In an April 2016 interview with Graham Bensinger, Charles Barkley spoke about how winning in Cleveland would be more special for LeBron James than the multiple championships in Miami.
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A generational talent, LeBron James is a flawless combination of strength, speed, and agility. The kid from Akron had his NBA break at the mere age of 18 years and was immediately under the microscopic lens of everyone. The former ROTY would already draw comparisons to the legend Michael Jordan.
These comparisons served as a boon and curse for James, who soon became the most polarizing figure in American sports history. Things got ugly when the superstar announced his controversial decision to take his talents to South Beach, joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in a Heat uniform.
The former scoring champion became the overnight villain, especially for Cavs fans who felt betrayed. Nonetheless, James would spend 4-years in Miami, winning 2-championships, and was the Finals MVP each time. However, the King still had something that kept him awake at night.
In 2014, the Heat MVP decided to head back home in a quest to bring the city of Cleveland a championship. Amid the 2016 playoffs, Charles Barkley sat down for an interview with Graham Bensinger to talk about James’ homecoming.
“You might not win a championship in Cleveland, but you make Cleveland relevant”: Charles Barkley on LeBron James’ decision to wear the Cavaliers uniform again.
It’s no secret that The Chuckster isn’t a fan of superteams, as we’ve seen from his dislike for teams like the Warriors and Nets. Thus there were no surprises about the Suns MVP despising James’ decision to join the Heat. Barkley represented the old-school mentality of doing it the right way.
While Chuck has been an avid critic of the former Cavs superstar, things got worse when he joined the Heat. The eleven-time All-Star believed Northeast Ohio was always James’ home. Thus when he decided to return to Cleveland, Barkley had the following to say.
“It was one of the coolest things that I’ve ever been associated with in the NBA,” said the veteran forward. “You can go to Miami and win, it won’t be the same, home is Northeast Ohio. You might not win a championship in Cleveland, but you make Cleveland relevant and if you can win one championship there, it’ll be more than winning three or four in Miami, and I think he understood that.”
Barkey’s words surely had depth as in less than 2-months, James and co would create history, ending Cleveland’s 52-year-old championship drought in one of the most iconic Finals in NBA history.
