CLEVELAND: LeBron James didn’t back off his comments Friday about one day returning to the Cavaliers, but said he is happy in Miami and Heat fans have nothing to worry about.
“I answered the questions truthfully,” James said. “But it’s all about this season for me and it’s all about playing with this Miami Heat team and trying to win an NBA championship. The fans of Miami shouldn’t be worried about anything at this point.”
James said Thursday he’s open to the idea of returning to play for the Cavs one day, sparking a firestorm across the country and angering fans in South Florida.
James said he has had no contact with Cavs owner Dan Gilbert since departing, but Yahoo! Sports reported on Friday that James (through back channels) delivered a message to Gilbert months ago that he would be open to returning to Cleveland. Gilbert has not responded to James, according to the report, and the Cavs denied comment about the story Friday night.
James denied the report, saying “It’s not true at all.”
Gilbert has stayed quiet, both through the media and Twitter, during the weekend barrage of James. He would be fined a substantial amount if he commented about another team’s player and he could be accused of tampering, which is exactly what he has reportedly accused the Heat of through a legal investigation that thus far has uncovered nothing.
As for James, he recently pulled his children out of the Akron area and moved his entire family to South Florida. He had left them behind last season while he made the transition to his new surroundings.
He says he is committed to winning a championship with the Heat and dismissed the idea that his remarks unintentionally sparked another LeBron Watch similar to his final season in Cleveland.
“For the most part, everything I do is a LeBron Watch,” James said. “My mindset is on this season. My mindset is on helping this team win a championship and as a team get better every day. I love the fans of Miami and I have everything invested with this team. I’m looking forward to the years to come.”
He should. He’s under the Heat’s control through the 2013-14 season, which is his first opportunity to opt out of the deal and become a free agent again.
“He’s a grown adult. Le-Bron can say what he wants to say,” said Cavs rookie Tristan Thompson, who has a relationship with James and is represented by James’ close friend Rich Paul. “Only time will tell. With the team we have now, there’s no No. 6 James [jersey], so we’re not worried about that. We’re worried about the guys we have right now and trying to win basketball games.”
Thompson a star
Thompson will play for Team Shaq in the Rising Stars game of rookies and sophomores during All-Star weekend. Kyrie Irving was the second overall pick, behind Blake Griffin, and will play for Charles Barkley’s team. Thompson said he did not watch the draft, which was televised.
“I was at the mall,” he said. “They told me I was on Shaq’s team and they said we have [Ricky] Rubio, [Jeremy] Lin and Griffin. We have all the big dogs.”
Thompson was selected 19th out of the 20 players.
Gibson healing
Daniel Gibson missed Friday’s game with a sprained left ankle injured on Wednesday, but the ankle has responded to treatment faster than expected and Cavs coach Byron Scott left open the possibility he could return Sunday against the Sacramento Kings.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at http://cavs.ohio.com Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ. Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
