LeBron James and Pat Riley power struggle almost made way for Dwight Howard, says ex-All-Star

LeBron James has tried to wield his power wherever he has played in the twenty-two seasons he has been in the league.

LeBron James and Pat Riley power struggle almost made way for Dwight Howard, says ex-All-Star

Pat Riley and LeBron James along with Dwight Howard

In his twenty-two seasons in the league, LeBron James has enjoyed the power of being the primary superstar. It is no secret that front office executives work with him to assemble championship winning teams. However, during his stop at the Miami Heat, Pat Riley was the President.

Down in South Beach, the ‘Godfather’ is known for running things his way. Which means, every roster decision is dependent on how he feels about any player. Pat Riley might not have had a major input in bringing James to the Heat as his close friends were lobbying for a Big 3 lineup surrounding them.

YouTube video

But there are already enough instances where it was believed that James left the Heat after Riley took away his chocolate chip cookies. But taking away a delectable is something that could be trivial enough not to cause friction in the locker room. However, something else happened earlier in James’ Heat tenure.

FS Video

Miami Heat after the Dallas (series) tried to trade LeBron James to the Magic for Dwight Howard. They felt that how LeBron James played against Dallas that they didn’t need him. Cause him and Pat Riley was fighting over power from the first year.

Gilbert Arenas said

This was Gilbert Arenas speaking on Playback. A fan called ‘cap’ on this revelation during that live stream. But the 3-time All-Star reiterated that it was not untrue. He believes one should check videos of Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem talking about it somewhere as they know it was true.

Dwight Howard was discussed as a possible option for Heat

As of now there is no confirmation of this possible power struggle between LeBron James and Pat Riley. But the fact that the Miami Heat had interest in bringing in Dwight Howard was confirmed by former player Mario Chalmers.

He revealed this while speaking on the Above the Rim podcast. Initially Howard denied it but then agreed that he did receive a phone calling asking him to join the Heat. But it was just one phone call, and the talks did not proceed further.

The now seemingly retired center later tweeted about the possibility of him playing alongside James, Wade, Chris Bosh and Chalmers. It would have been an unstoppable lineup. However, the exact timeline of this is unknown as neither Howard nor Chalmers revealed it.

It also does not confirm if Pat Riley had indeed thought about trading James away after how he folded against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals. If it did happen, the Akron native might not have had four NBA championships to show for.

LeBron James’ power struggles with Lakers

LeBron James ended up with the Miami Heat after the Cleveland Cavaliers did not build a championship contending team around him. When he left, he made it clear that he was not going to continue in mediocrity.

The Cavaliers did him right the second time around, building a team that went on to have greatest NBA Finals run in league history. But even then, in the last couple of years there, he was whining quite a bit when they could not give him better teammates.

After he moved to the Los Angeles Lakers, he used his power to bring in Anthony Davis. He went on to win his fourth NBA title. But then after, the Lakers have not built a title winning squad since. Last season he was extremely vocal about their shortcomings, which drew negative attention to the squad.

This season, their offseason failures threatened to derail their season again. James was vocal about the need for improvements. Then finally, the Los Angeles Lakers decided to do what is best for their future. That is what brought Luka Doncic to the west coast.

Since then, everyone has understood that the 40-year-old does not hold that power anymore. Now the team will do what they believe will net them their eighteenth NBA title. James is more of a passenger now than being the primary voice.