While he understands his decision to come home and rejoin the Cavaliers, Riley remarked he would have loved to see James remain in Miami a few more years.
LeBron James set the record straight about Pat Riley's statement about his previous historical run with the Miami Heat.
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In his press conference following the unveiling of his statue by the Los Angeles Lakers, Riley fondly reflected on the Miami Heat's "Big 3" era that brought the franchise two more NBA titles in four consecutive Finals appearances.
Riley noted that while he understands James' decision to leave in 2014, he said that he "selfishly" wished LeBron had stayed for a few more years.
"I also would have never gave myself another 12 years to be playing this game either. So that's another story."
After years of coming up short with the Cleveland Cavaliers, James joined forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in 2010 free agency.
The trio transformed the Heat into one of the best teams in NBA history, conquering the basketball world in the early 2010s.
But following their Finals rematch loss against the San Antonio Spurs, James became a free agent and ultimately chose to return to Cleveland to settle his unfinished business with his hometown team. Leading the Cavs in his second tenure, he reached four Finals appearances again and guided the franchise to its first-ever NBA title in 2016.
While he sees Riley as an important figure, James gives credit to the Heat organization as a whole for helping him shape his legendary career.
"I don’t think it’s just Pat. I think it’s the whole Heat organization, obviously," he told reporters about what Riley meant to his career. "I went down there with the only goal and only mindset that I had was to win a championship. I felt like I couldn’t do it in my first stint in Cleveland. I tried, but I just feel like it couldn’t be possible. So I needed to figure out my own path and accomplish some goals that I had.
"I felt like going down there, they had done it in ’06, so not even four years removed, whatever the case may be. And they had a couple of down years after that. So I feel like I know how to play the game and I felt like they could possibly put me in a position where I can get the goals that I had. And I was able to accomplish that."
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