Miami Heat:Why a LeBron James No. change more than a numbers game

A chain of events has sparked a number change for former Miami Heat Champion LeBron James. It’s probably a lot more to it than meets the eye.

It started as a regular day in the NBA world, Birds were chirping, the Miami Heat were still in salary cap purgatory, while Miami Heat fans want Jimmy Butler by any means necessary. There were still reports of a midseason tournament, the free agency wild west is still coming soon, and there was still screaming on the sports tv channels. Then, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski pulled a Woj, reporting that the Los Angeles Lakers had made a trade to clear cap room, which turns out to be enough for a max slot.

After it was all said and done though, they had shipped Mo Wagner, Isaac Bonga and Jemerrio Jones to the Washington Wizards, which turns out to be a part of the deal with the New Orleans Pelicans for Anthony Davis. Along with that news, Woj furthered the shenanigans by reporting that AD would waive his “trade kicker” of $4 million dollars. Without having to pay the $4 million dollar bonus for being traded, which a trade kicker is essentially, that allowed them to free a max slot’s worth.

LeBron also reportedly gave Anthony Davis the No. 23, a number dawned by LeBron for much of his career including this past season with the Lakers, but not in his Miami Heat days and for most of his National Team Career. That started the mumbles about what number LeBron would wear this upcoming season, and frankly, the answer was obvious.

https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1144426801667571712

If for any reason you couldn’t figure it out, this probably seals it that he will go back to wearing the No. 6 jersey. Although it is reportedly to make Davis feel more comfortable with the move, it wouldn’t be surprising if the switch back to the number from his Miami Heat days is a lot thicker of a story than that.

Lebron James is a very anticipating, pointed, purposeful and deliberate being. He does nothing by accident at least 80 percent of the time, and this is no different.

When LeBron signed with the Miami Heat, changing to the No. 6 seemed like a shedding of sorts. As Dan Gilbert had written that bitter letter in 2010, LeBron was resentful and seemingly wanted to shake loose of anything that was the Cleveland Cavaliers version of himself.

As many like to call it “his college”, he really became a different form of a man with the Miami Heat. This including his attitude, perception at the time, and he even bulked up a bit more than he had been. That changing is symbolic of what he could be dealing with now, with everyone counting him out as possibly still being the best player in the world.

After his hamstring injuries from this past season, you can be sure he is ready to come out and show the world that he still has something to prove, as he did during his time as a member of the Miami Heat. There was something else special about that era, that time, that No. 6 for LeBron James.

He played arguably some of the best basketball of his life as a member of the Miami Heat and while wearing that number. In the 2012-13 season, he went 26.8 points, 8 rebounds, and 7.3 assists on a total shooting percentage of 56.5 percent. In the 2013-2014 season, he went 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 6.3 assists on 56.7 percent shooting from the field for the Miami Heat.

This was also a place and a No. that saw him embrace being the villain. After “The Decision” and the way that the whole fiasco went down, LeBron James was No. 1 on the sports most hated list. He reveled in the villainous role for a while, until the championships came and back did the legions of adoring fans.

With Anthony Davis being frowned upon for basically strongarming himself out of New Orleans along with the way he and his representation handled it, it didn’t sit well with a lot of people.  LeBron could be attempting to invoke that same mentality that he did as a member of the Miami Heat, one where he embraces and thrives in the role of the villain. That’s something that can’t be looked over as this whole new era starts for the Los Angeles Lakers, the role of the villains.

Regardless, The number change can be looked at as a basic, surface type move, but I wouldn’t be fooled if I were you. It’s always much deeper than it seems with this particular guy.

Mercurial, capricious, brilliant, cunning, all of which describe LeBron James. These are also words that go far into detailing why he moves the way he does and makes the moves he does. It’s all just the Lebron thing to do.