In a league as star-driven as the NBA, LeBron James knew the kind of leverage he had when he became a free agent in 2010.
Still only 25 years old at the time and the consensus best player on the planet, James had the NBA world in his hands for eight days as he debated whether to keep pursuing a championship in Cleveland or give it a shot elsewhere, outside of his home state.
The money wasn’t the issue, for the most part, because of the limits NBA teams can spend on one player. James instead had to decide which team offered the best combination of location and opportunity to win his first title and more.
The saga culminated in a decision — ‘The Decision,’ to be exact — at a Boys and Girls Club in Connecticut.
The Sporting News revisits James’ memorable decision from 2010 and how it changed the NBA.
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When did LeBron James go to the Heat?
James hit free agency on July 1, 2010 and made his decision one week later to join the Heat.
With James as the headliner, the 2010 free agent class attracted massive attention around the NBA. Miami’s Dwyane Wade, Toronto’s Chris Bosh and Phoenix’s Amar’e Stoudemire all hit the open market as well, and Wade and Bosh famously teamed up with James by signing deals with the Heat as well.
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What was ‘The Decision’?
James announced his free agency decision during an live ESPN special called “The Decision.” The prime-time show was broadcast from the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich, Conn. and featured an interview of James on a makeshift stage.
James fielded a few questions both before and after announcing his decision, and he had a hard time getting the words out when it came time to tell the world where he was going.
“In this fall…this is very tough…in this fall I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat,” James said before explaining why he felt like the Heat gave the best opportunity to win championships.
By the time the show got underway, anyone following along with NBA insiders had an inkling James appeared to be heading to the Heat. Reports as far back as the night before indicated James was leaning toward Miami as his landing spot.
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Who interviewed LeBron James in The Decision?
James was interviewed by ESPN’s Jim Gray when he announced his decision to join the Heat. The show was actually Gray’s idea. The longtime journalist and respected interviewer approached James’ management about the possibility of a live show to raise money for charity, and James’ team agreed despite the negative publicity that came from the special.
Gray has interviewed 10 U.S. presidents and has a close relationship with Tom Brady, so interviewing someone of James’ stature was nothing too intimidating, despite it being an unprecedented moment in the NBA.
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Where was LeBron James’ ‘The Decision’?
James’ ESPN special was broadcast live from The Boys and Girls Club in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Connecticut may seem like an odd choice for James’ decision to leave Cleveland for Miami, but he had worked with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and was in the area for Carmelo Anthony’s wedding just two days after “The Decision.”
In the crowd that day was a 13-year-old Donovan Mitchell, who would go on to lead the Cavaliers back to the playoffs for the first time since James’ second exit.
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Why did LeBron James leave Cleveland in 2010?
James consistently cited the chance to win championships as his primary reason for joining the Heat, telling Gray, “the greatest challenge for me is to move on.”
Asked directly why he decided to leave home in favor of Miami, James went on to say he saw the decision more as a chance to form a special trio with the Heat than to leave Cleveland.
“It not like leaving Cleveland is the whole logistic of it,” James said. “It’s about joining forces with the other two guys that I feel like I respect their game the most. And I feel like we have a great chance of winning and winning for multiple years.”
The Cavaliers had won more than 60 games in back-to-back seasons leading up to James’ free agency, but they failed to win the Eastern Conference both times and only reached the NBA Finals once in James’ seven seasons. Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams were Cleveland’s next-leading scorers behind James in the final season of his first stint with the team.
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Controversy behind ‘The Decision’
Many criticized the fanfare that came with James’ announcement. The decision itself wasn’t revealed until 28 minutes into the hour-long special, turning some fans against the idea of such a drawn-out process for one player.
James received criticism for basketball reasons as well. Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert called the decision a “cowardly betrayal” by James and said Cleveland would win a championship before the Heat; that turned out not to be true. For the other five fan bases whose teams landed a meeting with James — the Knicks, Nets, Bulls, Cavaliers and Clippers — the theatrics of the announcement followed by the disappointment of not being the chosen team led some to root against James.
Other fans and pundits criticized James for forming a “super-team” and supposedly taking an easier path to a championship. Among them was Michael Jordan, who said he would never have teamed up with Larry Bird or Magic Johnson. “I wanted to defeat those guys,” Jordan said.
Later in 2010, James said he regretted the way he went about his decision. “If I had to go back on it, I probably would do it a little bit different,” James said.
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LeBron James ‘The Decision’ transcript
Here is a portion of the interview between James and Gray, including James’ announcement and his initial explanation for his decision:
Gray: How many people know your decision right now?
James: Not many. It’s a very, very small number. And I probably could count them on my fingers.
Gray: One hand or two hands?
James: Let’s say one.
Gray: When did you decide?
James: I think I decided this morning. I mean, I decided this morning I went day to day. I wake up one morning, it’s this team. I wake up another morning, it’s this team. And it’s a process that I felt it was I may feel like this is the best opportunity for me or not the best opportunity for me. But this morning I woke up, had a great conversation with my mom. Once I had that conversation with her, I think I was set.
Gray: So the last time you changed your mind was yesterday?
James: The last time I changed my mind was probably in my dreams. And when I woke up this morning I knew it was the right decision.
Gray: So does the team that you’re going to, that you’ll announce in a few minutes, do they know your decision?
James: They just found out.
Gray: They just found out?
James: Yeah.
Gray: So the other five, on pins and needles, they don’t know; they’ll be listening to this?
James: Right.
Gray: Who in this process, LeBron, have you taken advice from and who has had the biggest influence?
James: I’ve taken a lot of advice from my friends and family. My agent, Leon Rose, has been great. A lot of people that I look towards in a time of need or for advice, and ultimately they looked at me and said you ultimately have to live with your decision that you’re going to make, and you have to do what’s best for you, for your family and for you to ultimately be happy.
Gray: What was the major factor, the major reason in your decision?
James: I think the major factor and the major reason in my decision was the best opportunity for me to win and to win now and to win into the future also. And winning is a huge thing for me. Jim, you know ever since I was a rookie or even in high school, we always talked, that was the number one thing for me: Help my teammates get better and just wanting to win. And I’ve done some great things in my seven years, and I want to continue to do that.
Gray: How deep of an evaluation do you have to do to go through that to figure out tomorrow, next year and beyond, that equation, that winning?
James: One thing that you can’t control is you never know. You never know. You want to put yourself in the position where you feel that it’s the best opportunity. But saying I can win a championship next year or saying I can win it a year after, those are things that you don’t know until you go out there and actually play the game. But you have to put yourself in the right position to be able to compete and also accomplish the goals that you set out for.
Gray: Do you have any doubts about your decision?
James: No. I don’t have any doubts at all.
Gray: Would you like to sleep on it a little longer, or are you ready to make this decision?
James: I’ve slept enough. Or the lack of sleep.
Gray: Are you still a nail biter?
James: I have a little bit. Not of late.
Gray: You’ve had everybody else biting their nails. So I guess it’s time for them to stop chewing. The answer to the question everybody wants to know: LeBron, what’s your decision?
James: In this fall, this is very tough, in this fall I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.
Gray: The Miami Heat? That was the conclusion you woke up with this morning?
James: That was the conclusion I woke up with this morning.
Gray: Why?
James: Like I said before, I feel like it’s going to give me the best opportunity to win and to win for multiple years, and not only just to win in the regular season or just to win five games in a row or three games in a row, I want to be able to win championships. And I feel like I can compete down there.
Gray: Was it always in your plan to go and play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh?
James: Well, I mean, I’m looking forward to it. To say it was always in my plans, I can’t say it was always in my plans because I never thought it was possible. But the things that the Miami Heat franchise have done to be able to free up cap space and to be able to put themselves in a position this summer to have all three of us, it was hard to turn down. Those are two great players, two of the greatest players we have in this game today. And, you know, you add me, we’re going to be a really good team.
Gray: The three of you will share now the spotlight and the limelight. And in many ways you’re going to Dwyane Wade’s team. He’s been in Miami. He’s won a championship. How do you think you’ll be able to fit in and possibly not be the headliner all the time?
James: For me it’s not about sharing. You know, it’s about everybody having their own spotlight and then just doing what’s best for the team. You know, at this point D Wade, he’s the unselfish guy here. To be able to have Chris Bosh and then LeBron James, to welcome us to his team, it’s not about an individual here. Because if that was the case, D Wade wouldn’t have asked us to join him, or we wouldn’t have asked him if it was okay to come down there. It’s not about individuals. It’s about a team, and that’s what this game is about.
Gray: How do you explain this to the people in Cleveland?
James: I mean, it’s heartfelt for me. You know, it’s hard to explain, but at the same time my heart, in the seven years I gave to that franchise, to that city, it was everything. I mean, those 20,000 plus fans that came out every night we played, and they seen me grow from an 18 year old kid to a 25 year old man. And I never wanted to leave Cleveland. And my heart will always be around that area. But I also felt like this is the greatest challenge for me is to move on.
Taking my talents to South Beach meaning
James’ one-liner announcement quickly went viral in 2010 and the years that followed. “This fall I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat,” James told Gray.
South Beach is a neighborhood and popular tourist area in Miami Beach, synonymous with Southeast Florida. The Heat don’t actually play in South Beach — their arena is on the other side of the Biscayne Bay — but they are in close enough proximity that the line told fans all they needed to know.
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LeBron James ‘The Decision’ reactions
After James’ announcement, videos surfaced showing Cavaliers fans burning his jerseys. Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, meanwhile, added fuel to the fire by releasing a scathing letter in Comic Sans font, calling James’ decision “heartless,” “callous” and a “cowardly betrayal.” Gilbert also promised the Cavaliers would win a championship before the “self-titled former ‘king'” won one in Miami; that was not the case.
The letter was taken down in 2014, when the Cavaliers were in the middle of a successful pursuit of a James return.
While many in the media criticized the show and its 28-minute wait before James finally announced his decision, some significant NBA figures likewise called out James for joining forces with two stars in Miami. Michael Jordan and Larry Bird both said they would have preferred to beat the toughest competition rather than join them.
The biggest ramification of the saga was perhaps the pressure that was instantly placed on James. He didn’t help himself when he predicted the Heat could win “not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven” championships during his welcome rally alongside Wade and Bosh. When the Heat stumbled out of the gate in 2010, that pressure intensified. It reached a boiling point after James and Miami lost the NBA Finals to the Mavericks in 2011.
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Fallout in Cleveland
While the decision to broadcast the announcement live on ESPN might have been a telltale sign that the news wasn’t going to go their way, Cavaliers fans felt devastated and betrayed when James made his departure official.
Local news crews captured images of frustrated fans who gathered after James’ announcement, with some even burning his jersey.
Gilbert, meanwhile, made his feelings clear when he released a letter calling James’ decision a “cowardly betrayal” of the city. James was heavily booed when he played his first game in Cleveland as an opponent in December 2010.
On the court, the Cavaliers suffered. They missed the playoffs in all four seasons between James’ exit and return, winning just 19 games in their first season without their star and earning the No. 1 overall pick three times with the help of some lottery luck. The No. 1 pick in 2011 brought Kyrie Irving to Cleveland, and the presence of Irving ultimately helped convince James he could compete for championships with his former team when deciding whether to return to the franchise.
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Miami Heat 2009 record
The Heat finished 47-35 in 2009-10, before luring James and Bosh to join Wade. Miami suffered a first round loss to the Celtics, who went on to win the Eastern Conference.
47 wins actually marked a high point for the Heat in the four years following their 2006 championship. Those four years included three seasons between 43-47 wins and one dismal 15-67 campaign. Looking to get back into championship contention, the Heat welcomed James and Bosh to Miami to form one of the most iconic trios in NBA history with Wade, who had also been a free agent.
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Chris Bosh joins LeBron James, Dwyane Wade in Miami
James was actually the third piece of the puzzle in Miami, as Bosh agreed to join the Heat — and Wade agreed to re-sign — on July 7, a day before the 25-year-old superstar went public with his decision.
Bosh joined Wade in lobbying for James to join the Heat as soon as he signed on, and the two were successful in bringing in one of the faces of the NBA. Bosh, meanwhile, had to settle for a lesser role than the one he had with the Raptors, with the benefit of competing for championships. He won two titles next to James and Wade and re-signed with the Heat even when James left in 2014.
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How many rings did LeBron James win in Miami?
James won two NBA championships with the Heat, reaching the NBA Finals in each of his four seasons in Miami.
The Heat recovered from a tough start to James’ first season and reached the NBA Finals as a favorite over the Mavericks, but Miami was upset by Dallas, putting even more pressure on the “big three” to win in 2012. They delivered, defeating the Thunder in the Finals for James’ first title.
Miami narrowly survived to force a decisive Game 7 against the Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals, and James scored 37 points in Game 7 to lead the Heat to a second consecutive championship. James’ quest for a three-peat came up short when the Heat lost a rematch with the Spurs in the 2014 NBA Finals.
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Impact of ‘The Decision’ on free agency
In 2010, James’ decision meant three of the top four available players went to the Heat, with Wade returning to team up with Bosh and James. The exception was Stoudemire, who signed with another team trying to lure James: the Knicks.
The 2010s included a slew of high-profile free agents, from Dwight Howard in 2013, to Kevin Durant in 2016, to Kawhi Leonard in 2019 and, of course, James again in 2014 and 2018. Notably, no one tried to repeat James’ announcement style after the backlash he received. Howard announced his decision on Twitter, while Durant made his announcement in a Players’ Tribune article and Leonard’s decision to join the Clippers appropriately surfaced in an overnight report.
James, meanwhile, announced his 2014 return to Cleveland in an exclusive Sports Illustrated article, and his 2018 decision to join the Lakers was even quieter: the news broke through a short statement posted on social media by Klutch Sports.
The era of player movement through free agency has since died down, but James’ move served as a lesson for other stars who went through the same process in the years that followed.
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‘The Decision’ ESPN documentary
ESPN released a documentary on “The Decision” titled “Backstory: The Decision” in 2020.
The documentary, which features reporting by ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr., included interviews of key figures and revealed new details about how the idea for “The Decision” came about.
Here is the trailer for the documentary:
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