LeBron Done Having Meetings, Decision Likely Coming Soon
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – It appears that LeBron James is getting close to ending all the speculation and making a decision on what team he will sign his next contract with.
James met with Miami Heat President Pat Riley for over an hour on Wednesday in Las Vegas but left the meeting without having made his final decision. It was the first meeting of the free-agency period for LeBron and according to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald, it will also be his last.
While James' agent has met with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns, the only face-to-face time that LeBron is giving to any team is to Riley and the Heat.
The NBA's free-agent moratorium ended at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday which means that players are now free to officially sign contracts with whichever team they please.
A decision from James will likely come in the next couple days. Following his meeting with Riley, James is remaining in Las Vegas to work with his LeBron James Skills Academy. After he deliberates on his future plans with his family, a decision should come shortly after that.
Several teams are hoping that James will leave Miami and start fresh in a new city, but it appears that the choice will be between two teams.
The first option would be to stay in Miami, where James has reached the NBA Finals in each of his four seasons with the Heat. James knows that if he decides to stay with the Heat, Riley and company will do everything possible to build a championship-caliber team around LeBron and their track record speaks for itself.
Option "B" would be for James to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team that selected him first overall in the 2003 NBA Draft. The Cavs are the closest team in the league to James' hometown, Akron, Ohio, where much of his family still lives and where LeBron travels to every offseason.
Thankfully it's looking like an end to all this debate and conjecture is in sight. With social media constantly abuzz with the latest LeBron updates, no matter who or what the source is and with no concrete evidence that the information is accurate, fans will finally be able to have a resolution.
Whether those fans are happy with whatever comes next is yet to be seen, but hopefully this time there won't be any need to burn LeBron jerseys in the street.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report.)
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