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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Joseph Salvador

LeBron James Doubles Down on Comments About Heat Tenure, His Legacy As Debate Continues

LeBron James made waves in the basketball world Monday ahead of his team’s matchup against the Heat when speaking about his former team. 

Following Monday's shootaround, James said, “My career was going to be my career as far as individually because I know how much I put into the game and I know how much I strive to be as great as I can be.” The Lakers star was alluding to what would have happened if he hadn't taken his talents to South Beach in 2010. 

James added that the only reason he joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami was to win championships because he couldn’t do it with the Cavaliers. However, fans took exception to the notion that his career would have been the same individually without the Heat. James doubled down on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday. 

“You damn right I would still be! I’m CHOSEN! Ain’t nothing changing that! Maybe less [ring emoji]’s but DOMINANT from start to finish,” he wrote. 

James admitted he may have won fewer championships without the Heat, but said that individually he’d be just as successful. It’s worth noting that while in Miami, James had some of the best years of his career and won two regular season MVPs, two championships and two NBA Finals MVPs. He reached the Finals in all four years he was there.

Before joining the Heat, James had never won a championship and reached the NBA Finals just once. 

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