LeBron Jame is keeping the door open for a return but the Cavaliers should bolt it shut

LeBron James wants to come home but that’s a bad idea for the Cavaliers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers used to be the home of LeBron James. The future Hall of Famer spent 11 years of his career with the Cavaliers, leading them to Eastern Conference championships 2007, 2015, 2017, and 2018 titles and an NBA Championship in 2016. He also won six division titles in Cleveland, while cementing himself as the greatest player in franchise history. Despite all of his accolades in Cleveland, he still left the franchise on two separate occasions.

When he saw that there were better options out there, he dropped the Cavs like an ex. And like an ex who left for something better, there is once again the talk of him coming back to Cleveland.

He’s also made it clear that he’s open to the idea of returning to the Cavaliers. Especially if they get Bronny James, James’ son who is a borderline NBA player at best. His arrival in the NBA will be the greatest example of nepotism in the history of sports, but everyone is going to allow it, as it will mean that LeBron will go where Bronny goes. People are still chasing for the services of James, even if he’s pushing 40.

He’s a marvel to watch, and will easily go down as one of the 10 greatest players in NBA history. He also has one flaw that makes him someone the Cleveland Cavaliers need to stay the heck away from going forward;

He destroys teams.

LeBron James is a disaster waiting to happen

The thing James should be most known for by now isn’t his accolades, but how he utterly devastates teams. As a teammate, many have good things to say about him. He’s everything you want in a teammate and a leader. Hardworking, pushes for the best out of you and demands a high level of dedication.

Yet, his hubris and win-at-all-costs attitude have ruined franchises for years after he’s left them.

In Cleveland, it took the Cavaliers a cumulative span of eight years after 2010 to rebuild the team into a playoff contender. The Cavs wasted four years trying to rebuild after 2010, and they were going nowhere with Kyrie Irving as the face of the franchise. Then it took the Cavaliers another three years after he left in 2018 to field a competitive squad.

The Heat were able to recover, somewhat, but they sunk a lot of money into aging players after he left to the point where they were rolling out Dwayne Wade and Hassan Whiteside for a while as their “franchise players”.

The situation in Los Angeles is going to be worse. They’re a poorly ran franchise, and have had seven losing seasons out of the last nine. The Lakers have no young players, they traded Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Lonzo Ball, and others to the Pelicans and Wizards, and all they’ve done is develop into good to great players. So not only are they old and lacking young players, but the Lakers don’t have control over their first-round picks for the next three years.

Why? Because James demanded the Lakers sacrifice their future to get better. Despite the Lakers landing Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, they only have two winning seasons with James and are now handcuffed to two, aging, injury-prone former stars.

If James comes back to Cleveland a third time, he’ll do the same thing all over again. He’ll demand the Cavs move some of their younger pieces to “win now” and when he retires and saddles the Cavs with a bench player in Bronny, the Cavaliers will once again have to go into rebuild mode.

Why wouldn’t he, his favorite NFL GM seems to be Les Snead, who just won a Super Bowl, sure but will probably end up getting fired in a few years after his team falls apart due to a lack of draft picks.

That’s James’ kind of GM. The guy who is so shortsighted he tanks his entire career after one title.

As far as Cavs fans go, frankly, we’re tired of cleaning up after James’ messes. Let the Thunder or 76ers deal with the four-year-plus rebuild that comes with James’ demands. The Cavaliers are finally in a good place, and bringing back James would only ruin it.

James is the toxic ex of a relationship. He keeps coming back when the Cavs’ situation looks good. Then he starts cheating on them with the idea of the Heat or the Lakers and then blows off when he has the opportunity for “more”, destroying the Cavaliers in the process. He did it to the Heat and he’ll do it to the Lakers. It’s who he is. He doesn’t care what a franchise looks like after he leaves; it’s no longer his problem.

The Cavs shouldn’t be capitulating to him anymore. He can’t get it done. The Cavs are better off with James for the first time since 2003 (well, 1998) and there’s no reason to let him back in.

The next time James signs a contract with Cleveland is when he signs a one-day contract so he can retire with the Cavaliers.