LeBron James is returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers as MVP says decision to leave Miami Heat is 'bigger than basketball'

Homecoming: LeBron James is returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers

LeBron James is headed home - he has announced he will leave the Miami Heat to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

King James is returning to Cleveland four years after an acrimonious split announced on national television that saw him bolt his hometown to take his talents to South Beach.

'My goal is to win as many titles as possible,' he said in an interview published Friday in Sports Illustrated.

He's returned: This billboard went up in downtown Cleveland within an hour of James announcing he was returning to the Cavaliers

The announcement caps weeks of speculation over where the two-time NBA champion would go after his contract with Miami expired following this year's NBA Finals loss to the San Antonio Spurs.


James told the magazine that despite finally getting the elusive rings he craved while with the Cavaliers, he felt leaving Northeast Ohio was never permanent, and compared it to college.

'My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now.'

He also expressed regret over 'The Decision,' an interview televised across the country on ESPN in which he announced which team he would sign with as a free agent by saying 'I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.'

James admitted he would have done things much differently if he had them to do over again, but that he still would have left for Miami.

He explained in the essay that he left Cleveland 'seeking championships' and won them, but that Cleveland hasn't had one in a long time and his goal was to bring the title home.


'I always believed that I’d return to Cleveland and finish my career there,' he said.

He believed this despite Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert posting an angry letter on the team's website ranting that James betrayed the team and its fans.

'Everybody makes mistakes. I’ve made mistakes as well. Who am I to hold a grudge?' James said.

James 'wasn’t going to leave Miami for anywhere except Cleveland' even after fans organized mass jersey burnings and media in the city openly rooted against him.

Fans have been visiting his suburban Akron mansion all week in speculation he would return to the team. The heavy traffic caused local police to be dispatched to the home's front gates.

The announcement immediately turned sentiment from being against the four-time NBA MVP to scenes of wild celebration and unbridled joy