LeBron James Heading Home to Cleveland Cavaliers

Jul 11, 2014 01:53 PM EDT

The wait is over! Lebron James just announced he is heading back home to Cleveland.  

In an article just released by Sports Illustrated, Lebron explains that his decision was based on things that, "go above basketball."

James says he is ready to accept the challenge that leading the Cavaliers' will bring.  

He said to make the decision he needed the support of his mother and pregnant wife for sure, and that the harsh treatment he received when he left the team four years ago weighed on them.

"It was easy to say, 'OK, I don't want to deal with these people ever again.' he told SI's Lee Jenkins. " But then you think about the other side. What if I were a kid who looked up to an athlete, and that athlete made me want to do better in my own life, and then he left? How would I react?"

In the article he thanked his teammates in Miami, and said he would think of them as brothers.  

"I believed we could do something magical if we came together. And that's exactly what we did! The hardest thing to leave is what I built with those guys," he said.  

He said his decision was made in no part due to any friction or trouble in Miami, and he made sure to thank Eric Spolstra and Pat Riley, too.  

James was the most sought after free agent of this year's group, and most of America has been waiting to see where he would end up going.  His decision ends weeks of specualtion about his future, and will probably have a reverb effect that will make many other deals go down across the NBA.  For one, most expect Miami teammate Chris Bosh to take the deal from Houston, now that James is heading to Cleveland.