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The Philips Arena crowd was loud and in unison when Tristan Thompson went to the line to shoot two free throws in the first quarter. If you listened carefully, you could hear the fans chanting “LeBron will leave you” over and over again.
Hawks fans chanting: “LeBron will leave you,” as Tristan Thompson misses two free throws 😬 pic.twitter.com/p9NAaxwrl4
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 10, 2018
If their goal was to distract the Cavs’ center, then they did their job well. Thompson missed both free throws, but the Cleveland Cavaliers still defeated the Atlanta Hawks 123-107 Friday night.
LeBron James has an op-out clause in his existing contract, an option that everyone is expecting he will exercise this summer to become a free agent. After a drama-filled Cavaliers locker room the past few weeks, it was increasingly becoming a certainty that James was going to leave Cleveland if something wasn’t done.
In response, Cavs general manager Koby Altman traded six players to different teams in exchange for four new faces in the hopes of addressing the team’s chemistry issues. Though they remain as the third seed in the Eastern Conference, their hold on the spot was slipping away after losing 13 of their last 19 games prior to their Tuesday game versus the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Whether the trade improves the Cavs’ play is yet to be known as the new players won’t be available until Sunday when they face the Boston Celtics.
The only way to guarantee that LeBron returns to Cleveland is if they win the championship this year as he would certainly want to defend the title. But if they lose, especially if it happens early in the playoffs, then there’s a huge possibility that James bolts for a championship contender.
“LeBron will leave you” would sound prophetic if that happens.
Until then, the taunt coming from the Atlanta crowd is nothing more than entertaining if not hilarious.
And it’s quite catchy, too.
