In an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated, LeBron James declared today that he will return to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball," James told SI.com. "I didn't realize that four years ago. I do now."
This will be a huge upheaval in the Eastern conference, dramatically changing the playoff picture and potentially will result in Carmelo Anthony making his own “decision” soon now that the biggest domino of free agency has fallen. LeBron will be joining Kyrie Irving and first overall picks Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett in Cleveland – assuming this plays out as reported – and the Cavaliers instantly become the favorites in the Eastern conference to return to the NBA Finals.
I'm very curious as to how James and Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert will smooth out their relationship, especially after Gilbert's scathing comic-sans letter to James years ago.
Chris Bosh will now almost assuredly take the reported max offer from the Houston Rockets. Miami is probably completely hosed for the forseeable future. The Knicks have to be pretty sad.
More details to come as they become available.
