Even with his team one win away from a championship, the rumor mill never stops for LeBron James.
The two-time NBA champion memorably bolted Cleveland for Miami, where he won his two championships, in 2010 before returning. Though James came back home, there is always a fear he may opt to leave the Cavaliers through free agency again one day down the line.
That fear for a fan base that has experienced this sort of heartbreak before may be warranted. Word around the NBA is that people expect James to once again leave Cleveland.
"Franchises are on watch again," reports The Vertical about James. "There's a belief that James comes into play again, a line of thinking that his inner circle has done nothing to dissuade."
James left Cleveland to play alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami and win two NBA titles.
He has publicly expressed his desire to play alongside Wade once again and also wants to be teammates with Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul, which leads to growing unrest among some of the Cleveland faithful.
The former No. 1 overall pick opted out of his contract last summer in favor of a one-year deal with a player option for next season. It's widely expected he'll opt out once more on July 1 and then sign a similar one-year pact.
For now, James is focused on his sixth straight NBA Finals appearance. The four-time NBA MVP has dropped 41 points in back-to-back games to help the Cavaliers dig their way out of a 3-1 series deficit and force a do-or-die Game 7 back at Oracle Arena in California on Sunday.
"I'll take it," James said following Thursday's Game 6, according to the New York Times. "Two of the greatest words in the world, and that's Game 7."
James, 31, has averaged 26.3 points per game throughout the playoffs and has averaged 30.2 points in the NBA Finals.
So for now, all that matters to James and the Cavaliers is Sunday's Game 7. After that, he and the fans can worry about his future.
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