After all, James Jones has retired to take a front office position with the Suns, and he was the constant figure in LeBron making it to the Finals seven straight years. Coincidence?
More seriously though, it sounds like the talks about LeBron skipping town are heating up. He's reportedly unhappy with the dismissal of David Griffin, and apparently feels like the Cavs aren't in a position to get better. Obviously, that's not too much of a problem in the East - at least for now - but it does make it tougher to contend with whomever is coming out of the West, which of course is most likely the Warriors for the foreseeable future.
To add further fuel to the fire, though it's admittedly just conjecture: LeBron James' agent reportedly contacts Lakers' GM Rob Pelinka, 'Let's talk'
For his part, Jalen Rose says LeBron is as good as gone.
Of course, Jalen's record with bold predictions might be almost as bad as mine. Flash back to 2008...
Ask Knicks fans how that prediction turned out.
I guess with LeBron, you never know for sure. Back in 2014, I figured he wouldn't return to Cleveland so soon (if ever), but he obviously did. I also remember thinking that, in anticlimactic fashion, he'd end up staying with the Cavs in 2010, when he made his first Decision. With that in mind though, perhaps the lesson here is that when there's smoke, there's fire; when there's talk of LeBron leaving, it's going to happen in all likelihood. Still, he wouldn't be the first superstar to express frustration with the front office, only to smooth things over and stick around. Kobe demanded a trade in 2007 but ended up sticking it out with the Lakers, and he wasn't fresh off of his seventh straight Finals appearance, as LeBron is.
Obviously, he can't just up and leave right now, but he can opt out next offseason, so perhaps the pressure is on the Cavs to stack the deck even more this season.