When it's all said and done, we'll probably best remember LeBron James as a Cavalier. It's the franchise that drafted him, where he's spent the bulk of his career and where he won his most memorable championship.
The most dominant version of LeBron, though? That's up for debate.
Once again, LeBron's time in Cleveland, whether it's the first stint, second stint or the two together, may very well come to mind, but he was at the peak of his powers during his four seasons in Miami.
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LeBron's peak is admittedly difficult to pinpoint because he's been hanging 27-7-7 on folks for almost two decades now. (This is your reminder that LeBron is both one of the youngest and oldest players to ever make an All-NBA Team. His longevity is unmatched.) Numbers-wise, he's been mostly the same player — a cheat code — no matter what uniform he's worn, but LeBron was by far and away his most efficient in Miami.
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Especially after coming up short against the Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals — one of only a few blemishes on his resume that deserves legitimate GOAT consideration — it felt as though everything fell into place for him. He remained an elite finisher at the rim but picked up a few tips from Hakeem Olajuwon and became an effortless scorer in the post. His midrange game has never been better. He even became a knockdown 3-point shooter, connecting on a career-best 40.6 percent of his attempts in 2012-13.
The book was once to turn LeBron into a jump-shooter. That plot started to thicken in Miami.
| Team | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG% | PER |
| Cavaliers (2003-10) | 27.8 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 47.5 | 26.9 |
| Heat (2010-14) | 26.9 | 7.6 | 6.7 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 54.3 | 29.6 |
| Cavaliers (2014-18) | 26.1 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 52.6 | 27.3 |
| Lakers (2018-current) | 27.0 | 8.0 | 8.2 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 50.9 | 25.5 |
As for accolades, there's no comparison.
Two of LeBron's four MVPs came with the Heat. He won two of his four championships with the franchise compared to one each with the Cavaliers and Lakers. Oh, and he also received four of his six All-Defensive selections in Miami and finished second to Marc Gasol in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2012-13, a result that will probably bother him forever.
LeBron moved on a string on that end of the court and overwhelmed teams with his size and athleticism. He had legitimate value as a rim protector while still being nimble enough to bother even the quickest of guards. What he did to Derrick Rose in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals was flat-out rude.
So not only was LeBron in his athletic prime in Miami, he was his most complete — an unstoppable force on both ends of the court, making for one of the greatest peaks of all time.
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Is all of that enough for LeBron to go down as the greatest player in franchise history? Perhaps not. While he didn't reach quite the same heights individually as LeBron, Dwyane Wade was pretty dang good himself and did it for longer. A similar case can be made for Alonzo Mourning, an unquestionable Heat legend.
But the best player in franchise history? There's no doubt it's LeBron.
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We haven't even discussed the impact LeBron joining forces with Wade and Chris Bosh had on the rest of the league. We're used to players switching teams at this point, but his decision to leave the Cavaliers for the Heat marked the beginning of the player empowerment era, encouraging more stars to take control of their future. (The way LeBron did it was even unique.) It paved the way for future superteams that tried and mostly failed to copy the Big Three model as well.
I'm not as well-versed in other sports as my colleagues, but the combination makes it hard for me to believe that there are four individuals more worthy of a spot on the Miami Mount Rushmore of Sports than LeBron, short as his time with the Heat was.