LeBron James Says He Would Be Same Player if He Never Joined Miami

LeBron James believes he would still be at the same point in his career today, even if he hadn’t joined the Miami Heat early on.

King James was with the Heat for four seasons (2010-2014) and led the franchise to two titles in that time.

He also won four MVPs, recorded five trips to the Finals and was awarded two Finals MVPs honors.

James reflected on his time with the Heat in his 21st season this week, as he’s in Miami with the Lakers facing his old team.

“I think I would still be at this level no matter if I would’ve came here or not,” LeBron said. “Let’s not get it twisted: The four years I was here, it was amazing. I loved everything about it. Loved this franchise, this franchise is top tier, it’s one of the best franchises in the world.

“But as far as my career, my career was going to be my career as far as individually, because I know how much I put into the game and I know how much I strived to be as great as I can be. [But] as far as what I was able to learn here was second to none, that’s for sure.”

Before arriving in Miami, he had two MVPs and one NBA Finals appearance in seven seasons with the Cavaliers.

“I came here for one reason and one reason only, and that was to win championships,” James said. “That was my only goal. That was the only reason I teamed up with [Dwyane] Wade and [Chris] Bosh. Because I felt like I couldn’t do it in Cleveland. We couldn’t. … I tried to recruit guys to come to Cleveland. I tried to go and help the upstairs and it wasn’t happening. So I had an opportunity to be a free agent so I did what I thought was best, not only for my career but for me at that point in time.”