Legendary forward LeBron James’ iconic stint with the Miami Heat ended when he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2014.
But a report from Five Reasons Sports’ Ethan J. Skolnick indicates that James’ old team was still on his mind at times during his maiden season playing alongside guard Kyrie Irving and big man Kevin Love in Cleveland.
Per Skolnick, James often asked him about the Heat in his first season back with the Cavs.
“I covered LeBron in Cleveland the season after he left Miami,” Skolnick wrote via Discord. “He often pulled me aside to ask about the Heat. He never trashed them or made his new place out to be ‘better.’
“The bad taste from the JB (Jimmy Butler) situation will last longer.
“Much of this feels to me like an effort to impress Steph [Curry] and Draymond [Green]. It will fade next season.”
How James operated in light of his departure from Miami is in stark contrast to how Butler has handled himself. A few days back, ESPN’s Shams Charania indicated that the forward thinks the Golden State Warriors are “better than any other organization he’s been a part of” in what felt like a partial shot at the Miami organization.
The 2014-15 campaign marked the first season of James’ second stint as a Cavalier, and he nearly led the team to what would have been its first title in franchise history. The Cavaliers made it all the way to the NBA Finals before they lost to Curry and the Warriors in the 2015 championship series.
While James’ Cavaliers came close to winning that title, the Heat regressed quite a bit. Just the season prior, Miami reached the NBA Finals with James in the fold. But without him, the Heat ended up with just 37 wins in the 2014-15 season and watched the playoffs from home.
Of course, James ultimately did help the Cavs win their first championship in franchise history in the 2015-16 season.
After Butler led the Heat to the championship series on multiple occasions but came up short of capturing a title during his Miami tenure, he will hope to get over the hump with his new team. The Warriors have multiple players with championship pedigree and have been playing some of their best basketball in a while lately.
The Warriors have won four games in a row and seven of their last 10. They sit as the No. 8 seed in the West and are just one game back of the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 6 seed.
Butler’s Warriors will be gunning for their fifth win in a row when they take on the Orlando Magic on Thursday night.
