Stephen A. says LeBron should go back to Cleveland to win a championship 👀🏆 | First Take

Stephen A. says LeBron should go back to Cleveland to win a championship 👀🏆 | First Take

been that relevant basketball-wise. It just hasn’t happened. It’s just a fact. Don’t It’s just a fact. It’s just a fact. It’s just a fact. You know, and you know, it gets cold here, you know, but it’s a nice town, great sports town and what have you. And uh uh I saw the Cleveland Capital this past season and I’m a huge huge huge Donovan Mitchell fan. Okay. That brother’s something special. Y’all agree? Yes. Right. Yes. But the absence of help during the postseason was very glaring. They got bounced up out of there. Hallebertton and the crew sent them home. And then I thought about Los Angeles. By the way, the weather’s beautiful in Southern California. Uhoh. Uh, but we know it has become crystal clear that that pretty much that the weather in Hollywood is the only reason why LeBron is there. Cuz he damn sure win no damn championship there. It ain’t going to happen. Okay, now with Oklahoma City, be mindful of Dallas. Don’t dismiss Houston. Minnesota and Antman already sent them home. I love me some JJ Reic did a damn good job and I think that they going in the right direction keeping Luca of course that’s a given. 288 and seven last year and that was considered a bad year for him. But getting specifically to LeBron, it has gotten to a point where you I I think it warrants though, bro. Why don’t you just come back to Cleveland to end your career? He’d have a better Let me say this cannot be disputed. He’d have a better chance of winning the championship in Cleveland than he would in LA. The road through the Western Conference is arduous to say the least. in in the Eastern Conference. New York’s got a new coach. Questions about their depth. Damen Lillard is no longer in Milwaukee. He’s back in Portland. So, what help do you have with Giannis? Jason Tatum is out for the year with an Achilles tear. Okay. We saw what happened with Cleveland last year. Indiana was in the finals. Hallebertton’s out for the year. Turner is a Milwaukee Buck now. All right. Orlando’s on a come up with the Desmond Bay acquisition, which we love, but they on a come up. They haven’t arrived. If LeBron James came back to Cleveland, you the favorites to come out of the East and you only need four wins to win a championship. You make it. You come out, you come back to Cleveland. You bring the chip back to Cleveland and you say goodbye. Five time champion tying Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and the crew. That ain’t happening if you stay in LA because you ain’t coming out of the West. But you could come out of the East and all you need is four games. LeBron James, four wins away with whomever you got on your squad. And I’m assuming you keep Donovan Mitchell because God knows you don’t want to lose that brother. I mean, Cleveland with LeBron. You got to give up something for him. I get it. $52.6 million option. He actually got to give him something. But Cleveland, if LeBron was back in Cleveland, Cleveland is the favorites. And then he would remind people he here to win championships instead of going Hollywood cuz you ain’t winning a championship in LA. He already won the chip even though that was in the bubble. But I don’t hold that against him. I value that championship. But others don’t. I’m saying you look at the West, it’s loaded. The road to the the road to prosperity is hard. It’s much easier in the Eastern Conference this upcoming season. So, the one thing I will say real quick, Swagu, if this were to happen because I actually I can hold space for this idea, it’s going to cost you one of the two bigs because LA badly needs your defense. So, you got to figure out which one you going to part ways with. That’s right. Swagoo. And you don’t mind part sure they can’t play together. What you think? Right. He going He got to admit it’s a damn good idea. That’s what it is. He got to admit it’s a damn good idea. If you need to gather yourself. God, I hate when I got to agree with this. Woo! The coronation would be phenomenal. It would be beautiful. I told you I’ve I’ve made no qums about it. LeBron I’m a LeBron James guy. All right. For for since the beginning until the end. Number two all time. Number two all time. If he We don’t need to say that. We don’t need to even Okay, hold on. Don’t don’t don’t get I’mma let it be. All right. But coming back to Cleveland and winning a championship and then going riding off into the sunset would be one of those sports stories. Can I add this? Can I add this before y’all go on? This is the place where he’s beloved. Beloved. Yeah. When he was on social media doing a you know, you know it feel welcome home. It feels good to be home. And a Laker broadcaster was wearing a Cavalier jersey and he was saying proper attire, all this other stuff. We got that going on. But here’s the thing. LA, well, you know, that’s Kobe, Magic, Kareem, and cats like that. They’ll never embrace him like that. Miami, because he left, even though he went to four straight finals and delivered backtoback chips, they’ll never embrace him like that. But this place, he is beloved and should be because of what he did for this area, what he did for this city, what he did for this n the there’s nothing. I mean, he is a godlike figure in these parts as well. He should be. And to come back here because they got a crew that’s capable of winning the championship if they have him. They got a crew. On that note, essay of what he meant. Real quick, Swagu, I want to go to Aubrey in the audience cuz he told us that he is from Cleveland. He was here when LeBron got drafted for that first run. Aubrey, you got like 30 seconds. So, show me you know how to do TV. What would it mean if he were to actually come back to this area? Well, first of all, let me talk a little about LeBron James. so bad because he is the goat. Okay, you losing time. Come on, keep going. I think that LeBron should come back to Cleveland because like he like like Swag Goo said, like Stephen A said, he is Cleveland. I mean, he’s not from Cleveland, but he is Cleveland. We embrace him. We talk about 1.3 million, I believe, when we won in in the city of Cleveland. If he comes back, we’ll probably have 2 million when we win a championship. All right. Outstanding. By the way, firstand by the way, the brother the brother’s from Akran. It’s only 30 minutes away. Akan don’t have an NBA team. Let me ask you when I say DC versus ask my basketball people a question. Are you you do the coordination for LeBron based on what you have to give up? Are you sacrificing the future? If to Stephen A’s point, the first thing that I think about if I’m going to pontificate about this idea is it’s going to cost you either Jared Allen or Evan Mobley because the Lakers badly need something in the interior. I’m not letting go of Evan Moley, but I’d give up Jared. Okay. So, it’s going to cost you Jared Allen, but you still have Donovan Mitchell, multi-time uh allstar, all NBA. You have Darius Garland, who has been able to shift his game to play alongside stars. And you still have Mobly. Like, to me, you’re still solid. Could win it all. Especially when you look at the win, but if you’re if if you’re Pelinka, are you going to take Allen instead of Mobly? Probably not, but we’ll see what happens. You got to remember got one year. Okay. They’re planning their future ahead. and and and you got to understand that you’re trying to take some valuable assets, but it’s like LeBron ain’t a long-term plan. So again, they’re not in but so much of a position to be choosy if he wants to leave. It’s about him wanting to leave. It’s not about you pushing them out. I’m not advocating that the Lakers push him out the door cuz the Kings got no trade-off. I’m saying you if he wants to leave and he said he wants to go to Cleveland. You make that work if you’re the Lakers. I like this idea. So it makes logical sense. But what whenever I cover football players and they have a chance to go to a different market or stay where they are, is his goal to win championships or is he trying to be he went to LA for a reason? That’s exactly why I posed the question because to me if you about winning the chip, this is the decision. If you about being comfortable in the Southern California sunshine in Tinsel Town with your production aspirations and act and and all of this other stuff and your other business aspirations, then it’s a different animal. But if you are about closing the door on your career by crowning yourself as a champion, winning one for the thumb, having five to to tie Kobe, to eclipse Steph, to tie Tim Duncan, and the Boston Celtics are injured. Yeah, the the Milwaukee Bucks ain’t the same. The Knicks got question marks. Indiana’s hobbled. This is a prime opportunity right there for him. If you want the chip, if it ain’t about the chip, stop putting that on. And it’s not about deliver. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Marcus Spears and Kimberley A. Martin discuss LeBron James’ future in the NBA.

0:00 Stephen A. says LeBron should go back to the Cavs to win a ring
5:40 Why should LeBron come back to Cleveland?
7:00 Does it make sense for LeBron to go back to Cleveland?
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