After failing to secure a championship ring with the Lakers for the fourth year in a row, speculation has arisen on whether LeBron James may be looking to exit the franchise. After all, given that the player will turn 40 by the end of December, he would want to make the most of his remaining years. The player himself has not confirmed anything in regards to this. However, a bit of fuel was recently added to this fire of a rumor, after he made an appearance during the Cavs’ Game 4 against the Cs. Channing Frye speculated whether it was a ‘homecoming sign’.

His former teammate believes the All-Time Lead Scorer may be looking to return after a six-year stint with the Lakers. Even though a $164 million extension deal is reportedly going to be offered to LeBron, Fyre still believes that Cavaliers is the way to go. “I think LA is special. He won a ring there. Obviously, it’s gonna be hard for him to win another one in the Western Conference” said Fyre. He then listed the most likely possibility.

“There’s no two players that are in free agency or maybe you could trade for, that would put you above Minnesota, OKC, Dallas, Denver”. LeBron James was associated with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2003-10 and then again from 2014-18. Under his leadership in his second stint, the team reached the finals four times and even won the championship ring in 2016. After making his final exit, the player was not seen attending any of his old team’s games. In fact, the last time he attended a Cavs game as a spectator was back in March 2014, when Zydrunas Ilgauskas’s jersey was being retired by the franchise. Ironically, LeBron would end up joining the team again four months later.

Channing Fyre was accurate in his description of the growing competition amongst the Western Conference teams. Ever since LeBron joined the Lakers, many prominent players like Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), and Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) have been on the rise. These players have brought their franchises to a whole different level and made them an equal, if not better, contender than the LA team. While a certain level of competition exists in the Eastern Conference as well, Fyre believes that aligning himself with young players like Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and Donovan Mitchell will only work in LeBron’s favor.

LeBron James receives a standing ovation from the Cleveland crowd!

There was certainly a lot of controversy and reported hate towards LeBron James after he left the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat back in 2010. Plus, it wouldn’t have helped the situation after he re-joined and then left again after four years. Due to this, there would have been no way of knowing how the spectators over at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse would have reacted seeing the player in their midst. To their credit, the Cleveland crowd was nothing but welcoming and ecstatic.

As LeBron James, his wife Savannah, and his agent Rich Paul took their courtside seats, the crowd was seen uniting in their actions by giving the player a standing ovation. Loud cheers and excited voices filled the silence and brought a positive atmosphere within the confines of the arena. Given the fact that two of the team’s lead scorers, Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen, were absent from the main lineup due to separate injuries, LeBron’s presence may have just been what the crowd needed to bring life back to the party.

In order to mark the four-time NBA champion’s return to the Fieldhouse, a tribute video was even played on the arena’s Jumbotron. It featured some of the highlights of the player’s combined 11-year stint with the team that drafted him into the big league. Once the same concluded, the feed switched to the man of the hour himself. As the crowd once again unified in their support of him, LeBron James reciprocated the love by waving to the crowd, blowing air kisses, and even mimicking wearing an imaginary crown on his head.

The LeBron James era of the Cleveland Cavaliers was amongst the best ones that the franchise went through. If the player decides to bid adieu to the Lakers, the Cleveland crowd has shown that they would be more than happy to welcome him back into their fold.