LeBron left Cavs in 2010 to try to beat Boston

After watching his Cleveland Cavaliers get bounced by the Boston Celtics in multiple postseasons, LeBron James knew he had a big decision to make as he entered unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career.

Aware that few big-time free agents were enthusiastic to sign with Cleveland, LeBron opted to leave the only city he's ever known in 2010 in an attempt to the dethrone the Celtics.

"I understood at that point in time that in order for me to compete for a championship and get to that next level, I had to figure out and get with some guys that could be on the same level as Paul, Ray, (Rajon) Rondo, KG, and those guys," James told Joe Vardon of cleveland.com. "I just didn't feel like ... to do it here, I was out calling guys in the summer time, trying to get guys to come here and guys just continued to decline offers from us."

"And then at that time we didn't even have any money to go get anybody. I knew personally that D Wade was a free agent, I knew Bosh was a free agent, I knew Amare (Stoudemire) was a free agent, I knew Carlos Boozer was a free agent, so I knew I had to try and get some guys to try and get Boston, man. That was my whole mindset."

LeBron's decision undoubtedly paid dividends, as the four-time MVP collected two championships during his time in South Beach while beating the Celtics twice in the playoffs.

After spending much of his mid-20s chasing down Boston, LeBron knows that general managers around the league are now positioning their teams to try to beat him.

"Yeah, but I was just trying to get Boston," James said. "They're all trying to get me."