LeBron James Overcome With Emotion As Cleveland Welcomes Him Back in 23rd Season

LeBron James only travels to Cleveland once during the NBA schedule and in his record-setting 23rd season, the Cavaliers were bound to make this season’s return special.

The league’s all-time scoring leader hasn’t announced whether this season will be his last. He’s set to enter free agency after this season pending any potential contract extension or retirement announcement. Another option on the table is a return to the Cavs, which Cleveland would reportedly be on board with. Any return for the Akron, Ohio, native is cause to celebrate and reminisce on the two stints James has had with the Cavs, including when he led the franchise to its first and only championship in the 2015–16 season.

A tribute video was played for James and the fans at Rocket Arena Wednesday which caused the 41-year-old star to get choked up as he watched from the Lakers’ bench. The video ended with his iconic “Cleveland, this is for you” line, which he exclaimed after winning the title in ‘16. Public address announcer Sean Peebles called for the fans to give their hometown hero a massive ovation, which got James visibly emotional. He quickly gathered himself and headed onto the court, but you can see just how much the moment meant:

An emotional LeBron soaks in the Cleveland tribute 🥹 pic.twitter.com/SrcXsUIEfl
— NBA (@NBA) January 29, 2026

Here’s a look at the video that broke out all the feels for James:

A lot of Cavalier history woven into these Classic threads. #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/WxzzWWqrCs
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) January 29, 2026

It’s fair to question whether James’s reaction is any signal for what his future holds. But, as far as we know, he doesn’t even know the answer to that question himself just yet. In year 23, James is averaging 22.4 points, 6.7 assists and six rebounds per game after missing the first month of the season while dealing with sciatica. It feels unlikely that Wednesday would be his last time playing in front of a Cavaliers home crowd, especially when you consider recent rumors that the franchise would be open to a return for James to knot a neat bow on his legendary career.

If Wednesday was the last game he’d play at Rocket Arena, though, he was sure to soak it all in.

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