DBWI: LeBron leaves Cleveland in 2010

Clevelanders have a lot of sports heartache - The Shot, The Drive, The Fumble, Red Right 88, the Indians' meltdowns in 1997, 2007 and last year, and one close shave - The Decision. LeBron James made a big production of telling the entire nation where he was going in 2010 and rumors swirled everywhere from Chicago to Miami to LA.

What we didn't know was that LeBron had almost single-handedly masterminded the greatest coup in NBA history and built a team around him in Cleveland, a feat that was thought to be impossible, and the rest is history.

But what if he hadn't gotten that done? What would have been the best landing spot for The King? And would he have succeeded?
 
I remember hearing some rumor that he was going to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Luckily for Cleveland, that didn't happen. Wade decided to stay in Miami (at least until 2017), but Bosh left Toronto for the Cavs. The Cavs then pulled off that ridiculous lopsided trade to acquire Chris Paul from the Hornets for Mo Williams, J.J. Hickson, and those future first-round picks that became Norris Cole and Andre Drummond. Rumor has it that the league rigged the draft lottery the next year just so the Hornets (now the New Orleans Buccaneers) could draft Kyrie Irving, if you believe the conspiracy theories.

I'll never forget LeBron's press conference, at the Boys and Girls Club in Cleveland, where he talked about how his relationship with Northeast Ohio was "bigger than basketball" and he wanted to "bring not one, not two, not three, not four, but multiple trophies back to Northeast Ohio."

Seven years and three championships later, here we are. I don't know who's going to pick up the slack after Lebron retires and the dynasty is over, though. But Cleveland is now a destination for star athletes. If LeBron leaves, I bet Peyton Manning never comes to the Browns to finish his career.
 
I heard that Miami rumor - wonder if Manning would have finished out his career with the Dolphins and if they could have pulled out the same miracle run the Browns did in 2015. But yeah, that first title in Cleveland was really special for the city - the whole area within 50 miles practically shut down for the parade.

I heard a rumor that the first offered trade wasn't to New Orleans - it was to Golden State for Steph Curry. Could you imagine that team? I mean, Warriors vs Cavs is awesome even now (and I heard rumors of Kevin Durant to the Warriors...imagine THAT team) but the Cavs would be unstoppable with Curry.

And yes, Cleveland is THE city for sports. The Browns in 2015 (which we should have known was coming after Peyton obliterated the Ravens in the wild card round in 2012...that Ravens team was playing with its hair on fire and looked like a lock for a Super Bowl run until Peyton threw five TDs, sent them packing and gave the AFC to the Houston Texans) and then this Indians team and that epic seven-game series against the Dodgers to bring the title to Cleveland.
 
As hard as it is for the Cavs to face Durant and the Wizards in the playoffs (those last two Eastern Conference Finals were some of the best basketball I've ever seen), I'm glad he didn't go to Golden State. Not only would Golden State have been unstoppable with Durant, but he would have been looked at as a mercenary and one of the biggest sports villains. The Warriors are tough enough as it is with Steph Curry, Kevin Love, and Draymond Green.
 
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