NBA rumors 2016: LeBron James wanted Pat Riley to fire Erik Spoelstra

Kevin Love and Lebron JamesReuters

The air is still steaming from the recent firing of David Blatt, an issue which has led many to believe that Cleveland Cavaliers' star forward LeBron James had a hand in.

The Cavs have, of course, denied the allegations, with general manager David Griffin taking responsibility as the one who made the call due to internal issues.

But a new bombshell recently came out from a minority holder of the Miami Heat.

Raanan Katz claims that the scenario was nothing new and was something fairly similar to what the Miami Heat had to deal with when James was still around.

It was 2014 when James left South Beach to return to Ohio, something that many believe was a result of James wanting to go back home and hand Cleveland its first NBA title.

But Katz' tale tells something different. At the time, he reveals that James had wanted head coach Erik Spoesltra axed but Heat president Pat Riley would not heed his demand. In fact, Riley reportedly went as far as telling James that no one tells him to run the organization. And then everyone knows what followed, James returned to Ohio.

The tricky part of it all is that Katz seems to be familiar with Blatt. It turns out that he was a part-owner too of Maccabi Tel Aviv, the same team that Blatt formally handled.

James was, of course, upset why his name was dragged in the whole Blatt mess. He points out that while he does tend to go overboard at times, it is all about his love for the game.

James doesn't know and has never met Katz. But when he heard that he was a part owner of the European ball club, it was there that James understood the reason behind the claim.

Right now, the best person to confirm or deny that claim is none other than Riley. But will he go to the trouble of addressing it considering it is James in the center of the issue and not him or the Heat?