LeBron James The Decision: NBA star's controversial move to join the Heat ten years ago

Ten years ago, LeBron James announced his decision to take his 'talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat' on national television. James immediately regretted the ESPN TV special, which generated considerable backlash among fans across the NBA, who reacted by burning James' Cleveland Cavaliers jersey and calling the star out on social media. James, along with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, created a legacy in Miami by leading the team to back-to-back NBA championships (2012, 2013). 

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LeBron James The Decision: James' controversial TV special to join the Miami Heat was ten years ago 

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James' 'The Decision' one-hour special was aired live on television. "This is very tough," James began. "In this fall, I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat ... Like I said before, I feel 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 tow-in championships and I feel like I can compete down there." The special brought in a reported audience of 9.95 million people, along with raising $3.5 million from advertisement revenue which was donated to charities. From that, $2 million was donated to the national Boys and Girls Clubs of America by The LeBron James Family Foundation.

When James was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, his popularity grew as Cleveland's hometown hero. He was the first overall pick who the Rookie of the Year award and made his team a championship contender. James' popularity kept growing while his game improved, winning him two consecutive NBA MVP awards (2009, 2010). However, James failed to bring home a championship and ended up deciding to join the Heat, which he announced via the infamous 2010 TV Special, which is still considered one of the greatest stories in sports history. However, his special backfired as fans started calling out their hometown hero for being selfish and arrogant. Though James took two years to win a championship with the Heat, he also led them to four back-to-back finals appearances. 

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LeBron James to Miami: LeBron James highlights while with the Miami Heat

James' decision to join the Heat came after stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh had already agreed to sign with the Heat while on the Noon SportsCenter with Michael Wilbon. A day after LeBron James The Decision, the three NBA All-Stars were introduced to Heat fans on July 9 at the Americans Airlines Arena. Heat's big three played four seasons together (2010-2014), where they made it to the finals every single year. Back then, they were the third overall and first franchise since the 1980s Boston Celtics (1984-87) to make it to four consecutive NBA Finals. The Heat had a 224-88 win-loss record for the four seasons combined, where they won at least 65 percent of their games every year and 67.8 percent games in the postseason as per NBA stats.

While they lost to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks during the 2011 Finals, they bagged back-to-back titles by defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012 and San Antonio Spurs in 2013. In 2014, the Spurs defeated the Heat in a five-game series. James won the Finals MVP during both their title runs, along with the NBA MVP awards he won in 2012 and 2013. James made to the All-Star team as a starter along with being named to the All-NBA First Team all four years. However, James returned to the Cavaliers during 2014 offseason, where he led Cleveland to their first-ever NBA championship in 2016. 

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LeBron James The Decision: Why did James regret LeBron James The Decision?

Though his decision to move to the Heat was successful, James admitted he regretted the way he handled things. During a 2010 interview with Michael Wallace, James revealed that if he could, he would go back and do things differently. However, James did not regret joining the Heat and believed there is 'always going to be a misunderstanding'.

James added that though he did not know how he would change things, he would definitely do something to salvage the situation. James spoke about the issue while talking to Oprah a few years later. “I think the whole decision, in general, could have been done differently,” James said. The NBA icon explained that it would have been a different scenario, but he would still have wanted to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. 

(Image source: NBA.com)