Speaking on ‘The OGs’ podcast, Miami Heat executive Pat Riley reflected on the night that LeBron James announced his decision to join the Heat. Riley remembers how much it impacted the city at the time and how people got out to celebrate in the middle of the streets.
“I remember being at South Beach,” said Riley. “I was at Red Steakhouse and I think Dwyane was out at Prime. And I’ll never forget when he said ‘I’m taking my talents to South Beach.’ You could hear the whole place, the city was like, all of a sudden everybody’s out in the streets yelling and screaming. I went out in the street and never forgot it.”
LeBron was the biggest young star in the league at the time and he had been with the Cavaliers for seven years leading up to the summer of 2010. So when he announced his move to the Heat on national television, it went viral across the media world in a historic moment that nobody will forget.
Pat Riley says he knew what was going to happen ahead of time, even though it was technically still up in the air until his final decision.
“I knew… there is no way he could go up there and say I’m gonna go to New York or Chicago. I had a good feeling that he was gonna come to Miami.”
LeBron changed the NBA forever that day. After joining the Heat and birthing a new dynasty in the East, LeBron won his first championship and went back-to-back in four straight trips to the Finals. In four seasons with the Heat, James had one of the best stretches by any player in basketball history with averages of 26.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game on 54.3% shooting.
Of course, Pat Riley believes that James should have never left and that he could have won even more titles had he stayed in South Beach for a few more years with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Nevertheless, James made the most out of his time with the Heat and his decision to join in 2020 forever altered the course of basketball history.
Today, LeBron and the Heat are still on good terms but both sides have long since moved on. As a Laker, LeBron no longer has any ties to the Heat and they’ve already found their new team leaders in Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
Together, they hope to take back the East and put the Heat in a position to make some noise in the playoffs. Meanwhile, LeBron is entirely focused on the championship pursuit this season and he has no plans of moving after establishing a permanent home for his family.
So while Lebron may have no regrets over joining and winning with the Heat, he doesn’t regret parting ways when he did, either. The series of events played a role in shaping the player he is today, which is one the greatest we’ve ever seen in NBA history.
