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James says parting shot from Heat was motivating factor

REUTERS/Hans Deryk

A year later, the story comes out.

Last June, in the midst of the Cleveland Cavaliers' six-game loss to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, LeBron James stated he had "some other motivation" in trying to lead the Cavs to a title.

Hours after winning the 2016 NBA championship, he owned up to what that was - a parting shot from the Heat when he left Miami two years ago.

"When I decided to leave Miami - I'm not going to name any names, I can't do that - but there were some people that I trusted and built relationships with in those four years ... told me I was making the biggest mistake of my career," James told ESPN's Brian Windhorst and Dave McMenamin.

"And that shit hurt me. And I know it was an emotional time that they told me that because I was leaving. They just told me it was the biggest mistake I was making in my career. And that right there was my motivation."

It was obvious when James left in July 2014 that the Heat organization was not happy. Among other things, the team had drafted Shabazz Napier in part because of James' endorsement of the UConn point guard, now with the Orlando Magic. Last spring, Heat president Pat Riley took a veiled shot at James, referring to "smiling faces with hidden agendas."

"I knew what I was doing," James told ESPN. "I knew what I was doing and I mean, tonight is a product of it."

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