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LeBron: 'I don't owe anybody anything'

Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports / Action Images

The prodigal son returned and delivered an NBA championship, plus two other Finals appearances (so far), but now the specter of another departure hangs over him.

LeBron James can opt out of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers at the end of the 2017-18 season, and there's been a truckload of rumor-mill grist over the past several months concerning the possibility that the Akron native will leave his nominal hometown team for a second time.

For his part, James has steadfastly refused to tip his hand one way or the other. But, having already dealt with the vicious fallout of making his own unpopular decision to decamp for Miami back in 2010, he's unequivocal about one thing: Whatever he decides this time around, no city or fan base or person is entitled to anything from him.

"LeBron James owes nobody anything. Nobody," James told GQ's Mark Anthony Green in an interview published Tuesday.

"When my mother told me I don't owe her anything, from that point in time, I don't owe anybody anything. But what I will give to the city of Cleveland is passion, commitment, and inspiration. As long as I put that jersey on, that's what I represent. That's why I'm there - to inspire that city. But I don't owe anybody anything."

Time and circumstance may tell whether Clevelanders feel the same, but if James does end up leaving again, the fact that he brought the city its first major sports title in more than 50 years should at least help curb the jersey-burning vitriol.

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