Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James is able to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and rumors and speculation have run rampant with all sorts of ideas and scenarios involving which teams he could join.
Chris Sheridan, formerly of ESPN and the Associated Press who now writes for NJ.com, explained in a story posted Thursday why James will leave Cleveland again in free agency this summer.
“The No. 1 reason why this is going to happen is because Cavs owner Dan Gilbert is a huge Trump supporter; LeBron is not,” Sheridan writes.
“It is a matter of public record that Gilbert donated $750,000 to President Trump’s inauguration fund. Quicken is now the largest mortgage lender in America, and according to Fortune’s real-time wealth calculator, Gilbert woke up this morning with a net worth of $6.3 billion.”
As Sheridan notes, James has been an outspoken critic of President Trump. James also introduced Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton during a rally in Cleveland not long before the election in November 2016.
In addition to this Trump angle, let’s not forget that Gilbert and James didn’t break up well when the veteran forward originally left Cleveland as a free agent in 2010. Remember the letter Gilbert wrote in comic sans font that ripped James?
Sheridan, who reported on Twitter in October that this season would be James’ last in Cleveland, also was the first to report in 2014 that James was leaving the Miami Heat and going back to the Cavs. Around two days later, James’ first-person essay in Sports Illustrated served as the public announcement of his move back to Cleveland.
The Ringer reported last month that the Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers and the Cavs are on James’ list of potential free-agent destinations.
While James and the Cavs now appear to be the clear favorites in the Eastern Conference after Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving’s injury announcement, all eyes will be laser-focused on where he decides to take his legendary talent next, or if it will remain in Cleveland after all.
