LeBron James Reveals His Secret Motivation That Drove Him to Win in Cleveland

Leaving behind an established championship culture in Miami to carry the burdensome weight of playing for his hometown. Being bypassed by critics, colleagues and fans alike in being regarded as the second best player on the planet, to one baby-faced assassin named Steph Curry. To the spectacle of criticisms for not initially gelling with the Cavs’ other two stars, in Kyrie and Kev. Right on down to the emotional scuffles with Draymond Green in these past NBA Finals. There were clearly a multitude of motivational factors LeBron James carried with him en route to claiming his third Larry O’Brien trophy.

However, with James delivering good on his promise to win a title in Cleveland, he opened up to ESPN correspondents, Dave McMenamin and Brian Windhorst about one closely guarded secret motivation — one that he would only reveal if they Cavs won it all. Hinting heavily towards the scorn of leaving Miami and the barrage of spiteful sentiments from those within the organization, LeBron had this to say:

“When I decided to leave Miami — I’m not going to name any names, I can’t do that — but there were some people that I trusted and built relationships with in those four years [who] told me I was making the biggest mistake of my career.

“And that s*** hurt me. And I know it was an emotional time that they told me that because I was leaving. They just told me it was the biggest mistake I was making in my career. And that right there was my motivation.”

Can James indeed deliver multiple titles to the city of Cleveland? Only father time holds that answer, however, with the monkey now off his back, it seems as now he’s all but vindicated for such a bold move coming home.