"After the Mavericks shut the door, LeBron James shut it down for a spell. He returned to Akron, Ohio, spending a few weeks out of sight, far from the white hot spotlight. It was during this July stretch, sources close to the Heat star say, when James started to see another sort of light, when he came to fully recognize that he shouldn't play another season from the same dark place as he had the last.

That he shouldn't play out of anger anymore.

That he shouldn't play to make the sneering stop, or prove the doubters wrong.

That he shouldn't play in response to hate.

That he should get back to playing simply out of love for something that had long ago unconditionally earned it: the game. "