An emotional LeBron James tears up during a Cleveland Cavaliers tribute, hinting that Wednesday night's matchup with his former team may be the last at his old digs
Tribute videos are nothing new for LeBron James. In his eight return trips to Cleveland since joining the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, the NBA's all-time leading scorer has watched one on the Rocket Arena Humongotron every single time.
A moment that normally feels more celebratory, with James throwing up hand signals to the crowd to acknowledge their thunderous support following a highlight reel of some of his greatest hits in Cleveland, turned more emotional on Wednesday night, though.
This time, Cameras captured a more subdued James, sitting on the Lakers' bench during a timeout, taking in every second of the video. By the end of it, James had his face buried in his jersey, visibly wiping away tears.
At age 41, this tribute video clearly meant a little bit more, because – as the Los Angeles Lakers star admitted afterwards – he doesn't know if he'll ever play in this building again.
"Every road arena that I've been in, you know, I think I talked about that, that just trying to take everything in, not take the moments for granted," James said of his teary-eyed reaction. "Because it could be, you know, obviously I haven't made a decision on the future, but very well could be [my last game here].
While James appears to be carrying a reflective demeanor with him for every game that remains in his 23rd season, for obvious reasons, the return trip to Cleveland carries a little more weight.
"No matter if it's here or, you know, going to Washington, playing the next game, the Garden, Barclays, you know, on this trip," James said. "Obviously it means a little bit more here for me personally because of, you know, grew up, 35 minutes south of here."
At this stage of his career, James is well aware he's closer to the end than ever before. For starters, he's in the final year of his current deal with the Lakers, leaving room for a very natural end to his NBA career if he wants it.
Given how this season started, with James sidelined for the first 14 games due to sciatica, there's been a sudden sobering mortality that seems to be hanging over him each night. That was on full display inside the building he used to call home on Wednesday.
"Especially in year 23, I could very easily think about the future and year 12, and year 14, 15, you know?," James said of his mentality. "But, as the years stack on and stack on and stack on more, I think it's more of a precedent for me to kind of, just be present in the moment."
One of those moments also came pregame, as he stood gazing into the crowd trying to find his mother, Gloria, and other family members and friends who had come to support him. Family has always been prominently present throughout James' career.
In the name of reflecting, James tried to process just how unique a situation he's currently living in – sharing a court with his own son at the tail end of a career that started over two decades ago.
“My mom was here watching her son and her grandson,” said James. “Like, I don’t even know how to even wrap that all in one in my brain. It’s so weird. It’s so cool. And so surreal. My mom gets to watch her son and grandson play in the NBA at the same time. Man, I actually just started to think how insane that is.”
James admitted on multiple occasions that he hasn't even talked to his family about what "the end" looks like. There is a belief that he'd like to embark on a farewell tour that allows him to be honored by every team across the league, as other top stars have done before hanging it up.
That thought has also paved the way for rumors to swirl about what that final NBA season would look like or – perhaps more importantly – where it would be spent. A report from ESPN prior to the game revealed that Cleveland is at least in play for James next season.
Such an outcome comes with plenty of ogistical hurdles that would need to be worked out, mostly revolving around what type of contract James would be willing to play on in 2026-27. No one can argue against the sentiments of such an idea, though, as a swan song back in Northeast Ohio, where he started his career, left, then returned to win a championship, presents as storybook an ending he could ever ask for.
James has never shied away from feeding a good storyline, but Wednesday night wasn't about that for him. Right now, it appears, he truly doesn't know what his future holds, hence why the eighth iteration of a tribute video during his time in LA apparently got the best of him.
"I was just more present today than I've been over the last previous seven," said James. "I think I was 22 in that video. Some of the previous videos, I think one they showed, they showed us actually winning a championship too. So that video would have, it I was going to get emotional, it had probably been that one. But like I said, just being present, just being present in the moment and definitely got to me a little bit for sure. And I was, like I said, super thankful."
If all the emotions, all the reflection, all the reminiscing were the signs of a man playing his final game in Cleveland, nobody could blame him, even if for many fans, it would be difficult to fathom.
23 years, most of them spent as a figurehead of the sport, takes its toll and James looked every bit 41 in a 129-99 loss to the Cavs, where he scored only 11 points and turned the ball over six times.
But James remains motivated, leaving the door open even a crack for that fairy tale ending.
"I’m in a battle with Father Time, and I’m taking it personal," James said of what still drvies him "I’m going to see how many more times I [can] be victorious over him.”