Through five years of covering the NBA as a credentialed member of the media, numerous people have asked for my biggest take-away from the experience. My answer has always been the same: despite all the incredible feats we see on the court, spending time in locker rooms shows the human side of the players. These are people that can do things I could never dream of doing myself but they also have egos and insecurities, pride and obligations that loom large even in their surreal lives.

Four years ago, the joining of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh in Miami stood as the final signpost on the road from elite athletes having intense rivalries to a more interconnected and businesslike league. After The Decision in 2010, I attributed some of this to the rise of AAU basketball and the simple fact that current NBA players have spent so much more time playing both with and against elite talents across the country from a young age and forged friendships then and later with connections though agents and endorsements. The pride and animosity that loomed so large in the 80’s and 90’s lives largely in the rear view mirror.

Heck, we saw Ray Allen jump from the Celtics to his biggest rival’s team for the better opportunity and he may do it again soon. The best players in the sport have transitioned from supermen to businessmen to being a business, man, at the same time the league as a whole transitioned from family owned teams to major enterprises. Like it or not, this NBA should be around for a long, long time.

Amazingly enough, the owners' intense overreaction to what Miami accomplished in 2010 fueled this homecoming as well. By effectively eliminating extensions as a logical path for elite free agents, the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement ensured that LeBron James would test the market as an unrestricted free agent- this summer would look very different with the old CBA’s extension system. While Cleveland would have held intrigue anyway because of its place in LeBron’s heart, a streak of insanely good fortune peaking at the perfect time made it the right basketball decision as well. It took a miracle to get LeBron out of Cleveland and took a miracle to get him back. While I think LeBron would have looked seriously at the Cavs regardless of what happened in the draft, his hometown team winning the lottery and securing the No. 1 pick substantially narrowed the talent gap in the short and long terms. Whether the Cavs keep Wiggins or use him to acquire Kevin Love, the team added a difference-maker in a way that would not have been feasible from the No. 9 slot.

In case they needed even more luck, the Cavs also got help from Father Time and the CBA. Despite their great success the past four seasons, Miami had peaked because of the limitations put in place in the new CBA. Unless two or more of the Big Three took gargantuan paycuts, the best they could do in terms of additions were the mid-level each season and praying a flier or two worked out. The increased value of first round picks meant buying into the 20-30 range would be unlikely and the success rate of second rounders has been dubious even in strong drafts. Barring the unforeseen, the Heat would have been lucky to be a top five team in the league the next two years even if LeBron ages gracefully despite still being the favorites to make it out of the decrepit Eastern Conference. Even though Cleveland’s roster carries more unknowns and far less experience, they have a championship ceiling now and that was enough to turn the tide.

As much as the basketball part of the equation mattered, Cleveland had advantages that no other city could match. Even in the NBA, few players have ever repped a city and area harder than LeBron James. Even after the wake of emotional destruction after The Decision, he maintained a summer residence in Akron and a meaningful connection with the area. Northeast Ohio meant a great deal to LeBron and his inner circle. I got the feeling a long time ago that all Cleveland had to do was get close- my pessimism was always that even with Nick Gilbert the human good luck charm the Cavs could not stay out of their own way long enough to make it a fair fight. To the credit of David Griffin and the lottery gods, they did.

While wonderful tools like the Trade Checker and the NBA2K video games help us enjoy the Association in different and engaging ways, they also obscure the undeniable truth that basketball players are human beings with their own motivations and priorities. Pat Riley and the Heat did an excellent job on the aggregate bringing LeBron into the fold and adding enough quality pieces to put together an incredible four year run- no one should diminish the difficulty of making four straight NBA finals and repeating as champions. Despite all their talent and star power. Miami never suffered from the “Disease of More” their architect coined more than thirty-five years ago. They were just vanquished by good fortune like what brought The King to South Beach in the first place.

Sometimes the human element can just be too much to overcome.