What would LeBron James get paid if the NBA didn't have limits on salaries?

$45 million a year? $75 million, as Kobe thinks? $100M?!

Right now, maximum NBA salaries are capped at 35% of the salary cap. As a result, LeBron will make about $20.6 million in 2014-2015.

According to ESPN's ace LeBron reporter Brian Windhorst, the Cavaliers star could lead a push to get rid of the max salary rule when the collective bargaining agreement is renegotiated in 2017. It's something multiple NBA stars have talked about in recent years. The NBA's new TV deal — which nearly tripled its average annual TV rights revenue— has flooded the league with new money, and LeBron reportedly wants a healthy chunk of it to go to star players like him whose earnings potential is capped.

So we go back to our original question: How much would NBA owners pay LeBron if they could pay him anything?

It might be a bigger number than you think.

Arturo Galletti of BoxScoreGeeks.com ran the numbers on Michael Jordan's salaries in 1997 and 1998, and it's baffling to see how much Jordan made relative to the rest of the league.

In the 1997-1998 season, Jordan made $33.1 million. It's still the highest single-season NBA salary ever.

At the time the salary cap was $26.9 million, and the average NBA team payroll was $32.7 million. There was no maximum salary rule, and teams were allowed to go over the $26.9 million salary cap to re-sign their own free agents. So in summer 1997, Jordan signed a one-year, $33.1 million contract that would be impossible under the maximum salary rules, which were established in response to the contract in 1999.

Jordan's 1997-1998 contract was insane in retrospect. His salary alone was more than the entire payrolls of 19 out of 29 NBA teams that year.

If the same rules were in effect today, Jordan's salary would be worth $66.6 million, based on adjusted average payroll numbers. $66.6 million!

If we take this Jordan contract as the standard for a once-in-a-generation NBA superstar, LeBron would be making more than triple his $20.6 million salary if there were no max contracts.

This is a radical idea that could face pushback both from owners and fellow players who want the wealth distributed more evenly. On Tuesday night, Mark Cuban said owners would consider removing salary limits only if players gave up guaranteed contracts— which sounds unlikely.

We may never find out what LeBron would get paid in an unlimited salary world. But the last time a superstar was allowed to get paid as much as he could, the Bulls gave Jordan more money than 19 entire NBA rosters, and that has to be tantalizing for LeBron.

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Chris Bosh has the reputation of being one of the smartest, most thoughtful players in the NBA.

This is a guy who's known for reading books about nanotechnology before games and writing an essay for Wired about the importance of learning to code.

On Thursday Bosh sat down with Bleacher Report's Ethan Skolnick in Brazil, where the Heat (LeBron's old super-team) will play the Cavs (LeBron's new one) in an exhibition game on Saturday.

It's a great interview. Bosh talks about the hard parts of being the third option on a LeBron James-led team of stars. No one sacrificed more than Bosh when the Heat formed the Big 3. He went from taking 16 shots per game in his final year in Toronto to 12 shots per game in his final year with the Heat.

In the interview, he explains what it's really like to have to sacrifice for the good of the team when you're playing with LeBron.

The main takeaway is that proven NBA players who join super-teams don't realize how difficult it is to voluntarily take on a lesser role — both from a basketball perspective and a psychological perspective. And it never gets easier.

Here's what he said about what it means to to want to win (he doesn't mention Kevin Love by name, but that's the context here):

"Everybody says they want to win. But when you start talking about sacrifice and doing what's right for the team, it's like, 'Wait a minute, I didn't mean that. I want to win, but...' There's always a conjunction with that. It's never what you think it is. And it's always like your weakest point where you got to do it." 

He made an excellent food-centric analogy to describe what it's like to get fewer shots and touches because LeBron is the focal point of the team:

"You just get your entree and that's it. It's like, wait a minute, I need my appetizer and my dessert and my drink, what are you doing? And my bread basket. What is going on? I'm hungry! It’s a lot different. But if you can get through it, good things can happen. But it never gets easy. Even up until my last year of doing it, it never gets easier."

When asked what advice he'd give Kevin Love — who's going to have to do the same thing Bosh did when he played next to LeBron — Bosh said could only say that the process would be "extremely difficult and extremely frustrating."

It's an honest, insightful description of what it's like for a great player to have to change how he plays in the prime of his career.

Read the entire interview here >

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LeBron James lost a bunch of weight over the summer — an estimated 10 to 12 pounds. And he did it on a very special low-carb diet. But how does it really work? We got answers from the expert who put Dwight Howard on a very similar diet.

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LeBron James went on a run and worked out on Copacabana Beach in Rio De Janeiro while unsuspecting beachgoers looked on early last Thursday morning.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst says it was like that Nike commercial where hundreds of people follow LeBron on a run through Miami.

"One mid-morning this week along Copacabana Beach with the sun already burning the sand, LeBron James ran down the coastline as a real-life Nike commercial unfolded behind him, joggers surprised to see a celebrity lining up to run with him."

Globo Esporte has photos of the morning jog. For the record, it looks like only a few people joined LeBron on his run and everyone else was taking videos (some of which are below).

LeBron was joined by Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters, and a few other Cavaliers players. They were there to play an exhibition game against the Miami Heat. 

By all accounts LeBron has gotten in great shape this summer. He went on a 67-day diet where he didn't eat dairy, carbs, or sugar.

Here's one of the most famous people in the world doing some light exercises on a public beach:

A crowd assembled:

Here's the full video:

NOW WATCH: Here's The Science Behind How LeBron James Lost All That Weight

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Kyrie Irving had a good summer.

The big news was that Irving went from the lone star on a mediocre team to suddenly being teammates with LeBron James and Kevin Love and becoming the third wheel of the NBA's newest Big 3.

However, flying a bit under the radar was the news that Irving also signed a max-contract extension with the Cavs announced the day before James told the world he was going home to the Cavs.

That 5-year deal will be worth about $95 million. But thanks to the presence of James and a bonus in Irving's contract, that deal may end up being worth about $9.5 million more.

Irving and "The Derrick Rose Rule"

As a max-contract player with less than seven years of experience, NBA rules say Irving's salary will be 25% of the salary cap in the first year of the extension (2015-16). Each year after that, Irving would receive a raise equal to 7.5% of the salary in the first year.

Irving also has a provision in his contract known as the "Derrick Rose Rule," given to young players with max contracts. This provision allows the salary in the first year of the new contract to be up to 30% of the salary cap (27.5% in Irving's case) if the player meets a certain set of criteria.

This is where LeBron helps out

One of those criteria that would allow the Derrick Rose bonus to kick in is if the player is named the starter in All-Star game two times before the new contract starts (other criteria are winning an MVP award and being named All-NBA twice).

Irving, along with Dwyane Wade, was voted as one of the two starting guards for the 2014 All-Star game. But with Derrick Rose, ironically, returning from injury this year, it seemed unlikely that Irving would repeat as a starter and the Rose Rule would not kick in.

However, with the popularity of the Cavs this season, Irving's own popularity will also be boosted. As Zach Lowe of Grantland points out, even if Rose is voted a starter, there is a good chance Irving will actually surpass Wade this season and still be voted in.

The impact of starting in the All-Star game will be huge

If Irving is voted in as a starter for the 2015 All-Star game, and using a projected 2015-16 salary cap of $63.3 million, Irving's 2015-16 salary would jump from $16.6 million to $18.2 million.

That is significant because the salary in the next four seasons is based on that first year.

Overall, Irving's earnings under the new contract would increase $9.5 million and it would all be due to just one All-Star vote that will be heavily influenced by the presence of LeBron.

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Michael Jordan told ESPN that he didn't think the NBA season was too long, and he did it in classic MJ fashion.

After both Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James called for the NBA to shorten the season on Wednesday, Jordan said that players should be fine with 82 games.

He suggests LeBron and others who want a shorter season don't love playing basketball as much as he did.

His response (via ESPN):

I love both of those guys, but as an owner who played the game, I loved playing. If I wasn't playing 82 games, I still would've been playing somewhere else because that's the love for the game I had. As a player, I never thought 82 games was an issue.

But if that's what they want to do, we as owners and players can evaluate it and talk about it. But we'd make less money as partners. Are they ready to give up money to play fewer games? That's the question, because you can't make the same amount of money playing fewer games.

The general implication: I don't know why these guys hate basketball so much. I would have played basketball in an empty gym with no one watching if I had to. But I guess if they want to destroy the sound financial health of the league we can talk about that.

By Jordan standards this is some low-grade shade. This is a guy who trash-talked his mentors in his Hall of Fame speech and once asked Bill Clinton if he were going to play from "the little girls' tees" during a round of golf.

Jordan is just protecting his interests as an owner here. Reducing the season by 15 or 20 games would make the product better, but it would also be a hit to the league's revenues, which makes the chances of changing the 82-game season remote.

Jordan could have just said that. But he just couldn't resist reminding people of his own legendary killer instinct.

NOW WATCH: Here's The Science Behind How LeBron James Lost All That Weight

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LeBron James has added a skyhook to his already deep arsenal of weapons, unleashing one for two points in a preseason game against the Indiana Pacers.

Here is the shot via GIFDSports.

This is not the first time we have heard James linked to the move made famous by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As early as 2012 there was a report that James was working on the skyhook during practice, but now he is using it in games.

If James can master the shot or even just be effective with it, the move will be devastating for defenses, especially against a player like James. Not only does the shot give James another post-up move near the basket, but it will change how opposing teams will defend him in the paint.

Teams will have two main choices, and neither is ideal: 1. Just play LeBron 1-on-1 and give up the shot and hope he misses; or 2. Have a big man help on defense and cut James off earlier instead of defending at the basket.

The second choice sounds like a better option but may actually be better for the Cavs in new head coach David Blatt's spread offense. James is such a good passer, one of the best in the NBA, that if a second defender collapses on James before he is committed to attacking the basket, somebody is going to be open.

We can see this during the skyhook against the Pacers. Player A is defending the basket and is in no position to defend the shot. That means one of the other three defenders needs to help out. If any of them do move toward LeBron, somebody like Kevin Love, a great 3-point shooter, is going to be open for an uncontested shot.

LeBron's skyhook may not be as devastating of a shot as Abdul-Jabbar's, but with his passing it doesn't need to be.

NOW WATCH: Here's The Science Behind How LeBron James Lost All That Weight

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A bunch of high-profile NBA people came out and said the 82-game game regular season is too long on Wednesday.

Mark Cuban disagrees.

"No need to shorten the season," the Dallas Mavericks owner told BI on Thursday. "Instead we should end participation of NBA players over 23 in international play. That will give our best, older players the rest they need."

Dirk Nowitzki, Cuban's star player for a decade, said 82 games is more than enough to determine the best teams in each conference, and that trimming the number of games to somewhere in the "mid-60s" would be ideal.

LeBron James said the length of the 82-game season leads to too many injuries, which hurts the product overall.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, "I think there’s too many games, to be frank. I think if there’s some way to find a way to cut out some of the back-to-backs so there aren’t 20-plus of them."

Trimming the season by a significant number of games would hurt the league financially, which is the main reason why most people (including Dirk) think the 82-game season isn't going anywhere. In addition to Cuban, Hornets owner Michael Jordan came out and said the season shouldn't be shorter, in typical MJ fashion.

Cuban's alternative to trimming the season — keeping NBA veterans out of international tournaments like the FIBA World Cup and the Olympics — is something he has been talking about for years. In 2012 he blasted the participation of U.S. players in the Olympics, saying, "If you look up stupid in the dictionary you see a picture of the USA Dream Team playing for free for corporate America so the U.S. Olympic Committee can make billions of dollars."

Before this summer's FIBA World Cup, he said the NBA should start it's own international tournament so it can control the revenue instead of the IOC, which he called "rife with corruption:"

"The [International Olympic Committee] is playing the NBA. The IOC is an organization that has been rife with corruption, to the point where a member was accused of trying to fix an Olympic event in Salt Lake. The IOC [pulls in] billions of dollars. They make a killing and make Tony Soprano look like a saint.

"The pros in multiple sports are smart enough to not play when they are eligible free agents. But teams take on huge financial risk so that the IOC committee members can line their pockets.

"The greatest trick ever played was the IOC convincing the world that the Olympics were about patriotism and national pride instead of money. The players and owners should get together and create our own World Cup of Basketball."

All in all, it's probably more likely that Cuban gets his wish on the Olympics than the NBA shortens the season in a way that would satisfy the players.

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Kia is moving into unfamiliar territory with the $60,000 K900 luxury sedan.

Carbuyers as well as the vast majority of the public do not equate the brand with wealth and luxury. So what better way to get people talking and thinking about the K900 than hiring one of the world's richest athletes, 10-time NBA All-Star LeBron James, to be the car's "Luxury Ambassador" ambassador. 

King James' involvement with the K900 has been rumored since the 4-time NBA MVP Instagramed photo of himself behind the wheel of the luxury sedan, which Kia has been selling since early this year.

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Rolling around in my K900. Love this car!! #Kia #TheLand #Akron #StriveForGreatness

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"As fans of the game of basketball, we were honored to learn that one of today’s most influential athletes and tastemakers recognized something different was going on at Kia and wanted to check out our new flagship sedan,” said KIA Motors America vice president Tim Chaney in statement. “Like Kia, LeBron James does not want to be confined by conventions or traditional definitions, and as our K900 Luxury Ambassador his star power will cause people to question everything they think they know about our brand."

The K900 is Kia's effort to move into Lexus-Mercedes territory — it's a big, rear-wheel-drive sedan that's powered by a 420hp V8 and packed with luxury features. Kia debuted the car with a Super Bowl ad, starring Laurence Fishburne.

SEE ALSO: Weird Things Happen When You Drive A Porsche Around A Moose

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As we all know by now, LeBron James is back home with the Cavaliers. James' decision was a huge deal for both the NBA and the city of Cleveland. 

Beats made this clear with a new ad featuring LeBron driving the streets of Akron, where he grew up and went to high school. The song "Take Me to Church" plays as LeBron goes through an intense workout in his high school gym, with scenes of him as a kid and shots of the dingy apartments and empty fridges of his childhood playing in tandem. It's pretty powerful and very intense.

Just a kid from Akron, Ohio:

SEE ALSO: 14 Examples Of LeBron James' Incredible Work Ethic

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LeBron James has tried to temper expectations for the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first season together. However, that doesn't mean he's approaching the season any lighter than usual.

According to Marc J. Spears' profile on James, LeBron held a meeting before training camp where he listed expectations of every single person on the roster:

New coach David Blatt was anxious to get practice started, but gave James his blessing to have the players-only meeting before a ball was bounced. For about the next 30 minutes, James told every player from fellow All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to the guys just hoping to make the team what was expected during the upcoming season.

Several Cavaliers players were impressed by James' preparation. Guard Dion Waiters said:

"I was looking like, 'Wow.' That's crazy that he broke down every individual thing he wants guys to do. He wrote down every player from the guy in training camp who may be here or may not be here. …It was unbelievable. It was great."

Center Anderson Varejao, who played with LeBron during his first stint with the Cavaliers, said that James always would talk to players, but never like that.

James' intense preparation has become known throughout the league. Two days into training camp, he had already mastered head coach David Blatt's offense. These types of things are what makes James a great leader, and it will surely help him recruit more players to the Cavaliers when they learn that he's this aware of everyone on the team.

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ALSO READ: LeBron James Has A Freakish Memory, Learned His New Offense In 2 Days

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LeBron James, on the brink of free agency after a five-game Finals loss to the San Antonio Spurs, probably influenced the Miami Heat's decision in the 2014 NBA Draft.

The Miami Heat had the no. 26 spot in the draft. Two spots before them, the Charlotte Hornets had drafted UConn point guard Shabazz Napier. Right after the Hornets selected Napier, James sent out the following tweet:

My favorite player in the draft! #Napier

— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 27, 2014

Minutes later, a trade was announced between the Heat and Hornets:

Confirmed Heat will acquire Shabazz Napier from Hornets and give Hornets the 26th and 55th picks.

— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) June 27, 2014

Of course, James became a free agent and went back to Cleveland, despite the Heat's best efforts to please him by trading for a rookie he liked.

However, James' scouting acumen seems to be strong so far. Through six games in the preseason, Napier has looked solid coming off the bench for the Heat. Saturday night, Napier scored 25 points on 6-13 shooting to go with 4 assists and 2 steals in the Heat's win over the Spurs. Prior to that, he'd averaged 14 points on 42% shooting with 2 rebounds and 4 assists in the previous three games.

Napier hasn't been hyper-efficient with his shot so far (to be expected), but he's shown an elite ability to get to the free throw line. In the preseason, he's averaging 7.5 attempts per game and hitting them at an 86% clip, which would make him one of the best in the NBA at getting to line.

Chris Bosh told Miami Herald's Joseph Goodman that Napier may be thriving because he spent four years in college and is now ready for the NBA game. Through six preseason games, Napier is a +18 on the court, meaning the Heat have been outscoring opponents when he plays.

The Heat will obviously struggle on offense without James. Previously, James acted as their playmaker, which freed up their guards to shoot spot-up jumpers. If Napier can continue to score and make plays as the season emerges, the Heat's post-LeBron era may be a little less painful.

SEE ALSO: LeBron James Made A List Of Expectations For Every Cavs Player Before Training Camp

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When the Miami Heat were in Brazil to play the Cleveland Cavaliers in early October, Chris Bosh made some minor waves when he talked about how hard it was to sacrifice his game during the LeBron James era.

In an interview with Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report, Bosh said star players don't realize what it's like to have to take fewer shots and not get the ball exactly when and where you want.

He said Kevin Love would go through the same process in Cleveland, and it would be "extremely difficult and extremely frustrating."

On Wednesday night Love offered a glimpse into this transition process, and his quotes seem to back up a lot of what Bosh was saying.

Love told Chris Haynes of Northeast Ohio Media Group that he isn't used to playing on the perimeter as much as he is this preseason, and he wants to get down into the post more, even though the Cavs offense calls for him to play outside.

Love told NEOMG:

"My entire life I played the game from inside-out. So the more touches I can get inside to get myself going, the better. I'm not accustomed to starting out a game shooting a three, so it's just something that I see.

"I'm 26 years old and I've been playing basketball for quite a long time. Just finding ways to mix it up. If anything, keeping it around the basket a little bit more and the offense will allow me to get offensive rebounds. That will be tough for teams with Andy [Varejao] and myself and Tristan [Thompson] in there."

In Minnesota Love was the focal point of the offense. He could get the ball wherever he wanted and go to work.

In Cleveland, LeBron is the focal point of the offense and Kyrie Irving is the primary ball handler. It makes sense that new coach David Blatt is using him to space the floor and serve as a three-point shooter when LeBron and Irving break down the offense, but it's a very different role for Love.

Here's the critical passage from the NEOMG story:

"His long-ball threat is a valuable weapon; the reason head coach David Blatt is utilizing him in that fashion. Love says the offense calls for him to be out on the perimeter, but he says he has to make sure he remembers to go inside more.

"'Yeah, the offense is built that way, but I just have to make a conscious decision to get myself in there,' Love said. 'There are a lot of times where I just find myself fading to the 3-point line. For me, it's a mentality and that's easy to fix.'"

That, "Yeah the offense is built that way, but..." is telling. Love is so good that he'll get his points in any system. But it's certainly going to be an adjustment from what he was doing in Minnesota.

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One of the dominant storylines of the NBA preseason has been the emergence of LeBron James as a Leader.

The Cavaliers are younger and less experienced than his Miami teams, and LeBron is making big, overt gestures to show that he's going to be the alpha dog this year.

Minutes before coach David Blatt was about to start the team's first practice, LeBron abruptly called a players-only meeting that lasted for a half-hour. During the meeting he went around to all his teammates and told them what he expected of them this season.

During preseason camp he learned Blatt's playbook in two days and preceded to stay after practice to teach his teammates the plays from all five positions.

In a new article by Lee Jenkins in Sports Illustrated, we get some more details about LeBron's leadership offensive.

Lakers player Carlos Boozer, who played with LeBron in Cleveland 10 years ago, told SI that LeBron goes home and watches individual cut-ups of each of his teammates so he knows where to get them the ball. LeBron has continued that practice this offseason, Jenkins reports, watching tape of Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, and the other Cavs so he'd be ready for training camp.

LeBron told Jenkins that he knew how to get Love points before they had a single practice together:

"I’ll get a better feel through practice, conversations, bus rides. But I do already know, let’s say if Kevin is struggling, there are a couple of ways I can position the other three players on the floor and get him a look in his sweet spot."

Jenkins says LeBron got really into management strategies this summer, including the importance of body language:

"He has read several books on management styles and believes he must carefully monitor his body language so as not to discourage young players. He compares his charges with his two sons, who have different personalities and therefore require different teaching methods. "

Body language is a minor obsession in the business strategy world.

It's clear that LeBron sees himself as some combination a chief executive and a father figure on this largely unproven Cavs team. Love and Irving have never been to the playoffs, or even come particularly close. Veteran players like Mike Miller, Shawn Marion, and Anderson Varejao have been around forever, but guys like Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson have never played a meaningful NBA game.

LeBron transformed himself physically this summer, losing a ton of weight of a 67-day diet. If all these anecdotes are to be believed, another significant transformation came in his demeanor off the court.

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LeBron James was not surrounded by All-Stars during his first tenure in Cleveland.

Until he got to Miami, the best players he ever played with were Larry Hughes, Mo Williams, and Carlos Boozer (for one year).

Now that he's back in Cleveland, we took a look at what some of his very best former Cavs teammates are up to today.

A few are still in the NBA, a few are in broadcasting, one is in Lebanon, and one is living the dream life in rural Kansas.

Delonte West played with LeBron from 2007 to 2010.

He now plays alongside Michael Beasley for the Shanghai Sharks, which are owned by Yao Ming.

Source: CBS

Kevin Ollie played with LeBron in his rookie year in 2003.

How the rich and famous start their day.

Produced by Sam Rega.

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Michael Jordan's Charlotte Hornets are expected to make the playoffs after signing Lance Stephenson for three years, $27 million in the offseason.

The Hornets made a huge leap last year, and this year that trend should continue.

In an interview with ESPN's Darren Rovell, Jordan talked about the reason he signed Stephenson, and his explanation is pretty telling.

Jordan said that to win a title you have to beat LeBron James, and he wanted to sign Stephenson because he has a history of playing LeBron tough.

Here's what he told ESPN about why he signed Stephenson:

"We need someone that can compete against LeBron, simple as that. I don't know if the antics were one of those things. But the thing was, I love the way you compete against LeBron. To me that's a plus, because if you want to get out of the East, if you want to get past Cleveland — at the time it was Miami — you've got to beat LeBron. So we were willing to take a gamble on you if you're willing to take a gamble on us. Next thing you know he's with us."

Stephenson and LeBron have a history. They've met in the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. Stephenson's Pacers lost all three of those series, but he played LeBron with a fearlessness you don't often see from young players. 

The "antics" Jordan was referring to came in Game 5 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals when Lance blew (yes, blew) in LeBron's ear (via @cjzero):

After the game, which the Pacers won 93-90, Heat player Ray Allen called it "buffoonery."

LeBron downplayed the strange incident (via IndyStar):

"We put ourselves in a position to win tonight, and as competitors, as professionals, that's what we are. We need one more game to get to the Finals. All the extra, whatever Lance wants to deal with, I don't really care about that."

Earlier this summer Stephenson said he ultimately regretted the ear-blowing thing, saying, "I feel like it overshadowed my play on the court. I bring more to the table than just blowing in someone's ear. I'm a great player."

Stephenson is right. LeBron only scored seven points in that game, but all anyone remembers is the blow.

Two years before this, when Lance was still a bench player during the 2012 playoffs, he first ignited the feud with LeBron by making a choking gesture toward him after he missed a free throw:

In 2014, Stephenson said that he had successfully gotten in LeBron's head because LeBron was talking trash all of a sudden:

''To me, I think it's a sign of weakness. He never used to say anything to me. I always used to be the one who said, 'I'm going to do something to get you mad.' Now he's trying to do it to me. So I feel like it's a weakness. I feel like I'm doing something right because I'm getting under his skin, but I've definitely got to keep stepping up to the plate and be more aggressive when he does that.'' 

LeBron is a well-liked, congenial figure within the league. He doesn't really have hated rivals ... except Stephenson, who has spent the better part of three years annoying him on and off the court. 

Even if Stephenson didn't have this reputation as a LeBron agitator, the signing makes sense. Stephenson had a breakout year in 2013-14, averaging 14 points and seven rebounds per game while also playing solid defense. He should bring some offensive creativity to a Hornets team that was 24th in offensive efficiency last year.

LeBron is the best player the league has seen since Jordan, but the two have an oddly non-existent relationship. In last year's playoffs, LeBron seemingly stared down Jordan after a dunk. In 2013, Jordan said LeBron's game still had flaws because he never drives left. Most recently, Jordan implied that LeBron doesn't love the game as much as he did because he wants to shorten the season.

Jordan was always enamored with being the best player in the world. Now he's enamored with beating the best player in the world.

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In aftermath of LeBron James returning to Cleveland, NBA fans and basketball writers conducted an interesting thought experiment: What would happen if every NBA player signed with his hometown team?

Using a fantastic database of NBA player hometowns compiled by Deadspin's Reuben Fischer-Baum last summer, we went through all 482 players who played at least one minute in the NBA in 2013-14 and made "hometown rosters" for all 30 teams.

We used "hometown," not "birthplace" to determine team affiliation. Kevin Love was born in Los Angeles but he grew up in Oregon, so he goes on the Portland Trail Blazers, not the Los Angeles Lakers, for example.

With the NBA world already in a frenzy over the possibility Kevin Durant returning to Washington D.C. in 2016, now is as good a time as any to see what the league would look like if there was a mass movement home.

Here are all 30 teams. We ranked them from best to worst (check out more on our methodology below):

Some notes:

• We gave smaller markets that don't produce a ton of NBA players more leeway than big markets. We allowed players from most of Ohio to play for the Cavaliers, for example. A lot of small markets would have trouble fielding a team, so we had to be generous. In general, a two-hour drive was the maximum limit, though.
• How we sorted out the New York: The Brooklyn Net got all players from Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island. The New York Knicks got all players from Manhattan, the Bronx, and northern New Jersey.
• How we sorted out Los Angeles: The Lakers got all the players whose hometowns were listed as simply "Los Angeles" or "Compton." The Clippers got all players from other neighborhoods. Arbitrary? Yes.
• After some deliberation, we decided that players from Baltimore (like Carmelo Anthony) can be on the Washington Wizards.
• Charlotte didn't get players from Raleigh. We're sorry, Charlotte, the two cities are just too far away. But if we did give them Raleigh, they'd have John Wall.
• We gave the Lopez brothers to Sacramento even though they grew up in Fresno. It's probably the biggest reach on the entire list, but it helps them fill out the roster.
• The biggest surprise: Indianapolis! We knew the Hoosier state was a high school basketball hot bed, but we didn't realize just how good they'd be. They're above Philly, Brooklyn, Houston, and Miami.
• The biggest disappointment: Miami. What the heck, Miami? How is Udonis Haslem your best big man?
• Observation: The NBA would be much worse in this dream scenario because all the foreign players wouldn't have teams.
• Poor Seattle. They could have had Jamal Crawford, Isaiah Thomas, Martell Webster, Avery Bradley, and Marvin Williams.
• Team St. Louis would be pretty good: Ben McLemore, Bradley Beal, Anthony Tolliver, Alec Burks, and David Lee.

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Back in February, we put together a list of the 25 best players in the NBA at the time. And looking at it today, there are at least one or two guys on that list who don't belong anywhere near a collection of the best players in the NBA right now.

For example, Roy Hibbert, who landed at No. 25? After what we saw from him in the NBA Playoffs last season, no. Just no. There are also a few players like Anthony Davis, who landed at No. 11 in February, who have clearly improved a lot in the offseason and deserve to be ranked even higher this time around. And of course, there are a couple other players, including Derrick Rose, who were left off the list last season due to injuries. But they deserve to be on it today.

Isn't that one of the things that's so great about the NBA? In a matter of just months, players can shoot up "best player" lists or fall off of them completely due to poor play (or in some cases, injuries, which why you unfortunately won't find Paul George, who was No. 3 on the list in February, on the list now). It leads to endless amounts of debate amongst NBA fans and makes it important for people to stay up on what's going on within the league at all times.

As we prepare to tip off the 2014-15 NBA season later this week, here's our list of The 25 Best Players in the NBA Right Now. 

Click here to see the top 25 players >

More from Complex:

• Ranking All 30 Starting Backcourts in the NBA
• The 25 Best Foreign-Born Players in NBA History            
• The Best Dunkers in NBA History
• 20 Reason Why the NBA Was Better in the ‘90s
• A History of the Craziest Sex Scandals in NBA History

25. Kobe Bryant

Team: Los Angeles Lakers
2013-14 Stats: 13.8 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 6.3 APG, 1.2 SPG (only played six games due to injury)

At 36, Kobe clearly isn't the player that he used to be at the start of his career. Hell, he's probably not even the player he was two years ago before a series of leg injuries sidelined him and forced everyone to wonder whether or not he'd ever be able to play at a high level again. But if nothing else, Kobe is determined right now. Determined to show NBA fans that he can play for between 30 and 40 minutes every night. Determined to prove that he's still got a little bit of gas left in the tank. And determined to score 593 points to pass Michael Jordan on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

Kobe's not going to lead the Lakers to a championship this season. And he probably won't even lead them to the playoffs. But he will give us a reason to watch the Lakers again, which is something that we avoided at all costs last season. Kobe is back, and the NBA is better for it.

24. Kawhi Leonard

Team: San Antonio Spurs
2013-14 Stats: 15.8 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 2.5 APG, 2.1 SPG

When the Spurs swingman first came into the league, he was known primarily for his defense and his ability to rebound the basketball. His offensive skills were an afterthought and there weren't many people who thought he would develop into a reliable scorer for San Antonio. But after a pretty solid showing in the 2013 NBA Finals, Leonard proved his doubters wrong by shooting 61.8 percent from the field during the 2014 NBA Finals and winning the Finals MVP award while leading the Spurs to a 4-1 series win over the Heat.

At just 22, Leonard is only going to get better, too. He'll be relied upon to score more this season and, once he beats the lingering eye infection that has kept him out of most of the preseason this year, we fully expect him to pick up where he left off last season with the Spurs.

23. Dirk Nowitzki

Team: Dallas Mavericks
2013-14 Stats: 21.7 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.7 APG, 0.9 SPG

Now that he's 36, Nowitzki is finding that he's unable to do some of the things that he used to do on the court. He has struggled with injuries in recent years and can't play as many minutes as he did a few seasons ago. But that doesn't mean that he can't be an effective player anymore. He has reportedly worked on making his shot release even quicker than it already was, which will make it difficult for opponents to defend him. He is trying to incorporate a sky hook into his arsenal, which would just be unfair to the opposition. And thanks to the offseason addition of Chandler Parsons to the Mavericks roster, Nowitzki won't have to worry about shouldering the load for Dallas anymore. So he should continue to produce for Dallas, even though he's clearly entering the twilight of his career.

Before LeBron James makes his season debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night against the Knicks, Nike released a two-minute-long commercial about his return to northeast Ohio.

Two of LeBron's other big sponsors — Beats and Sprite— have focused their new LeBron ads around his return, and Nike is no different.

The ad, entitled "Together," is filmed in black and white. It starts with the Cavaliers huddling up before a game. That huddle eventually spreads across the city of Cleveland, where fans start converging in alleyways and intersections. 

There's a growing chant of, "Hard work, together," as the music builds. It looks great.

Here's the ad:

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