LeBron smiles for camera

Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James poses for pictures during the Cavaliers media day at the Cleveland Clinic Courts on Friday.

(Lisa DeJong)

CLEVELAND, Ohio – LeBron James said Cavaliers fans "shouldn't be nervous at all, I plan on finishing my career back home."

James made the remark during an interview on CNN's Unguarded with Rachel Nichols, which aired Friday night. Nichols asked James if Cavaliers fans should be nervous about his short contract, a two-year, $42.1 million deal with a player option after one season – meaning James could theoretically leave via free agency in the summer of 2015.

"It was a business decision," James told Nichols. "They (Cavaliers fans) just got to get excited about this year, which is, I don't even need to say that."

James has made similar statements about potentially finishing his career in Cleveland – he's only 29 – but perhaps none more pronounced than what he said to Nichols.

In his July 11 letter in Sports Illustrated announcing his decision to return to the Cavaliers as a free agent, James said "I always believed that I'd return to Cleveland and finish my career there," but it was in a different context.

At a homecoming rally for James at the University of Akron on August 8, he told a crowd of thousands that "I don't plan on going nowhere."

As for James' contract, short deals with player options give James the ability to increase his salary more often, including in 2016 when a new NBA television deal is expected to significantly raise the league's maximum salary.