LeBron James shocked the NBA with ‘The Decison’ in the summer of 2010. After playing the first seven years of his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James joined the Miami Heat to form a Big 3 with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
NBA insider Brian Windhorst, who has followed LeBron James closely throughout his career, rejected the opportunity to report the move before any other reporter in the league. Windhorst named it the biggest regret of his career in a recent appearance on ‘The Old Man & The Three’ podcast.
“I got tipped off that LeBron was gonna go to Miami, and I rejected it,” Windhorst said Redick. “Because I said, ‘No, no, they can’t make the cap space, and those guys aren’t taking less.’ I pushed it right out. I could have really followed up on it 10 days out. But I didn’t respect that yes, they could make the cap space, and yes, those guys would consider taking less.”
Windhorst blamed his arrogance for unarguably the biggest scoop of his journalism career.
“I made an assumption,” he added. “And that’s like my thing, don’t make assumptions again. I still do because it’s human nature, but no, why did I make an assumption? Why did I not follow that up? It was an arrogant thing for me to do, and God, did that bother me so much. And look, the thing about it is, the level that it would’ve taken for me to get a confirmation that LeBron was going to go to Miami was probably too high.”
“Because unless I heard it from LeBron himself, it was such a crazy story, how could I ever have said it or reported it? But the fact that I dismissed it because I thought I knew more than I did really bothered me. So, now when I hear stuff that sounds outlandish, I don’t close the door on it as fast. I will go down and investigate it a little bit,” Windhorst concluded.
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James’ move to the Heat was too crazy to believe for Windhorst. He could have become the first reporter in the entire world to report the blockbuster move, but his arrogance got the better of him.
LeBron James Hated ESPN During His First Year With The Miami Heat
Following ‘The Decision,’ LeBron James became the most hated player in the NBA. It was a difficult situation for the King as he was used to being a beloved player.
James was also frustrated about ESPN’s coverage of him during the 2010-11 season. Windhorst revealed LeBron felt like he got left alone on an island.
“There was animosity from LeBron,” Windhorst said. “He was not crazy about it. He didn’t like the way ESPN handled the fallout from ‘The Decision.’ He felt like he got left alone on an island there. And he really didn’t like the idea of ESPN creating a team of people just to cover the Heat, which was kind of revolutionary at the time, and I was the lead guy on. It was pretty salty the first year.”
Windhorst also mentioned James’ reluctance of giving him interviews that season. Keeping that in mind, James may have flat-out hated Windhorst had the ESPN insider broken the news about the King’s move to the Heat before ‘The Decision.’
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