LeBron James blows smoke to fuel Lakers fire

Where smoke surrounds LeBron James, there is always fire, and the Los Angeles Lakers are burning.

Whenever James has been dissatisfied in his career, whether he tells us directly or lets anonymous sources do the informing, whispers become louder right before a momentous change reverberates around the NBA. We have seen James spin this cycle through Cleveland, Miami, back to Cleveland and now in Los Angeles.

It should come as no surprise, then, that James has made headlines during the NBA’s All-Star break, as his sub-.500 Lakers are languishing in ninth place and he nears the final year of his contract. The only thing left to wonder is what the franchise will look like when the other shoe drops between now and next season.

Chaos in Cleveland

Smoke first smoldered in 2005, when the Cavaliers were on the verge of missing the playoffs for the second time in as many years since drafting James. News of his unhappiness in Cleveland turned to reports that he could either seek a trade before his rookie contract extension came due in 2006 or accept a qualifying offer to become an unrestricted free agent in 2007. He was linked to the New York Knicks, via Spike Lee, and the New Jersey Nets, via Jay-Z, to the point new Cavs owner Dan Gilbert felt compelled to address the rumors.

Cavaliers general manager Jim Paxson panicked at the 2005 trade deadline, acquiring Jiri Welsch for the first-round pick that the Boston Celtics would turn into Rajon Rondo a year later. Cleveland collapsed, and inside of three months, Paxson, coach Paul Silas and James’ agent, Aaron Goodwin, were all out of a job.

We did not learn until later that James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh had begun plotting their partnership as early as 2006, when they played in the World Championships and signed abbreviated extensions, but the smoke started billowing long before James fled Cleveland in 2010. Teams were clearing cap space to pursue James for years. He all but declared in November 2008 that he would leave the Cavaliers if they could not deliver him a title. By November 2009, Pat Riley was openly recruiting James to the Miami Heat.

Story continues

It depends on who you ask why a deal for Amar’e Stoudemire fell through at the 2010 trade deadline, but Cleveland GM Danny Ferry pivoted to Antawn Jamison at James’ behest. Cavaliers coach Mike Brown was challenging James during games to play defense a month later, and James ultimately responded by leading a mutiny in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals. Brown concedes that James likely played a role in his firing after that season, and Ferry resigned shortly thereafter, essentially leaving the franchise to James.

Mayhem in Miami

Only, James left for South Beach that summer. By November 2010, when his newly established Heat were hovering around .500, he was suggesting Riley should replace coach Erik Spoelstra. Riley would not relent.

Consecutive titles in 2012 and 2013 resulted, sandwiched around James’ public embrace of a possible return to Cleveland. He would not directly address his looming free agency prior to the ensuing season, when he was reportedly already exploring the possibility of rejoining the Cavaliers behind the scenes. Word leaked that…