NBA Hall of Famer claims Pat Riley wants to avoid LeBron James this offseason

Future Hall of Famer LeBron James' future with the LA Lakers has been up in the air in the wake of the team's first-round exit from the NBA Playoffs. Currently, James has one year left on his two-year extension, which sees him faced with a player option this offseason. Should James decide to opt-out of the final year of his deal, he would become a free agent.

This has opened up the floodgates to theories that James could wind up either back in Cleveland or Miami, where he's won titles in the past. Considering his son, Bronny James, is expected to be drafted this summer, many are wondering whether teams will look to draft Bronny in hopes of LeBron James following suit.

The way Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway Sr sees things, Pat Riley wants nothing to do with a LeBron James to Miami reunion. During a recent episode of The Carton Show, Hardaway shed light on the situation, explaining:

"He's not going nowhere. I'm telling you all that right now. He's not going nowhere. You know what he gonna do? He gonna take all y'all to dinner. Y'all gonna take him to dinner and do all this and wine and dine him and all that type of stuff. And he's going back to L. A. ...

"After what happened. You know, back then, Pat Riley is not going to him."

Looking further at Tim Hardaway Sr's comments about Pat Riley and LeBron James

As Tim Hardaway Sr indicated, something happened behind the scenes with LeBron James and Pat Riley before James left Miami. While the Hall of Famer declined to explain the situation further, he believes that whatever it was that transpired would make Riley less likely to want to bring James back to Miami.

At the time LeBron James parted ways with the Miami Heat, he opted out of his contract in order to become a free agent. While this may have created some animosity between he and Riley given the plan for him to play with the team long-term.

This was something that was recorded in Riley's 2018 book, The Soul of Basketball. As he explained to the author, Ian Thomsen, he was confident that had James stayed, the big three he assembled would have won even more titles than the two they did.

Despite that, back in June of 2021, Riley indicated during an appearance on the Dan Le Batard Show that the door wasn't shut on a LeBron James return to Miami.

"I would leave the key under the doormat if he would call me and let me know that he's coming. I would do that, but I doubt very much that key…That key is rusted now. ... So I wish him nothing but the best, and if he ever wanted to come back, I'll put a new shiny key under the mat."

While it seems unlikely that a reunion happens this offseason, with reports indicating James is likely to return to LA, only time will tell.