LeBron James Decision: What Factors Will Help Him Choose the Right Team?

Listed below are the different factors that LeBron James will be considering when making his decision on where to spend the next four or five years of his NBA career.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The only home he's ever known is Akron, Ohio, and if he stays on the Cleveland Cavaliers, he wouldn't have to move his family.

Because of the Larry Bird rule, whereby a veteran signing a contract to remain with his current team faces fewer limitations, the Cleveland Cavaliers can offer LeBron James more money than any other franchise.

Coach Byron Scott now takes the helm of the Cavs , and the biggest reason this could be a significant factor is that Byron Scott has worked with All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who seems to be one of LeBron James' best friends. 

Paul, or CP3 as some refer to him, is said to be looking to move from New Orleans to a different squad, and if he were to join the Cleveland Cavaliers, he would find himself with a familiar coach and playing alongside one of his best friends. 

With those two guys on the Cavaliers, the Cavs could be a perennial favorite to win the Eastern Conference for the next few years.

James might not know the exact offensive and defensive schemes he's going to be using under Scott (though they'd obviously cater to his talents), but he will be very familiar with his teammates.

Bringing a title to Cleveland brings him God-like status in that town. He would be beloved forever were he to win the NBA Championship with the Cavaliers, and there's nothing like having that status in his hometown.

There are reports that various car dealerships and sponsors in the Cleveland area are trying to sweeten the deal for James by offering him part ownership in their businesses to remain in the area. While that might be a nice perk, ownership in the Cleveland market pales in comparison to any sort of ownership elsewhere.

If he doesn't leave home now for a bigger city, the odds of him ever experiencing the high life elsewhere are significantly diminished. The adulation he'll experience in those bigger markets is also more plentiful now than it will be five years from now when he's older and less explosive. 

Leaving home now also means that in five years, he can return to Cleveland, erasing most (if not all) of the hard feelings he'd create tonight, and finish out the remainder of his career there.

New York

There's no place where the lights are brighter than in New York City, and playing for the Knicks would provide James the opportunity to play 41 games per season at Madison Square Garden.

Every time you see James throw talcum powder into the air before a game or spot him in a soft drink commercial or endorsing shoes with his name on it, he is making a brand of himself. There's no better place in the world to market oneself than in New York City.

LeBron James plays an uptempo style, and that's exactly how Mike D'Antoni ran things out in Phoenix. The Knicks aren't a great team, but with Amar'e Stoudemire , they got a whole lot better. There's also the chance that Paul would want to come to the Big Apple to team up King James instead of the duo connecting in Cleveland.

Think he'd receive a great ovation for bringing a championship to Cleveland? Imagine if he gives the Knicks their first NBA Championship in 40 years.

New Jersey Nets

Aside from Paul, the other person you can immediately identify as one of James' friends is Jay-Z, a co-owner of the New Jersey Nets. There's no doubt that the two have talked about working together, and with King James' ambitions to be more than just a basketball player, Jay-Z can definitely make that happen.

While the Nets play in New Jersey for the next two years, they're going to be moving to Brooklyn, where the spotlight will be just as bright as in the neighboring borough where the Knicks play.

But he would receive less criticism regarding his play than if he were playing in the Garden. There's no doubt in my mind that the facilities that the Nets are building in Brooklyn are going to be nicer than MSG.

The only current piece of the puzzle in place for LeBron James to even get to the playoffs with the Nets is Brook Lopez, a young star with lots of potential. Devin Harris is a talent, but he's yet to play a full season, and he only averages around 30 minutes per game.

Avery Johnson is now the coach of the New Jersey Nets, a considerable step up from what James had in Cleveland.

A better coach might be enough for CP3 to join King James, though the draw of Byron Scott or the jersey reading "Knicks" would still be more powerful to lure Paul to join LeBron.

For an expanded version of this article with images as well as my thoughts on the factors in Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago and others, read my article over at www .GuysNation .com