The King is Back: Lebron and Cleveland are One Again.

Three weeks ago in part one of my free agency preview, I said that Lebron James should go back to Cleveland as it was the only place that allowed him to both redeem his reputation and win championships. After Friday, we can already cross the redemption part off the list. The King is back in Cleveland, and in the minds of the masses he’s a hero again.

It makes all the sense in the world. When discussing Lebron’s decision, most reporters pointed out that Lebron was a big picture guy, and wanted what was best for his long-term legacy. Because of this, they assumed that he would stay in Miami and rack up as many championships as possible.

Those reporters were right about the legacy angle, but they had the wrong team and they had the wrong understanding of the word

Rings aren’t the only thing that matter when it comes to legacy, if it were, Bill Russell would be considered the greatest player of all time. Context matters as well, and a part of that context is location. We remember players who are associated with one city more than we do vagabonds. Michael Jordan was Chicago, Larry Bird was Boston, and Magic was Los Angeles and they are thusly the three players most often mentioned when we talk about the greatest players off all time.

But Kareem Abdul-Jabbar probably had a more amazing career than any of them. Kareem is the NBA’s all time leading scorer, a six-time NBA champion and a six-time league MVP, but when we start listing the greatest of all-time he’s always in the second group mentioned, not the first with the three guys listed above. It’s because he spent the first half of his career in Milwaukee. He was never seen as a part of L.A. the way his teammate Magic was. He was never truly theirs. When the Lakers decided to put up a statue to commemorate the Showtime Lakers, they built a statue of Magic alone. Kareem had to complain several years before they gave in and built one for him too.

Moses Malone is probably the greatest player in NBA history that no one ever talks about. He’s 7^th on the all-time scoring list and 5^th on the all-time rebounds list. He’s an NBA champion and was named NBA MVP three times. That’s more than Kobe, Shaq, Tim Duncan, and the same amount as Magic and Bird. But Moses also played for eight NBA teams and two ABA teams. He was never one with a city the way the Jordan-Bird-Magic triumvirate were and thus his name only comes out of the mouths of the most knowledgeable NBA fans when discussing the greatest players of all time.

Lebron was always going to be considered one of the greatest players ever, but he was in danger of being put into the same group as Moses Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; all time great players who were unfairly put into a second-tier due to their lack of an a identification to one city. If Lebron stayed with the Heat or went anywhere else other than Miami, he would have been considered a vagabond, fairly or not. By going to back to Cleveland, to the team that drafted him, to his hometown, he now has the chance to reach Jordan-Bird-Magic status. He now has the chance to be one with a city. Lebron is Cleveland right now.

The reporters who claimed that Lebron is a big picture guy, who cares about his long-term legacy were right, he is that. And  that’s exactly why he’s a Cavalier again.