Former Miami Heat star LeBron James is now the face of the Los Angeles Lakers, and while he’s won two NBA championships since leaving the Heat, he’s only won multiple titles with Miami.
Still, according to NBA insider and unofficial James whisperer Brian Windhorst, the four-time MVP was “never totally comfortable” as a member of the Heat.
“I think he’s making a decision, which by the way, he has every right to, he’s making a decision like this is where I want to be at the end of my career,” said Brian Windhorst on the Bill Simmons Podcast. “He was never totally comfortable in Miami. As soon as the season ended, he was out of there back to Akron.
“Maybe even if he played in L.A. at that time of his life, that would have been the way he was. He was never comfortable there. He’s comfortable in L.A. His roots are in.”
It’s an interesting tidbit, and given Windhorst’s incredibly long history of covering James, it has to be taken seriously. Beyond that, this is far from the first time that relics from the Heat’s past have come into the news.
After all, James’ time with the team was a highly publicized one. James joined the Heat in 2010 and what followed was a four-year period of dominance.
James and the Heat advanced to four straight NBA Finals appearances and won two titles along the way. Despite that level of success, it seems James was never totally sold.
A report earlier this summer indicated that when Heat team president Pat Riley asked James to re-sign with the team for less than a max deal back in 2014, the offer was “greeted with silence.”
Now in L.A., James is the face of the most popular franchise in the league. Though it would seem like a match made in heaven, it hasn’t all been sunshine and roses in L.A. In four seasons with the Lakers, James has made the playoffs only twice.
Of course, one of those playoff runs did end in an NBA title. Still, it’s not quite the track record fans have come to expect from teams led by James.
So, while he may be more comfortable in L.A., it seems like he’s also gotten a lot more comfortable with losing.
