what exactly drives LeBron James<\/a> these days, nor do I suspect that many do. It is why so few had a clue about his final destination. But, yes, it was great to get away, and certainly thought most of free agency would be handled prior to my departure (my wife works at Broward schools, so basically have a two-week window every year between summer league and the start of the Broward schools for vacation). I did try to track down Pelle Larsson in Sweden, but all I could find was a clothier and several books with his first name. (Copenhagen was pretty great, too.) And I do think there is something to the notion of LeBron not wanting to tarnish what was so emotionally achieved with the Cavaliers and Heat. All of that said, the best landing spot for LeBron, especially with his contractual concessions might have been back with the Lakers. As it is, even having moved on from Luka Doncic, it\u2019s not like he isn\u2019t playing second fiddle elsewhere, anyway. Yes, the fit from the playing standpoint seemingly was best with the Heat. But 23 seasons in, he has earned the right to play wherever he wants, whenever he wants for whatever he wants. And the Heat, with the addition of Giannis Antetokounmpo will be just fine, too. When it comes to LeBron and the Heat, as in the Billy Joel song you cite, \u201cIt\u2019s always the same in the end. They got a divorce as a matter of course and they parted the closest of friends.\u201d<\/p>\nQ: Ira, can we take it that since LeBron James waited until Pat Riley and the Heat brass (and you!) went on vacation that he is still trying to get back at them by ruining their vacation? I visited Philadelphia once and enjoyed it, but I am not sure if living there full time is preferable to some of the other places on his list and will bring him as much happiness. It looks like to me that he is just chasing another ring rather than living a happy life. Am I wrong? \u2013 Rich, Plantation.<\/p>\n
A: No question, this is ring-chasing plain and simple. And that is his right, just as it has been for many before, including Ray Allen in his jump to the Heat. As for LeBron James\u2019 timing, I\u2019m sure it had more to do with him than any of us. And I can believe he was conflicted. But, no matter, I got my Fika break in Stockholm (for those who need to know: Fika is more than just a coffee break; it is a cultural ritual that emphasizes the importance of slowing down, connecting with others, and enjoying the moment), updated my pre-written story about him signing with a team other than the Heat, and continued my search for Pelle Larsson (only to learn he was in Spain at the time).<\/p>\n
![\"Found](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Book.jpeg\")
Found Pelle books in Sweden but not Heat guard Pelle Larsson. (Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel).<\/p>\n
Q: I know there will be a lot of hate for LeBron James now that he picked the Sixers, but he helped get us two banners. Let him go retire in Philly and let the Heat do what they do best \u2013 unearth and develop young talent to go along with the amazing talent we have. \u2013 Bruno, Fort Lauderdale..<\/p>\n
A: Only just as the Heat have moved on from LeBron James, they also moved on from much of their youth (Kel\u2019el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis) in the trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>. While there still are prospects that can be developed, such as Pelle Larsson and Ryan Conwell, I would suspect any Heat moves going forward will be focused on the here and now. Win-now mode has become the mode of the moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Q: Ira, hope you had a nice vacation. The Ask Ira pause gives us ample time to digest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[83],"tags":[66237,10049,66239,66238,6306,135,131,132],"class_list":["post-137032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-stockholm","tag-ask-ira","tag-latest-headlines","tag-miami-heat","tag-miami-heat-blog","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-stockholm","tag-sweden"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/117003076818322348","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}