Leave it to Brian Windhorst to bring the NBA world and Cleveland Cavaliers fans the most pertinent and immediate LeBron James news.
In a recent radio appearance, the veteran ESPN reporter said he knows “for a fact” that James wants to stay in Cleveland, per a Reddit user who transcribed Windhorst’s comments.
“I know for a fact that LeBron, if all else is equal, wants to stay in Cleveland. He wants to be here, he wants to play at home. He values that greatly. But if he feels he can’t win here because of (owner) Dan (Gilbert’s) choices, he may have no choice but to leave.”
It is unclear what radio show Windhorst was on, but with how connected he is to James and the entire Cavaliers organization, it’s reasonable to believe that his information is more than credible.
What’s interesting is the idea that James wants to stay in Cleveland that badly. We all know that he is from Akron, Ohio, and playing for his home state is clearly important to him. He would not have gone back there from Miami if it wasn’t.
But we also know that winning is almost as important, if not equally important, to him. James has not shied away from the idea that he wants to be in the conversation with Michael Jordan as the greatest basketball who has ever lived, and winning another championship will put him closer to that.
But with the Cavaliers reeling much worse than in past years, a championship may not be feasible with that team anymore. There are other situations in the NBA where he can have a better chance of winning.
James won’t make his decision until the summer, so fans have months of speculation left. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the interim.