The circus departs town

I am neither surprised or particularly worried with this. Ovie is a talented individual who didn't perform as well as his pedigree suggested. The fact he got British MVP honour was laughable.
I got the impression quite quickly that he thought he was too good for the league & his team mates & that may well have had an effect on his performance levels.
However it brought a buzz to the league & increased attendances at not only the Box but also all other venues he played at.

I thought the lack of love Island this year and lions in Europe would keep him.

Let's be honest all his money from personal appearances in nightclubs will have totally dried up over here

While Soko undoubtedly has talent it often looked to me as if he was playing down to the (lower)level of the league he found himself in.

It has happened a lot lately e.g. MBA, Hamilton & Ryan Richards (albeit he may have been slowed by injury).

On the other hand, other big-name Brit returnees have certainly have not been fazed by their newly-lesser surroundings and have continued to show their mettle e.g. ex-NBA starter John Ameachi at Sharks.

Having said that, just before Ameachi (undrafted) made the NBA, I recall seeing him put in appalling displays for GB (or may have been England) in a euro-qualifying tournament at NEC Birmingham. Spencer Dunkley (drafted by Indiana Pacers in the second-round)was the man in that tournament.

My driver often refers to Reggie Miller dismissing him as a rookie when he got into a training spat with a team-mate.

I was slightly surprised... I thought Lions playing in Europe, along with easily being able to do occasional night club appearances, would keep him in London for another season.
I agree with the comments of saintpat and Solly though. Although personally I would have liked him to stay, I'm not too bothered by his departure either. I did get the impression, rightly or wrongly, that he thought he was better than London Lions and the BBL. And to be honest, although he was very good on court he wasn't amazing.

I suppose France isn't too far away, and he probably feels that if a big money appearance/presenting offer still comes up he can probably temporarily come back for it.
Can't see many night club appearances being booked in the next year though, for obvious reasons.

Not sure what this means for his Sky Sports job. Perhaps that's one of the things he's planning on temporarily coming back for each week/whenever required.

Without doubt he's a talented player, without doubt he's a player who can grace higher quality leagues than the BBL, without doubt he can be effective in higher quality leagues than the BBL.
However, he did play in the BBL & he didn't set it alight, he had some decent games & some distinctly average ones, his attitude & demeanour suggested sometimes that he felt he was simply 'too good' for his team mates & the league.
He was reputedly being paid incredibly well for playing for Lions, his own professionalism should have meant he gave it his best shot, week in, week out & I don't believe he did. If you act like you're too good for your team mates, then you're being very disrespectful to your team mates & that doesn't help your team & it's not professional.
His 'celebrity' helped Lions(& the league) off court, some of his performances on court helped Lions but not all & for someone who is 'better' than the league, he was a rather a disappointment.

Honestly there’s times where I think as fans of the BBL we don’t deserve good things. I do respect all your opinions but do you honestly think Lions pushed Soko out?! Do you honestly think he was paid his market value by lions after he earns 500000 the year before and was BCL all star 5? Do you think he’s took a pay cut or pay rise to go to a pro A team? Do you not think every team in the BCL would want a player with his pedigree therefore meaning lions could do with him as they venture into Europe?!

Could Lions afford him this season, absolutely not. Would he improve Lions chances of winning games in Europe with the right attitude, absolutely.

But he wasn't that much of a 'good thing' when he played for Lions, he didn't play to his undoubted ability & there's no guarantee that even if Lions could have afforded him he would have played better consistently. Lions couldn't have afforded half of his, by your account £500k wages, so any conversation about him re-joining Lions whether Lions wanted him or not is irrelevant.