LeBron James agreed to a four-year deal with the Lakers on Sunday night in a move that was expected, but one that will still cut into the psyche of Cavs fans the second James puts on a Lakers jersey for the first time.
No, it's not like last time. There is no need to rehash the aftermath of "The Decision," when James bolted Cleveland for Miami in 2010. Yet, James' second exit from Cleveland brings the same old questions about the Cavs' future with owner Dan Gilbert and James' legendary-yet-complicated 11-year relationship with the franchise.
Let's be clear about something. James will be the most beloved athlete in Cleveland — yes, he's ahead of Jim Brown — until somebody leads the Browns to a Super Bowl win. (Baker Mayfield, the floor is yours.)
James led the Cavaliers to five NBA Finals appearances and helped the city break a 52-year championship curse by leading an improbable comeback in the 2016 NBA Finals. James has been the driving force for countless economic and social efforts in Northeast Ohio, so his iconic standing in the state will never change. He'll always be welcome for coming home again and delivering on his promise.
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His legacy will always stretch much farther than Ohio, however. James is in the greatest-of-all-time-debate with Michael Jordan, a debate that's become infectiously nauseating with both sides so deeply committed to their player it's almost pointless to continue. James could've stayed in Cleveland and not won another championship, and this argument would be 50-50 forever.
That's not what the legends do. With the move to Los Angeles, the pressure will be on to add a few more rings before the 33-year-old retires. This isn't like when he left for Miami. You knew James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were going to win multiple NBA championships the moment James said "not one, not two…"
James is taking a gamble here, especially because we don't who else is coming to LA yet. If it pans out and he matches the two championships he won in Miami, then that would really thicken the argument and perhaps silence the MJ crowd.
It also would lead to some tough questions for Cleveland fans five years from now. Not about James, but about the what-could-have-been with this organization. Why did Miami get two? Why did Los Angeles get two (or more)? Why couldn't Cleveland do better than 1-4?
The correct answer, of course, is Kevin Durant left the Thunder for the Warriors during the wild summer of 2016, using a rare window to make one of the most impactful moves in league history. There's only so much you can do against arguably the greatest NBA team ever assembled.
You know what comes next. Gilbert either didn't do enough or did too much. The turning point came with the decision to part ways with general manager David Griffin and the trade that sent Kyrie Irving to Boston for what turned out to be loose parts. The summer of 2017 was the beginning of the end of the James era, which became official the moment JR Smith dribbled the wrong way in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals.
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There was too much drama and not enough talent in Cleveland to compete with Golden State. Gilbert spent a lot of money to keep James happy, but that money was not well spent. That should fall on both sides (James' Klutch Sports buddies Smith and Tristan Thompson got paid), but Gilbert will take the brunt of that. James gets a pass because he carried the Cavs to that championship and unprecedented success for franchise that hasn't won much without him.
We don't know if Cleveland will ever get back. That certainly won't happen this year. The Cavaliers were a 61-win team in the final season of James' first stint. They averaged 24 wins over the next four seasons. Nobody predicted that Kevin Love would be the last Cav standing among James and Irving, but that's where we are.
The NBA will be able to project conference finals that feature Boston and Philadelphia and Los Angeles and Golden State (though Oklahoma City and Houston will certainly have something to say). Cleveland will pick up the pieces, but it will be easier knowing that the 2016 NBA championship banner flies forever.
Cleveland won't wrestle with despair. The national narrative on fans of that city has been wrong for a long time. They've survived "The Drive," "The Fumble" and Art Modell. They'll survive this, too.
James spoke of coming back for the "unfinished business" that motivated this chapter and was reflective enough about this stint that you felt like he accomplished that mission. He was ready to flip the page to the next chapter. He's earned that, and giving a Cleveland a championship will absolve him from criticism in the short term.
It doesn't make things any less complicated, however, especially when Cleveland fans see "King James" trade wine-and-gold for gold-and-purple for the first time. It won't be easy to watch James win somewhere else when you know what could have been given the contentious relationship between superstar and owner. That was the epitaph on the first and second stint.
Years from now, it won't be any easier to explain.
