Could LeBron James return to Cleveland again? ‘The door’s not closed on that,’ he says

CLEVELAND — LeBron James is back home this weekend, back in the blustery cold and snow-covered streets of northeast Ohio. His picture is back on the building that hangs across from the arena he called home for 11 years as part of the league’s All-Star Game celebration.

Now the only question is whether another picture could go up there again someday. Could James return to Cleveland and play for the Cavaliers a third time?

“The door’s not closed on that,” James told The Athletic on Saturday following the East’s team practice on the campus of Cleveland State. “I’m not saying I’m coming back and playing, I don’t know. I don’t know what my future holds. I don’t even know when I’m free.”

James, of course, is a free agent after next season. He is tethered to the Lakers for one more year.

After that? Buckle up.

James stressed he has not thought about a return to Cleveland, but he also wouldn’t rule anything out. Maybe it’s a one-day deal to retire a Cavalier someday. Maybe it’s more.

The landscape is far different this time for both sides. James bolted Cleveland in 2010 for a Heat team that advanced to four consecutive NBA Finals and won two championships. The Cavs, meanwhile, collected a war chest of draft picks and trade assets while struggling to piece together a competitive roster.

James returned anyway and delivered the city its first championship in 52 years.

Read more: The Athletic has launched a new narrative podcast series, “A King’s Reign”, which takes a look inside LeBron’s legacy. The series is out now.

Now it’s the Cavaliers in the thick of contention in the Eastern Conference without him while the Lakers are floundering in the West. James won another championship in Los Angeles after leaving Cleveland, which ultimately is what he wanted, but the Lakers’ roster is now a collection of old, expensive and underperforming talent. It’s hard to find a path out of it before James is a free agent again.

When the Lakers were blown out by the Bucks before the break, James acknowledged he doesn’t believe they can reach an elite level this season. They sat idle at the trade deadline and remain a sub-.500 team at the break just fighting to make the Play-In Tournament, although James said Saturday he believes the energy shifted in the locker room after the trade deadline and he liked what he saw out of the Lakers their last few games.

Cavs general manager Koby Altman, meanwhile, has organically built one of the best young rosters in the league over the last four years since James’ departure. The Cavs (35-23) enter the break fourth in the East, 2.5 games out of the top spot. They have two All-Stars this weekend in Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen — which is one more than the Lakers have. It’s the first time Cleveland has enjoyed multiple All-Stars when LeBron wasn’t involved in nearly 30 years. James has certainly noticed.

“I think Koby and those guys have done an unbelievable job drafting and making trades,” James said. “I think big fella (Allen), that acquisition was amazing for them to make that trade. Obviously, Darius Garland is a big-time player. And I think the role that Kevin (Love) is playing right now has kind of uplifted those young guys, seeing a veteran that could sacrifice, a champion that’s won a championship, all the things that he’s done, to come off the bench and play this role. I am not surprised by anything that they’re doing right now.”

The Cavs snatched Allen from the Nets last season as part of the deal that sent James Harden to Brooklyn and watched him blossom into one of the best big men in the East. Love, after struggling through three injury-plagued rebuilding years without LeBron, is thriving in a sixth man role that he accepted to make room for Evan Mobley, who is the favorite to win NBA Rookie of the Year.

Garland, who shares an agent with James in Rich Paul, wants the Cavs to forge a new identity without LeBron and prove they can make the playoffs without him. That hasn’t happened since 1998.

“Our guys want to make our own legacy,” Garland said Saturday. “It’s a new look, a new feel. It’s a rebirth in Cleveland. It would mean a lot to all of us.”

Asked if he has ever discussed the possibility of James returning again, Garland laughed and said no.

Another return to Cleveland would be complicated, particularly with James still playing at an elite level. Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff has spoken frequently this season about the chemistry and the way this team plays for each other. James’ presence alters every locker room he enters.

He’ll be 38 next summer, although he’s still averaging 29.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists this season. The Cavs would struggle to fit James’ salary without dismantling what they’ve already built, which they seem unlikely to do. James, who returned to Cleveland in 2014 on a max contract, isn’t interested in taking a midlevel exception now.

“I don’t play midlevel basketball,” James said. “I don’t come back for anything below the top.”

There is one caveat to that, however. James said Saturday he’ll go anywhere to play with his son, Bronny James.

Bronny is a high school junior. Under the league’s current system, he wouldn’t be draft-eligible for two more years, leaving James in contract purgatory for one year. The league could change its stance to allow high school players to go directly to the NBA, which would align Bronny’s draft eligibility with James’ current contract status. The league changing the rule before then, however, seems unlikely.

Nevertheless, James’ message to all 30 teams Saturday was clear: If you want me, draft Bronny.

“My last year will be played with my son,” James said. “Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year. It’s not about the money at that point.”

Now 19 years into his career, James has shown few signs of slowing down. He joked when he drafted Garland onto his roster for All-Star weekend that he needed him for protection after bolting Cleveland twice. James said when he returned in 2014 he wouldn’t leave again, that he couldn’t endure another round of free agency and he planned to finish his career here. Then he left again anyway.

Asked what changed and why he left again, James paused.

“Life. Life just changes,” he said. “You have a mission and you have more goals that you want to set out, you know? When I won a championship here, I didn’t think that I would go anywhere, because I felt like I was complete. And then I realized that I still wanted to, I wanted to reach another level. I wanted to reach another level, so it wasn’t done. My life goal wasn’t complete.”

Now he owns four rings and has guided three different franchises to championships.

He’ll spend this weekend at his palace in Bath Township, a suburb of Akron, reminiscing with all of his old classmates. His five closest friends from high school all attended All-Star practice Saturday and joined him for pictures on the court afterward.

This is James’ 18th All-Star Game, tied for second all time with Kobe Bryant. He was 12 years old living with his mother at Spring Hill Apartments in Akron the last time Cleveland hosted the All-Star Game in 1997. He couldn’t afford to attend any of the events. On Sunday, he’ll serve as team captain and will be among the top 75 players honored at halftime as part of the NBA’s diamond anniversary.

He’ll get on a plane and return to Los Angeles for the second half of the season. After that? Stay tuned.

“That’s a conversation that could be had later on down the line,” he said. “Because I’m still playing some damn good basketball.”

— The Athletic’s Joe Vardon contributed to this report.

(Photo of James: Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images)

Could LeBron James return to Cleveland again? ‘The door’s not closed on that,’ he says

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