Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James Needs To Stay Away From Cav's New Winning Culture

LeBron James will forever be looked at as one of Cleveland’s all-time great sports icons. He brought a title to a city starved for one. The Northeast Ohio fanbase would welcome him back to the city/team with open arms if he decided to return to The Land for the end of his career. With that being said, unless it’s just to sign a 1-day deal to retire with Cleveland Cavaliers, there really isn’t much incentive for the organization to want him back (despite what fans might want).

Why wouldn’t the Cavaliers, which were one of the most inept franchises in all of professional sports, not want to bring the local hero home to win a title? What a feel-good story it would be to go out on top with your hometown team, back where it all started for you.

The history books would cement the GOAT of the NBA ending his career in a city that has never had a consistent positive opinion from anyone in the sports world. That right there is enough reason for him to finish in Cleveland. It’s a good story, however, not one the Cavs need to look to write.

If, as a sports journalist, you look back at the legacy of the Cleveland Cavaliers, outside of the Miracle of Richfield season, LeBron is the only player who’s associated with winning for the franchise. The Cavaliers’ main goal is to break that narrative. You do not want to be known as a team that could only win with the help of one player. All of the team’s success can’t hinge on LeBron.

You want to look back and see James contributed to creating a winning mindset for the city/team through his tenure there. You don’t want to look back and wonder how the Cavs just can’t win without LeBron.

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As the Cavaliers contend for the 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this season, the thought of LeBron needing to be a member of the Cavs for success is long gone. With Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, Kevin Love, and Cedi Osman, the Cavs have a new core (and old in Love’s case) of guys leading the charge. These players are giving Cleveland a shot at overcoming the LeBron stigma. These are now the new Cleveland heroes.

Love, who won a title with the Cavs in 2016, has fully embraced his role as the 6th man. That’s a telling sign for this franchise, as he knows a title without LeBron would also signify his legacy as well. The young guys, Garland, Allen, Mobley are making their case as elite NBA players. Osman, who was given the task of replacing LeBron, has finally found a role he’s comfortable with. Nobody thought any of these scenarios would happen without the King.

In what seems like an overnight transition, Cleveland has done the impossible. They’ve defied the critics, analysts, all of those who’ve said they couldn’t win without LeBron. I’m not sure bringing him back does them any favors. Yes, they have a better shot at a title. However, a title would mean more to the team and city (and National reputation) if it wasn’t with LeBron.

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Cleveland Cavaliers owner, Dan Gilbert, only sees the dollar signs. Despite his rocky history with James, he’d welcome him back with a blank check. That’d be fine if this was the only way to make basketball profitable in the city. It is not. Cleveland can be successful on and off the court with James’ help.

Nobody expected the Cavs to ever be this good (so soon) without LeBron, yet here they are. With the Browns and Guardians doing god knows what, the basketball team owns the hearts of The Land. LeBron isn’t here driving the team in sales or popularity. The new core has given this franchise and the city of Cleveland all it needs to be an upper-echelon NBA team.

Who needs LeBron James? Not the Cleveland Cavaliers.