[McMenamin] James, just 25 at the time, had parked himself on the hood. He was crying. "I'm not sure I'm doing this right," James said. "I'm not sure I made the right decision to come here (to the Miami Heat)"

from McMenamin's latest piece profiling LeBron's longtime confidant, Randy Mims:

"His mind was spiraling. His decision just a few months earlier to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers, the franchise that drafted him as a teenager to play just 45 minutes from his hometown in Akron, Ohio, already felt like the wrong one.

He picked up the phone and dialed someone he knew would answer -- someone who for nearly a decade had done so: his longtime confidant, Randy Mims.

"I'm coming over," James told him. "I need to talk to you."

It was just after 3 in the morning.

Mims hardly had enough time to throw on clothes as James made the 10-minute drive from his hotel to Mims' place in nearby Coconut Grove. When Mims emerged from his front door, he found a burgundy Bentley Arnage in the driveway. James, just 25 at the time, had parked himself on the hood. He was crying.

"I'm not sure I'm doing this right," James said. "I'm not sure I made the right decision to come here."

"It was just a lot of s--- that was just going on in my head," James told ESPN of that night. "I was still young. ... I was questioning myself. I know I probably startled the f--- out of him at like three o'clock, four o'clock in the morning. I pulled up and I told him to come outside and I literally sat on the hood of my car. He came out and we just talked things through."

Maverick Carter, who was a high school teammate of James' and now heads up his entertainment company, Uninterrupted, said the late-night visit was a pivot point in James' career.

"Those are massive moments when you can seek someone you admire, someone you appreciate their words, and someone who's enough of a good human being, but a realist to help you realize, 'OK, how do I handle this?'" Carter told ESPN. "We've all been through things in our life, and if you are around someone who gives bad advice or handles it wrong or thinks about themselves in those moments, it can go really bad for someone."

James remembers that night -- and agrees: "I needed him in that moment and he came through for me."

Says Mims: "The rest is history. From there, he took off. We never had them conversations again."

Mims shares context for his inclusion in the Biogenesis scandal from years back:

"I struggled, personally, with health," Mims said. "I was an athlete. And to stay consistent with Bron -- this is going to sound really crazy -- but I was a little afraid to work out. Because I didn't want to get hurt and miss time. ... I saw my friends that were my age and they're tearing Achilles, they're getting hernias. Can you imagine me doing my job on crutches? 'Bron! Wait! Hold on! Grab my bag!'"

In 2013 in Miami, David Alexander, an athletic trainer who owned a gym where James sometimes trained, introduced Mims to Carlos Acevedo. Acevedo was a former associate of Tony Bosch, a biochemist now infamous for providing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes through his South Florida company, Biogenesis. Mims was looking to jump-start his fitness with the purchase of testosterone and a metabolism booster.

Mims helped bridge the relationship between LeBron and Kevin Love:

Love met with James poolside at The Peninsula Beverly Hills to discuss his impending decision.

"I don't think you really know me," Love told James. It had been a difficult season for Love, but Mims, he said, had made it easier.

"Since day one, we've always had a special relationship and bond," Love said of Mims. "He likes to fly below the radar. So, that's what I love about him. Because I'm the same way."

Love's connection to Mims gave him hope he could bridge the gap with James.

Back at the pool, Love turned to James. "Randy and I have this relationship," Love told him. "Let's get to know each other better."

Love said his message was well received. James told Love he knew the power forward's personality would eventually thrive in Cleveland.

Mims says Mat Ishbia's brother, Justin Ishbia, has reached out to brainstorm a prospective ownership group for purchasing the Minnesota Twins:

Minutes after Fitzgerald leaves, Justin Ishbia -- the brother of Suns owner Mat Ishbia -- approaches. He says he is interested in purchasing the Minnesota Twins and wants to line up some famous Minneapolis sports figures to be involved in the ownership group.

They start brainstorming: Justin Jefferson, Kevin Garnett, Cris Carter, Love, Dave Winfield, Joe Mauer, Randy Moss, Robert Smith. Mims says he will get Ishbia in touch with Garnett, or "Ticket" as he calls him. He and Garnett share a mutual close friend in Lue.