LBJ Left Miami Because Riley Wouldn't Back Down

[FireDavidKahn]

Attempts to paint LeBron James as a coach-killer in the wake of the Cleveland Cavaliers' dismissal of David Blatt continued Tuesday when a minority owner of the Miami Heat said James frequently tried to get Erik Spoelstra fired during his tenure in South Florida.

"LeBron James - before and after his four seasons when his contract was up with the team - made it clear that he wanted to dump head coach Erik Spoelstra," Heat limited partner Raanan Katz told Israeli radio station 102FM while appearing on a panel with Bleacher Report's David Pick. "At one point, (Heat president) Pat Riley called LeBron into his office said that no one will tell him how to run the organization. Riley told James that Spoelstra is his guy, and that firing Spoelstra is out of the question.

"That was the main reason LeBron returned to Cleveland."

from one of the Heat Minority owners.

[Marchesk]

I thought it was because his four years of college was over?

[RepMe]

Not surprised by this. The silly thing is, LeBron has been nothing without Riley's leadership, yet LeBron still thinks things are best under his decisions.

[DMV2]

At one point, (Heat president) Pat Riley called LeBron into his office said that no one will tell him how to run the organization.

like a principle calling a student into the office for bad behavior.

[derb2k2]

damn. Some juicy tidbits are surfacing here.

Gotta give it to Riley though man. Who the f*** does Bron think he is? You're already getting paid millions to play a game not run the company.

[Nick Young]

Lebron is such a moron


"Like it or love it, we'll have to deal with it"

"I was shocked"

[NBAplayoffs2001]

I think LBJ was so used to that treatment in Cleveland in his first 7 years and he thought the Heat would be cool with it after he bought them 2 NBA titles after 4 Final runs (Can't blame LBJ though for the last lost in 2014, that Heat team was just burnt out, if LBJ stayed they would have had to pick up some new role players and probably would have made the finals again last year). If LBJ had Wade, Bosh, and role players on par with what the Cavs had last season and they were all healthy, they could have taken the Warriors in 7 maybe.

I think behind the scenes, LBJ is way more demanding of a NBA superstar of the franchise he plays for than we think. He thinks he could run it. The Chicago GM during Jordan's time did not like Phil Jackson and felt jealous that he never got attention for all the great moves he's made over the years. I don't think Jordan had much control over the front office. Heck they made a trade that angered him but eventually paid off- Charles Oakley (Jordan's best friend at the time) for Bill Cartwright (b/c they needed size). LBJ also hopes for certain role players/players to play for him that may not make much sense. LBJ asked the Heat to draft that UConn PG a few years ago when he almost stayed with him and Napier (the UConn PG) wasn't projected to be a great NBA player, just a solid/mediocre bench PG which he still is.

[RepMe]

All this really does is verify what we were already 99% sure of anyway. Riley ran things in Miami, LeBron runs things in Cleveland.

[PP34Deuce]

All this really does is verify what we were already 99% sure of anyway. Riley ran things in Miami, LeBron runs things in Cleveland.

I also believe with Lebron, it takes a sense of accomplishment from a coach for him to listen.

Riley won championships as a player and a coach.

Spo and Blatt don't have that title.

It's very diva like but it says he doesn't respect you if you can't relate to him. I also believe he's really smart from X and O's so you have to have a coach sharp enough to handle him.

[uber]

no one ****s with riley

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Lebron is such a moron


"Like it or love it, we'll have to deal with it"

"I was shocked"

LeBron couldn't hide his excitement with this gaffe...

[Mr. Jabbar]

Lebron is such a moron


"Like it or love it, we'll have to deal with it"

"I was shocked"

[bluechox2]

bran bran ****ed up going back to cleavlenad...

[tmacattack33]

Not surprised by this. The silly thing is, LeBron has been nothing without Riley's leadership, yet LeBron still thinks things are best under his decisions.

If everything besides winning a ring equals nothing, then basically every player in this league right now besides KG, Pierce, Kobe, Gasol, and anyone on the Spurs and Warriors is nothing.

[tmacattack33]

This story is likely false:

https://twitter.com/R0BaTO/status/692378789742022656



Lebron and this Katz guy have never even met, and Katz just said that he never even said what he was quoted as saying.