Jim Ingraham: LeBron's true Hollywood ending should come right here in Cleveland

Pardon my incredulity, but it's difficult, if not impossible, to comprehend that there are portions of the populace that want no part of LeBron James returning to Cleveland. Yo, people. We're talking about LeBron. LeBron James. Capeesh? Twelve years ago his jersey was being burned in the streets of Cleveland. Six years ago he threw a parade for Cleveland. Now he might want to return to Cleveland. "No thanks" is not in play. We're talking about the possibility of him returning to orchestrate the most spectacular mic-drop, walk-off, career-capstone moment in the history of moments. Who wouldn't sign up for or buy tickets to that? There are probably too many hoops to jump through and hurdles to clear for it to happen, especially after Friday when LeBron told Laker Land, "I see myself being with the purple and gold as long as I can play." That may be, but LeBron's history tells us he changes teams when he sees a better situation for himself. Does he really want to stay with the dysfunctional, hideously constructed Lakers? The blueprint used to build this season's Lakers should be a first-ballot inductee into the "What Were You Thinking?" Hall of Fame. None of the pieces fit, many of them are injured and they're all hard to watch. They may not even reach the playoffs. LeBron isn't blameless, of course. Being who he is, he has a hand in picking the pieces for any team he's on, while leaving to others the chore of picking up the pieces if it doesn't work. That's where the Cavs have been, that's where the Lakers are now and this is where LeBron should finish his career: in Cleveland. He almost seemed to be lobbying for it, judging by some of his comments during the All-Star weekend. Maybe it was our lovely weather that made him homesick. More likely it was the Cavs' lovely roster — when everyone's fully healthy — that caught his eye. Indeed, on the court, the Cavs at full strength are an eyeful and a handful. Imagine if they could backfill with the greatest player of this or any generation? Although it's probably not going to happen — as John Updike once wrote about Ted Williams: "Gods do not answer letters" — here's why everyone on both sides of the big river should fervently hope that it does. The Cavs, not the slapdash-constructed Lakers, are exactly the type of team LeBron needs in the twilight of his career. The Cavs are young, talented, smart, connected, competitive and unselfish. That's also an apt description of LeBron himself. The only difference is he's 10 to 15 years older than most of the Cavs. But so what? LeBron at 37 is still an eyeful and a handful. Maybe not peak LeBron, but he's still a long way from base camp. Imagine a Cavs starting lineup of Darius Garland and Caris LeVert in the backcourt, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley in the frontcourt and LeBron at point forward. Imagine a second group of Kevin Love, Cedi Osman, Isaac Okoro, Lauri Markkanen and Rajon Rondo. Imagine adding LeBron James, the most unselfish superstar ever, to a group that has made its bones by being unselfish, hard-working, ball-moving offensive attackers and junkyard dog defensive gamers. In a perfect world, LeBron could play five more years with this group and do nothing but dish out jaw-dropping assists by the bushel full, without having to worry about carrying the team or scoring 40 a night to ensure its victory. With so much taken off his plate he could stick around forever and still play at an all-star level until he was 44, 45, who knows? A basketball Tom Brady? The basketball Gods — maybe they DO answer letters — have aligned the basketball universe in such a way that the most perfect basketball machine ever created can slowly wind down his career near the city that spawned him, playing for the franchise that launched him, in front of the fans that worship him. This is an unprecedented opportunity framed by an unprecedented set of circumstances that have conjoined to potentially write basketball history, the likes of which we've never seen. Yes, there's the Bronny issue, and how that would have to be worked out. But somehow it probably could be. Things always tend to work out for LeBron. Why shouldn't it work out for him again, one last time, in what would be the biggest cymbal-crashing career denouement imaginable? Think of it. He leaves Hollywood to write a Hollywood ending to his storybook career, in his own backyard. He wouldn't have to carry the team, he'd only have to shepherd it. It's been nearly six years since the last parade. This Cavs team is the best Cavs team since that Cavs team. It's the kind of team that his kind of player was made to play for — and ride into the sunset with. Contact Jim Ingraham at jingraham4@gmail.com and follow him @Jim_Ingraham on Twitter.