{"id":586484,"date":"2021-07-08T17:05:50","date_gmt":"2021-07-08T21:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=586484"},"modified":"2021-07-08T17:05:53","modified_gmt":"2021-07-08T21:05:53","slug":"11-years-ago-today-lebron-james-changed-the-nba-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/11-years-ago-today-lebron-james-changed-the-nba-forever\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Years Ago Today, LeBron James Changed The NBA Forever"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F11-years-ago-today-lebron-james-changed-the-nba-forever%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=586484&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-102722792.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>Eleven years ago today, LeBron James shocked the world, and changed the state of the NBA forever.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On July 8, 2010, James announced he would be leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers and \u201ctaking his talents to South Beach\u201d to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"7.5949367088608\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">11 YEARS AGO TODAY<br \/>LeBron James made &#8220;The Decision&#8221; to take his talents to South Beach!<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9A4kO7BSuA\">pic.twitter.com\/9A4kO7BSuA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Ballislife\/status\/1413103356445351936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 8, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cThe Decision\u201d was a public spectacle, dragging on for close to an hour before James finally informed Jim Gray of his intention to join \u201cThe Heatles.\u201d It was an immediate PR disaster for James and his camp as many felt the public decision to be unnecessarily cruel to Cavaliers fans.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It set the stage for Miami becoming the ultimate villains in professional basketball, with fans burning James\u2019 jersey in Cleveland, and the Heat being mercilessly booed in every arena in the country.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/news\/story?id=5365704\"><span>penned<\/span><\/a><span> an angry letter to fans, calling James\u2019 decision a \u201ccowardly betrayal,\u201d guaranteeing a championship in Cleveland before James brought one to Miami.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER \u2018KING\u2019 WINS ONE\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>After having time to reflect on the way he made his decision, James admitted he would have gone about it differently if given the chance.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cProbably one of the hardest times in my life,\u201d James <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Ballislife\/status\/1413143806006882313\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span> in an interview with ESPN\u2019s Rachel Nichols. \u201cAfter the Finals, I sat in my room for two weeks. Did absolutely nothing, talked to absolutely nobody.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI didn\u2019t feel good. When I made the decision, I was still living in Ohio so you could feel it,\u201d James said when asked how it felt to be the villain. \u201cYou don\u2019t even have to hear it sometimes, you could feel it. The hatred, or whatever the case may be, of my departure. If I could look back on it, I would change a lot of it. Having the whole TV special and people getting the opportunity to watch me make a decision on where I\u2019m going to play. I would probably change that. I can now look and see if the shoe was on the other foot, and I was a fan and was very passionate about one player, and he decided to leave \u2026 I would be upset by the way that he handled it.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That doesn\u2019t mean the move turned out badly for James.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>James led the Heat to four NBA Finals, winning two championships, and was voted MVP of the league two times while in Miami.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>His decision to leave Cleveland in free agency shook up the league, and it\u2019s also set the stage for star players to jump from team to team in the years since.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The \u201cplayer empowerment era\u201d is currently in full throttle, in large part due to James.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In 2016, Kevin Durant made the decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder in order to join forces with Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Durant\u2019s decision drew nearly as much vitriol as James\u2019 decision did, but it\u2019s hard to believe the move would have been possible without James taking the step of leaving Cleveland in free agency six years earlier.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Kawhi Leonard forced his way out of San Antonio, Anthony Davis told New Orleans he wanted out, and James Harden got his way when he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets after growing tired of the Houston Rockets organization.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>There are many who feel that James\u2019 decision to leave Cleveland for Miami in 2010 has set the NBA down a dangerous path. With players jumping from team to team, fans have grown more accustomed to rooting for individual players rather than organizations. Teams are in constant fear of their stars demanding a trade or leaving in free agency.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>There are others that enjoy the freedom that players have. After all, super teams do make for quality television.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Whichever side you fall on, one thing is clear \u2014 11 years ago today, LeBron James changed the NBA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to sports@dailywire.com.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eleven years ago today, LeBron James shocked the world, and changed the state of the NBA forever.\u00a0On July 8, 2010, James announced he would be leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers and &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2314297,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-102722792.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"11 Years Ago Today, LeBron James Changed The NBA Forever","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-586484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-102722792.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"11 Years Ago Today, LeBron James Changed The NBA Forever","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2314297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}