The Giannis Antetokounmpo era has begun for the Miami Heat, and the hope is that it will result in at least one more NBA championship for the franchise. But right now, the organization may want to tap into its past in order to ensure a better present and near-term future.
The Heat are one of the teams that are thought to be frontrunners to land LeBron James in free agency. About two and a half weeks into the league’s official free agency period, James has yet to decide which team he will sign with after letting the Los Angeles Lakers know on June 30 that he was leaving them.
Pat Riley, the longtime Heat team president, said he has talked to Rich Paul, James’ agent and close friend, but that he doesn’t know if the future Hall of Famer will walk through the proverbial door, per ESPN.
“I don’t know, I’ll be honest with you,” Riley told ESPN about whether a James-Heat reunion will happen. “Obviously, we’ve had conversations with Rich and they were very good. So if that happens and he wants to come to the ‘305,’ we got a golf course. The weather’s nice. Steve Kerr, same thing down here. And there’s no state tax. So that’s a little better than California.”
James, of course, came to the Heat in 2010 and spent four seasons with them. He took them to the NBA Finals in each of those seasons, and they won back-to-back world titles in 2012 and 2013. James then returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2014, and for a while, it left a bad taste in Riley’s mouth.
But Riley’s anger eventually subsided, and in 2021, he said he would “leave the key under the doormat” if James wanted to return.
Antetokounmpo made it clear he would welcome the four-time MVP.
“If there was a scenario for that to happen, I’d be very, very excited,” Antetokounmpo told ESPN of possibly joining forces with James. “He’s one of the best players to ever play this game, if not the best. [I’d] be able to learn so much from him. Obviously, brings such a championship experience to the team right from day one. I think he’s still one of the best players in the [game today], if not top 25 [at 41 years old]. You don’t see signs of him slowing down at all. You saw in the playoffs how effective and good he was for the Lakers.
“But I’m just like everybody else — we don’t have all the information. All the information is in LeBron James’ hand and his family’s hands, and he’s going to make the best decision for him. The history has shown that he’s always made good decisions for his career. And I hope if he thinks that the Miami Heat’s a good decision for him. I would love for him to be here.”
The 41-year-old did a live recording of his “Mind the Game” podcast on Thursday at Fanatics Fest in New York City, and he didn’t give any indication of which team he may end up joining this summer. He spent eight years with the Lakers, brought them their most recent championship in 2020 and became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer as a member of the storied franchise in 2023, surpassing Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Pat Riley on LeBron James possibly returning to the Heat
