The true price of LeBron James’s final ring chase

Rocket Arena reserved one of its loudest roars of the year for a late January 30-point blowout.

That cheer wasn’t for anything that happened on the floor; it was instead for the hometown hero, who was playing possibly the last game on the court he had reigned on for over a decade.

LeBron James doesn’t break composure often, but this was different. The ovation and genuine love moved him to tears.

This stood in stark contrast to everything happening in Los Angeles. Instead of being welcomed as a hero, he was celebrated as merely a good basketball player who had his best achievements come in different uniforms.

Based on what was reported, the love he got from Cavs fans was what James really craved. And if so, this latest move is just a repeat of the mistake that had him feeling like this in the first place.

After a month of reiterating that the final chapter of his career would be about happiness and his family, LeBron chose to shamelessly ring chase with the Philadelphia 76ers — a city he has no ties to and is far from a sure thing to win a championship.

On its face, this move is surprising if James is looking for appreciation and praise.

Choosing the Cleveland Cavaliers would’ve provided the perfect storybook ending for the local kid who grew up to become the best basketball player of all-time. There would’ve been 82 more opportunities for moments like that one in January to happen. All the while, he would’ve still had a shot at competing for a championship. After all, the Cavs are just two months removed from playing in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Yet, this all operates under the assumption that James and those around him actually understood what made that connection possible in the first place. Maybe they don’t. After all, this is someone who’s spent their whole career trying to craft the greatest narrative, but has ended up weaving a convoluted tale about someone who bounces from city-to-city based on who can provide the quickest short-term gain.

So from that perspective, this move shouldn’t have been that surprising.

America’s capitalist society has long confused money and attention for cultural relevance and artistry. Commercial success is the standard movies, shows, books, and music are judged. Quality and whether there’s an actual message being conveyed through it don’t matter. This is how we find ourselves in the endless cycle of franchise reboots and empty live-action remakes of things we once loved, but have now lost the core of what made them special.

Hollywood isn’t the only one chasing the ghost of once great things.

Winning is the currency of basketball. LeBron has spent his whole career in Michael Jordan’s shadow. That was inevitable with him entering the league a year after Jordan retired. Why he’s still there now, and probably always will be in the court of public opinion, isn’t because of anything he’s done on the basketball court.

Another championship, or even two, wouldn’t change that because it was never about the rings.

People get invested in stories because they want to feel something. Sports, at their core, are just an ongoing narrative that you hope will invest you for the time you put in. Watching players and teams meet, fall, and maybe one day overcome the obstacles in their way is where the entire joy comes from. And it’s also where we get our idea of what makes someone truly great from.

This part is what James and those around him haven’t understood and probably never will. There’s more to this than just winning at all costs.

Jordan and Kobe Bryant’s greatness came from their play, but also the continuity of their stories. The bond between player, team, and city went through peaks and valleys, but it persisted for decades. The endurance of that marriage made their triumphs more meaningful for everyone and easier to appreciate for outside observers.

LeBron and the athletes who followed his lead threw that playbook out the window. Instead of enduring the natural ups and downs of an organization, they took control of their own narratives.

There are benefits to that. James probably doesn’t win consecutive championships in 2012 and 2013 if he doesn’t join the Miami Heat. Kevin Durant isn’t a back-to-back Finals MVP if he doesn’t go to the Golden State Warriors.

Those choices are completely understandable and what I would do if in that position. Taking ownership of your situation instead of leaving it up to people who may not have your best interests in mind makes sense, but that doesn’t mean the general public has to like it. Every choice, even logical ones, has drawbacks.

Everything LeBron has done throughout his career has been calculated. He’s constantly thought one or two steps ahead of everyone else to put himself and his brand in the best position to succeed. That includes surrounding himself with the best teammates and situations on and off the court to lead to winning. But again, even calculated moves have consequences.

If success is just about winning and making money, then there’s no viable criticism for anything LeBron has done, including this move. After all, LeBron’s Sixers jersey has already sold out. His brand will grow in a large coastal market, which will certainly open up new business ventures. On top of that, the Sixers should do plenty of winning on the court. However, winning alone doesn’t buy adoration. If it could, Durant wouldn’t feel the need to continue making burner accounts to defend his honor.

James found this out during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers.

What was supposed to be an expansion of his kingdom ended up being an eight-year footnote. He won a championship, put his name on top of the scoring list, and shared the court with his son. All of those things should’ve been celebrated as once-in-a-generation achievements, but they weren’t. He — predictably — didn’t get the treatment from the fans or team personnel that Kobe did at the end of his two decades spent in one uniform. Not even close, which reportedly influenced him to leave.

James now seems destined to repeat that mistake in another city that has no connection to him. If the Sixers win, the credit will go to Philadelphia’s guys, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. And if they lose, that will fall on LeBron.

By making this entirely about winning one more ring, LeBron has validated the narrative that he’s still chasing Jordan because of the title count. It’s an admission that he isn’t viewed as the greatest, despite being better at basketball than anyone else who’s ever lived.

LeBron doesn’t owe anyone anything. He especially doesn’t owe anything to Northeast Ohio after all he’s done for the community. But viewing things through that prism misses the entire point of why sports matter.

In an idealistic world, you’d like to think the bond between an athlete and a city is what drives decisions. I’m not naive enough to think that it actually does — but there are exceptions to that rule. LeBron and Cleveland seemed to be one in that January moment, and when he yelled “Cleveland, this is for you!” with tears in his eyes after delivering the city’s first championship in over half a century.

This latest decision, and whatever comes down the line, don’t change what happened in the past. Relationships aren’t static. They’re always evolving.

The bond between Cleveland and LeBron will endure past this. He will still return as a hero at some point. Yet, it does complicate things further than they already were.

How James’s last game in Cleveland will look is anyone’s guess. It could come in an inconsequential regular-season game. Maybe this whole summer is swept under the rug, as we do with Jordan’s Wizards jersey. Or, it could come in one of the last games of the conference finals with James trying to end the season in the one place he still calls home. That situation wouldn’t be swept under the rug as quickly.

What we can say with certainty is that moment on that cold January night in Cleveland won’t be replicated again there. At least, not while James is still wearing a jersey. It probably won’t happen at his new home court in Philadelphia either, based on how we’ve seen this story play out in the past. That is the true cost of this last-ditch attempt at one more championship.

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