LeBron James’ 2014 ‘I’m coming home’ letter gives us several clues about his 2018 plans

As we lose our minds with anticipation over the next week thinking and talking (and writing) about where LeBron James will play basketball next season, it’s worth revisiting what he said about a similar decision back in 2014.

You may recall that he and Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins penned a first-person explanation for LeBron’s decision to leave the Heat to sign with the Cavaliers four years after he’d left. This was a brilliant maneuver that bought LeBron loads of good will. It felt like the complete opposite of the reviled series of events LeBron undertook in 2010 with the ESPN special announcing his decision and the press conference dressed up like a party in Miami. It was a grown-up, comfortable LeBron explaining his decision on his own terms without spectacle.

(Of course, because he’s LeBron, he was able to pull it off with one of the world’s best basketball writers for the most famous sports magazine with basically no one finding out early.)

But let’s move past the style of that announcement and look to the content. Here are three things that stand out from that piece as we read the tea leaves here in 2018.

This is a critical paragraph in the field of LeBronography.

When I left Cleveland, I was on a mission. I was seeking championships, and we won two. But Miami already knew that feeling. Our city hasn’t had that feeling in a long, long, long time. My goal is still to win as many titles as possible, no question. But what’s most important for me is bringing one trophy back to Northeast Ohio.

Emphasis mine.

There are obviously two key points here. The first is that LeBron, as of 2014, was interested in maximizing the number of titles he would win. Four years ago, this was read (accurately) by some as an indication LeBron no longer felt Miami offered the best opportunity to win titles, all things considered.

The next sentence, though, undercuts that a bit by indicating LeBron’s top basketball priority was simply winning one championship in Cleveland. Mission accomplished, in 2016.

(Elsewhere in the piece, LeBron indicates that he believes getting there will take longer than it did in Miami, but it took exactly the same amount of time. His words suggest he didn’t expect to dominate the East and peel off a championship within two years, but that’s what the Cavaliers did.)

LeBron described what was most important in this piece four years ago — one championship for Cleveland — and that’s been accomplished. It’s worth noting that.

Another important line:

I started thinking about what it would be like to raise my family in my hometown.

LeBron did this for four years. Now his oldest, who we all know as Bronny, is entering high school. There are persistent rumors he’ll enroll at an elite private school in LA as an top basketball prospect, which makes the Lakers possibility so potent. Situations change, and families move all the time. And four years ago, LeBron couldn’t have really known his son was going to be in position to chase an NBA career of his own.

LeBron came up through the ranks out of Northeastern Ohio. He knows what that’s like and, of course, his son has far more resources than a young LeBron did. But the fact he’s considering a move to Los Angeles right as his son takes the next step in his basketball adventure would seem to diminish the power of his interest in raising his family in Ohio.

The grass is always greener, but it’s greenest in California. (Except when we have a drought going, which is like most of the time. Then the grass is brown.)

I feel my calling here goes above basketball. I have a responsibility to lead, in more ways than one, and I take that very seriously. My presence can make a difference in Miami, but I think it can mean more where I’m from. I want kids in Northeast Ohio, like the hundreds of Akron third-graders I sponsor through my foundation, to realize that there’s no better place to grow up. Maybe some of them will come home after college and start a family or open a business. That would make me smile. Our community, which has struggled so much, needs all the talent it can get.

This is the one section of LeBron’s 2014 piece that really makes me think he might stay in Cleveland. You don’t come up with a perspective like that without meaning it.

LeBron has done some great things in Ohio. The dude opened a school for students in danger of falling behind. He’s partnered to ensure Akron kids can go to college on scholarship. He’s building an infrastructure.

Basketball reasons might push LeBron out of Cleveland to Philadelphia or Houston. Wanting the best development opportunity for his son or to be closer to his many Hollywood projects might push LeBron to Los Angeles. But helping kids like him in Northeastern Ohio is where LeBron’s heart and energy really seems to be, and that’s highlighted in the 2014 piece explaining why he returned home.

If there’s one thing to remember about 2014 when figuring out what 2018 holds, it’s that.