2019t particularly enjoy going there. So what reason do fans have to believe that James will suddenly leave Los Angeles and return to Cleveland, even if it means an opportunity to play for a Cavaliers team that would see its championship odds skyrocket if it added the league\u2019s all-time leading scorer?<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Vince Goodwill raised that point<\/a> on \u201cFirst Take\u201d this morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t LeBron he didn\u2019t like playing in Memphis and Milwaukee; then he said I don\u2019t even like going home,\u201d Goodwill said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think LeBron at age 41 wants to spend another in Ohio. I think if he\u2019s going to explore other things, he\u2019s gonna stay West.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Only The King knows what\u2019s in store for his future\u00a0<\/p>\n

Could the outcome of the 2025-26 Lakers season impact James\u2019 decision this summer? It sure could.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given the position he is now in as the best participating player on the team, James has a chance to show what he is still capable of doing when asked to do more on the basketball court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last night, which was James\u2019 second game all season without both Doncic and Reaves in the lineup, he poured it on. Better yet, he made history. Just like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He became the oldest player ever to record a 30-point, 15-assist game. James may very well tally several of these timeless performances between now and the end of the season. Sure, the Lakers may not win very much or threaten anyone in the playoffs, but the 41-year-old James can prove he still demands a large contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n

L.A. may even want to bring back James, but maybe on a smaller sum than he has been owed since arriving back in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At this point, it is widely accepted that James has numerous things on his priority list \u2014 basketball isn\u2019t at the top; it may not be among the top three or four. That is not an insult. James has accomplished so much and has quadrupled the average Hall of Fame career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He is still a very good player and clearly capable enough to contribute to a championship-caliber team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He may well go back to Cleveland to finish his career as a Cavalier, but it shouldn\u2019t surprise anyone if he is back with the Lakers again next season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Lakers\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty LeBron James shares his mindset after Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves injuries shake the Lakers\u2019 lineup. LeBron…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-701809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-lakers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-la","10":"tag-la-lakers","11":"tag-lakers","12":"tag-lalakers","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-losangeleslakers","17":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116359162656715224","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}