LeBron James made headlines when announced he was returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The hometown hero was back to lead his former team to a championship. However, heading into the All-Star break the Cavaliers look far from a championship contending team. They look far from being the best in the Eastern Conference. Now, doubt is rising over James' commitment to Cleveland after a video surfaced of his conversation with Dywane Wade on Christmas Day.
According to a number of NBA fanatics, when James and Wade addressed each other following the Miami Heat's win over the Cavaliers on Christmas Day, James told his former teammate they would one day reunite again and do bigger and better things. That set off a number of alarms claiming James was looking for an early departure after the Cavaliers have struggled this season. However, James denies he is aiming to leave Cleveland sooner rather than later.
"I'm here to build something great in the present and in the future, and that's the reason I'm back," James said, via ESPN.com. "I got no other reason to have to continue to talk about things that's so outlandish. I'm here. This is where I'll be, and this is where I'm comfortable at."
The biggest reason there is rising doubt around James is his contract. The forward signed a two-year, $42 million contract that comes with a player option for 2015 while making him an unrestricted free agent in 2016. Technically speaking, James could bolt after this year. The likelihood of that happening seems extremely small, but anything can happen in the NBA.
For now, the veteran says he is fully committed to Cleveland and is focused on getting healthy and bettering the team for a second-half run this season. Injuries have been the biggest issue along with the lack of defense. James continues to sit while nursing knee soreness. Kyrie Irving is returning from a knee injury. Anderson Varejao is out for the season. The Cavaliers will have to make a trade in the upcoming weeks, they just need to decide how big of a move they can afford.
"Obviously with my injuries and other guys being out and us not capable of what we're capable of playing to [it is testing], but the inconsistency I kind of knew [would happen]. I figured it would happen. And that's why I try to stay patient. I try to not have my body language be as bad as it can be sometimes," James said.
