LeBron James left Cleveland once and he does not plan on doing it again. After winning two championships with the Miami Heat, James returns to the team that drafted him No. 1 overall in hopes of bringing success to his hometown. However, fans grew worried when it was revealed that James was only signed to a two-year contract, the second year being a player option that James could opt out of. The forward stresses he is going nowhere.
James spoke to the media during his charity's annual event and of course the question regarding his two-year, $42 million contract came up. While everyone was celebrating the return of the hometown hero, the idea that he could be gone come next summer was a cruel truth. James made it very clue he had no intentions of leaving Ohio a second time.
"My No. 1 goal is to win a championship here; it'd be the greatest achievement in my life," James said, via ESPN.com. "I don't plan on going nowhere. I don't have the energy to do it again."
Cleveland is doing everything they can to put a championship roster in place for the forward. They added players like Mike Miller and James Jones who played with James in South Beach. According to Yahoo Sports, they have also successfully traded for Kevin Love, a deal that cannot be finalized until the end of August due to NBA rules surrounding rookie Andrew Wiggins. James was not ready to confirm the arrival of Love, but did note just how better the Cavaliers would be with him on the roster.
"If he comes aboard, I will be very excited to have him," James said. "I don't even really care about the 26 [points] and 12 [rebounds], I care about his basketball IQ. His basketball IQ is very, very high. I had the opportunity to spend 32 days with him in the 2012 Olympics. He was huge for us ... he's a great piece."
James is excited about the players in place for the Cavaliers. He noted the team still had a long ways to go, but took the time to praise point guard Kyrie Irving as one of the best in the league. He also stressed that he loved the recent comments from Dion Waiters regarding his desire to start for the Cavaliers. Waiters' name had been tossed around in several trade rumors, but he remains on the roster while Wiggins is sent packing.
"I love the chip on Dion's shoulder. Everyone else sees it as a negative, but I look at it as a positive and I look forward to getting with him. I love how active Tristan [Thompson] is. You give me nine Andy [Varejaos] and I'll be the 10th guy...I understand it's going to be a process."
The Cavaliers are currently rising to the top of the NBA predicted standings with the additions of James and Love. The mix of youth and veteran leadership is a huge upgrade from what the team had last season and a championship might not actually be far off.