What did you expect him to say?
When LeBron James was asked about his reaction to his former coach going back to his former team — Mike Brown has been hired as the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers — you knew LeBron was media savvy enough to say something supportive of the hire. So he did to the Associated Press.
The first question on a lot of people’s minds (based on twitter responses) was “How does this impact Cleveland’s ability to land LeBron James in 2014?”
I don’t think it does — because I don’t think he leaves Miami in 2014.
Not for Los Angeles, not for Cleveland, not for anywhere. He’ll opt out and re-sign in Miami (he may leave after the next deal, but not now). Why? Because the Heat look on the path to winning their second consecutive title this year and they will certainly be contenders next year as well. He trusts Pat Riley, he trusts Erik Spoelstra and he likes the winning culture there. He knows at this point his legacy is about winning rings and he’s doing that right where he is. Also, he took a lot of “you’re just chasing the rings” flack when he left Cleveland before and he’d get more if he jumped now. Bottom line to me is he has matured a lot the last few years and has a loyalty to where he won, he has a great relationship with Wade, he likes Miami, and they are going to keep winning. You don’t leave that.
If you don’t like my logic, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com tweeted this.
"If they want LeBron, they better reach out to his crew," one exec said. "LeBron isn't a huge fan."
— Ken Berger (@KBergNBA) April 23, 2013
Or, look at what Adrian Wojnarowski wrote at Yahoo Sports:
From the moment Mike Brown marches back into the Cleveland Cavaliers, ownership needs to empower him to tell everyone the truth: LeBron James is gone and he’s never returning to the franchise.
Any way you want to slice it, the success of the Cavaliers is about Kyrie Irving’s future and Mike Brown’s defense. It’s not about LeBron.
But LeBron says he likes the hire.
