In the summer of 2010, the whole world was captivated by the news of LeBron James announcing his shock decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team that drafted him first overall out of high school, for the Miami Heat. Not only was LeBron the unquestioned leader of a Cavaliers team that through seven years had gone from one of the worst teams in the league to annual title contenders, but Cleveland was also his hometown team. LeBron James was an icon that the state of Ohio could claim as their own, making his subsequent departure all the more shocking.
LeBron teaming up with his super friends in South Beach, Bosh (left) and Wade (middle)
When asked about his decision to leave the Cavaliers, LeBron stated his reasons as wanting to team up with fellow perennial all stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in order to win championships; famously stating in their welcoming ceremony that they would win many rings together. Though the public saw it as selfish, with many calling him a “ring chaser”, I believed LeBron was in a Rousseau’s state of a nature where people cooperate with each other and form a collective interest. By opting to join the Miami Heat, LeBron gave up 15 million dollars in personal salary to leave more money on the table to sign quality role players to complement the core of him, Wade, and Bosh; thus making them more well rounded as a team and much more formidable title contenders. Having already won two Most Valuable Player awards during his first seven seasons in Cleveland, LeBron had achieved plenty of individual success but opted to sacrifice his statistics and move to a team where shot attempts would have to be more evenly dispersed for the good of the team. LeBron’s sacrifice and willingness to succumb to the collective interest of team success paid off as he wound up capturing his first championship in 2012 and followed that up with another one in 2013.
The summer of 2014 was not supposed to be as highly anticipated as the summer of 2010 as many assumed LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh were opting out of their contracts for the opportunity to earn more in the long run. They would presumably all resign with the Heat and continue their standing dominant run of four straight NBA finals. The Heat had already agreed with Wade for him to take an 11 million dollar pay cut from his original contract in order to free up space to offer more money to LeBron. As June progressed however, Heat management and the public grew increasingly suspicious as LeBron and his agent had still not made any statement that he would be resigning with the Heat and was reportedly meeting with five other teams.
Counting Down His Days as a Heat?
On July 12th, 2014, with no prior hints whatsoever, LeBron shocked the world for a second time by announcing that he was returning to the Cavaliers and in a personally written letter on Sports Illustrated, stated “I was seeking championships, and we won two.” evidence that LeBron was never in the selfless collective interest state of nature that Rousseau suggests. LeBron wanted the championships as a resume builder for his case to become the greatest basketball player in history; and along the way just happened to win two more MVP’s during his tenure with Heat to pack on to his personal awards. LeBron knew with his talent, he was going to be the lead man in Miami after all and would not have to sacrifice any of his personal statistics in order for his team to win. When he realized that Dwayne Wade, his best friend, was getting old and would no longer be able to provide him with the support he needed, he bailed, essentially leaving Wade (due to the breaking of the social contract of friendship and mutual respect) about 10 million dollars poorer, and the Miami Heat management in a desperate situation to preserve their team and prevent it from utter collapse. By writing the letter explaining why he was returning to the Cavaliers, he was salvaging his reputation with his hometown of Ohio and convincing the fans, who once hated him for leaving, to take him back as their prodigal son; all while joining a young Cavaliers team, with more championship potential, that possessed budding superstar Kyrie Irving and was on the cusp of capturing another superstar, Kevin Love. From the time LeBron left for the Heat, he was in Locke’s state of nature of self-interest. Every move he did was for the pure motivation of improving his legacy and reputation.
LeBron is bringing greatness back home—mission accomplished
LeBron’s antics the past four years has shown us that state of nature’s do collide and sometimes one can be used in disguise to achieve another. LeBron wanted us all believing that he was immersed in Rousseau’s state of nature of mutual interest and cooperating with others, but ultimately he was using the cooperation purely for his own self-interests. While he gave out many hints throughout his time as a Heat such as claiming that he wanted to end up as one of the four greatest players to ever play the game and that he would love to finish his career back at home. The Miami Heat and the public as, unbiased judges, never picked up and reacted in time to his immense self-motivated ambitions; showing that any one person with power, ability, and the wittiness of thinking many steps ahead has the opportunity to outsmart the regulating public and its social contract, and run away with self-preservation.
Touchdown Theory 
I’d like to preface this comment by saying that, as a die-hard fan of the Cavaliers, this comment may be a bit biased towards my perspective. With that said, while I understand your opinion on much of these issues, I disagree with most of what was said.
First of all, I do not believe LeBron’s first decision to leave Cleveland and sign with Miami was not like Rousseau’s state of nature at all. To me, it was more like what Hobbes said when people were fearful. LeBron, when he was drafted, made a promise that he would win a championship in Cleveland and wouldn’t stop trying until he did. Obviously he did not, and I believe he left out of fear that he would never win one in Cleveland.
Also, to me, saying that he broke a “contract” with DWade when he left Miami to return to Cleveland is just not right. LeBron left Miami for two reasons: One, he believed the Cavaliers gave him a better chance to win short and long term (which is the exact reason why he went to Miami to team up with Wade in the first place!), and he wanted to return home, which is a factor that cannot be understated. I don’t think you can say that he only wrote the letter to “salvage” his reputation. While he may have lost respect in the eyes of some people (namely, Miami Heat fans), LeBron gained back much respect from most people throughout the country that he lost when he originally made The Decision. I believe that the letter was genuine.
Lastly, I don’t know how his actions in between his two decisions can be considered “antics”. In Miami, while I obviously did not root for him in those four years, I believe he was very businesslike in his approach. His actions that support this, in my mind, include him stopping the “chalk toss” ritual, and deactivating his Twitter account during the playoffs, among other things.
Overall, to me, LeBron was not selfless in his first Decision and selfish in his second one. While his second decision may not be selfless, it was far more selfless than his original decision. As evidence for his first decision not being totally selfless: while he did take a little bit less, he did not take a lot less, as he signed with the Cavaliers for a near-max contract before being signed-and-traded to Miami.
With all of that said, remember my disclaimer of me being a biased Cavaliers fan. While I obviously disagree with much of what you said, it isn’t out of disrespect to your opinion; rather, my inner fan was speaking here.
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With all due respect, I disagree with much of what you said here. Now, please keep in mind I am a Washington Wizards fan and have no personal bias as to Lebron. My main problem with your post is that you seem to presume a lot of things as facts, though they are your opinions (and opinions that the vast majority of people and experts disagree with). Saying, “every move [Lebron] did was for the pure motivation of improving his legacy and reputation,” is something you could never know (unless you’re personal friends with Lebron, in which case good for you). In my opinion, Lebron left the first time because he was sick of loosing and wanted to win, which seems pretty understandable for one of the top players in the sport. Saying he did so to improve his image is just flat out incorrect, as he very likely knew his public image would take a serious hit from moving to Cleveland (and it did). His decision to move back to Cleveland, in my opinion, was not to improve his reputation – he was already my most accounts the most popular athlete in the world. Like the last commenter said, I think his decision to go back to Cleveland was based on the basketball situation and desire to return home. He also set up his Miami contract specifically so he would have the option to do that, and owed nothing to Wade and Bosh who he largely won two rings for.
Sorry for the rant, and no disrespect intended, but I think you kind of speculate on a lot of things without any really substantial evidence to back up your argument.
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