Both Miami Heat team president Pat Riley and NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed on Thursday. what basketball fans and media have been feeling since LeBron James announced he would not return to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The NBA offseason revolves around James’ free-agent decision.
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During Thursday’s press conference introducing the team’s new offseason additions, headlined by Giannis Antetokounmpo, Riley dropped hints that another big prize could be on his way to Miami. He likely wasn’t referring to DeMar DeRozan.
No, Riley alluded to LeBron James possibly bringing his talents back to South Beach amid reports that the four-time NBA MVP is considering the Heat along with the Cleveland Cavailiers and Philadelphia 76ers.
“We landed the plane,” Riley said while seated next to Antetokounmpo and Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. “There’s another one we have to land.”
The Heat president struck a confident tone at the podium, but acknowledged when talking to reporters after the initial presser that the team is now playing the waiting game since talking to James during the past two weeks.
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“Right now, I think we’re like everybody else,” Riley added. We’re just waiting to see what he does, and then we’ll see what happens.”
(The Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves are reportedly contenders as well, but James notably did not mention those teams when asked about his free-agent decision by Tyrese Haliburton at Fanatics Fest in New York.)
James famously signed with the Heat as a free agent in 2010, announcing his decision to leave his hometown Cavaliers during a special on ESPN. In four seasons with Miami, he won consecutive NBA championships in 2012 and 2013 while also earning MVP honors in each of those seasons. He left the Heat after the 2013-14 season to return to Cleveland.
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Also waiting for James to choose his next team is NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Appearing at the CNBC Sport x Boardroom Game Plan Summit as part of Fanatics Fest, Silver said that league business — and the broadcast schedules of its media partners — will literally be determined by where James goes.
“We have to finish up the schedule and where LeBron plays affects the schedule,” Silver tolc CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, via The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov. “It will influence how we set the schedule — opening week, Christmas. So I need him to make a decision.”
Count ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon among those waiting for James to pick his next team.
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The NBA schedule for the upcoming season is typically announced in mid-August. The preseason is slated to begin on Oct. 9 with the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets playing two games in Macao, China.
