Are there Ulterior Motives in the LeBron to Warriors Story? by Andrew Ites

In the summer of 2014, LeBron James opted out of the final year of his contract with the Heat to become a free agent. The Heat had just been throttled by the Spurs in the Finals, and LeBron saw that his future wasn’t looking too bright in Miami.

Golden State had just lost in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs, and had hired Steve Kerr as their head coach after moving on from Mark Jackson. Not many people predicted that moment would be the beginning of a dynasty in Golden State, and that includes LeBron.

The Warriors reached out to James’ agent Rich Paul to schedule a meeting with LeBron during free agency in the summer of 2014, but James’ camp apparently turned them down.

LeBron had likely already narrowed his options down to two that summer: stay in Miami and rebuild their roster with D-Wade and Chris Bosh, or go back home to Cleveland to team up with Kyrie Irving and make a trade for Kevin Love.

James chose to return to Cleveland even after their owner Dan Gilbert wrote that ferocious letter lambasting LeBron for heading to Miami in 2010.

The rest is history as LeBron would lose to the Warriors in his first season after the return to Cleveland, and bring one championship trophy back home before losing to the Warriors again in last year’s Finals.

LeBron joining the Splash Brothers and Steve Kerr in Golden State in 2014 is one of the NBA’s greatest what-if’s. James’ decision has worked out alright since returning to the Cavaliers, but he missed out on an opportunity to build an unstoppable monster with the Warriors.