“Shaq Was 37, Averaged 12”: Nobody Wanted to Play With LeBron James in Cleveland to Win, Claim ex-NBA Stars

Why did LeBron James, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, leave his hometown team? Was he truly left with no option? It was 14 years ago, in the summer of 2010, LeBron James made ‘The Decision’ to leave Cleveland and join the Miami Heat. Turning into the biggest villain, fans question his decision to leave his home team even today. The same discussion sparked a heated debate as Gilbert Arenas and Brandon Jennings claimed LeBron had no other option left.

According to them, nobody wanted to team up with LeBron. In contrast, Rashad McCants believed instead of teaming up with Bosh and Wade in Miami, LeBron could have stayed in Cleveland and asked other stars to join him. Then, this conversation led to a discussion about the power players have today of choosing where they play. Gil’s Arena panel took a trip down memory lane in its latest episode.

Reflecting on these points, Arenas and Jennings scoffed at McCants’ notion, saying, “LeBron wasn’t gonna get nobody to come to Cleveland.” Not being as attractive and glamorous as teams like the Knicks or the Lakers, Arenas claimed that no free agent was interested in joining the Cavs. McCants denied those claims without hesitation by listing out the players who did end up making that move, “Shaq came out there too.” But Arenas gave him a reality check on that.

Arenas pulled up Shaq’s stats in Cleveland on his phone and exclaimed, “Shaq was 37, averaged 12. He didn’t come there to win nothing man. He better relax.” Way past his prime and in the final stages of his career, Shaq was no longer a dominant force when he teamed up with LeBron James. Although only for one season, the four-time Champion joined the Cavs and played with LeBron in 2009. LeBron, then 25, was just approaching his peak at that point. The outing the two had together been decent.

Under the banner of the Cavs, LeBron James and Shaq reached the Eastern Conference semifinals in the 2009-10 season. Then they lost the series to the Boston Celtics in 6 games. A two-time scoring champion, Shaq could manage a disappointing average of 12 and 6.7 rebounds in the regular season. On the other hand, James averaged 29.7 points, 8.6 assists and 7.3 rebounds. Understandably, Diesel’s average does not come any close to his peak days. But during his time with the Cavs, Shaq was a reliable support for LeBron James.

Notably, apart from Shaq, stars like Derrick Rose and D Wade, who joined the Cavs during LeBron’s second stint, were on the older side when they moved to Cleveland. Disagreeing with Arenas and Jennings’ argument, McCants claimed that LeBron didn’t need Bosh and Wade to join him because he had single-handedly led the Cavs to the first seed for two straight seasons before that.

Who can forget how the Cavs reached the NBA finals in 2007, riding almost solely on the shoulders of LeBron James? Unfortunately, they were defeated by a more experienced Spurs team. Being unable to win a championship was surely a reason of disappointment for LeBron which might have contributed to his move.

“That (winning the championship) was my only goal. That was the only reason I teamed up with [Dwyane] Wade and [Chris] Bosh. Because I felt like I couldn’t do it in Cleveland. We couldn’t. … I tried to recruit guys to come to Cleveland. I tried to go and help the upstairs, and it wasn’t happening,” James himself had said. Indeed, with the Cavs, it was a one-man show for James. Did that take a toll on the King?

Was LeBron James tired of being the only superstar of the Cavs?

The ask from LeBron during his time with the franchise was gigantic. It was like being a lonely warrior. Notably, LeBron did not have any experience in college basketball. So, it might have been possible that he could not handle the pressure to perform at the hour of absolute need. The defeat against the Spurs apparently is an indication of that. James’ situation can be somewhat compared to asking to become a Michael Jordan without the support of Scottie Pippen. And this is something that Arenas had pointed out last year also.

Arenas’ statement in 2023 added one more twist to the story. According to him, James left the Cavs since Dan Gilbert was unwilling to spend money to bring some trusted hands to James. “What happened was, the whole NBA was fu***** free agents,” Arenas said on his “Gil’s Arena” podcast.

“Him, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Yao Ming, Larry Hughes. The whole fu***** NBA, and he’s sitting like, ‘Who are we gonna get? Nobody. I just bought this team. I ain’t spending this money right now.’,” Arenas had further added. He had also lashed out, saying that spending no money meant winning no championship. And that was exactly what LeBron was disappointed about. In the latest episode of the podcast also Arenas said the same.

Arenas reminded McCants that year had one of the hottest classes of free agents in league history. With stars like Amare Stoudemire, Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh, Yao Ming, and more on the move, staying in Cleveland might have hurt LeBron’s chances of winning because no one wanted to join him. “If he wouldn’t have done anything then, he probably couldn’t have won a chip for 4-5 years,” Arenas claimed.

More importantly, teams like Orlando and Atlanta were on the rise and Celtics and Lakers were still dominating with their stacked roster. With that, there was a risk that Wade and Bosh might have teamed up to form a super team somewhere else, had LeBron not moved to Miami. So, although hated for his move, ‘The Decision’ might have been necessary for LeBron James to save his legacy!

Before you go, do not forget to check out what Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about Caitlin Clark’s meteoric rise to stardom. Keep checking this space for more such updates.