The Cleveland Cavaliers drafted LeBron James in the NBA league back in 2003 as a 1st overall pick (1st round). His official basketball career started with the Cavs in 2003 when he recorded his debut in a regular-season game against the Sacramento Kings and scored 25 points. After staying with the same franchise for over 7 years, the star then went off to play with the Miami Heat.
He repeated the same pattern twice in his career. However, the second time he left the Cavs, he started playing for the California team. The four-time NBA champion, LeBron James, left the team in the summer of 2010 and took his talent to South Beach. Furthermore, the fact that he did it on national TV left an indelible mark on his home team.
When one dives into the reason, it’s easy to spot that LeBron was driving the Cavs back in 2006–2007. The roster consisted of Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, Eric Snow, Donyell Marshall, Drew Gooden, Boobie Gibson, and Anderson Varejao. However, although the management did try to strengthen the roster with the inclusion of Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, J.J. Hickson, and Danny Green, it was still James who had to carry the entire load.
On the other hand, Dwayne Wade was making the Miami Heat more enticing for ‘The Akron Hammer,’ which went twofold with the inclusion of Chris Bosh. The sole player on the one-man team went to the Heat. The story was repeated in 2018.
Only this time, it was obvious to the fans that James wouldn’t come back to the home team. When the Cavs took a step back and didn’t sign some good players in the summer of 2018, James made the decision.
Before the 2015 NBA Finals, the Cavaliers had a new Big Three of James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love. However, soon after the team escalated to the finals, Irving sustained a fracture in his knee, and Love succumbed to a shoulder injury. ‘The L-Train’ had to do it all alone, pushing past the Dubs in the finals.
Things got even worse when the Cavaliers took a back seat when the salary caps spiked in 2016. While the Warriors acquired stars like Kevin Durant, the Cavs’ offseason additions included rookie Kay Felder and Derrick Williams. In the 2018 finals, the team plummeted to record not even a single win in the finals.
Hence, James moved from his hometown to the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s worth noting that making it to the finals and then succumbing to a massive loss against the Warriors did account for something.
Were the Cleveland Cavaliers the best regular-season team with LeBron James?
The Cavs were a great regular-season team, with LeBron James on the roster. The franchise won 66 games over 16 losses in the 2008–2009 season. Not only did the team secure a home-court advantage in the playoffs, such scores earned them a franchise record.
The Cavs were a very deep team a year before the 2011 loss. After all, it retained the two best regular-season records consecutively for two seasons.
The 2009–10 season marked the franchises’ 40th season in the league, and they amassed 61 wins and 21 losses. Not only that, James won the MVP award for the second straight year. The team was No. 1 in the East, and it stayed on the same track for two straight years. However, not only the value but also the overall ranking of the team witnessed a nosedive after James left.
Value of the Cleveland Cavaliers plummeted from $476 million to $355 million after LeBron James left
It’s true that LeBron James was single-handedly dragging the team all the seasons. However, no one imagined that the team’s values would witness a sudden drop the moment he planned an exit. According to Darren Rovell of ESPN, the team’s value plummeted from $476 million to $355 million, all in just a single year.
He said, “James is the most valuable free agent in the history of sports. When he took his talents to Miami and left Cleveland in the summer of 2010, the franchise value, according to Forbes, dropped from $476 million to $355 million in a single year.” As per Joe Roman, the then-president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, LeBron’s presence provided reassurance to the investors. However, the energy changed when he left.
