Cavs fans, if LEBRON comes back, will it be the same?

[metsplaya123]

Hey guys, if Lebron comes back do you think you could cheer for him like nothing ever happened in 2010? I think it would be weird. Would he become your favorite player again?

[tjforce]

It'd be the same for me.... Like Simba going off into the wild, then coming back to take his place in the circle of life.

[dapro]

Can wear my 23 Cavs jersey again!

[xbignick]

Probably will feel the same to those who didn't burn his jersey and act like idiots.

Not sure about the owner though, how do you come back from that letter? Just makes you look like more of an idiot when you run after it offering max.

[xkclarkx21]

Not a cabs fan but it would be nice to see lebron return to cleveland

[benz35]

The Decision 2: The Return of the King.... a two hour special ...

[Nyfancam01]

i'm not sure how i'd feel about it... but it would seem like it would be a beautiful love story. a reunion with HOME and tons of people who hate him now would probably start rooting for him to get it done in Cleveland..

i am getting worried he's going back home but not sure..... I'll hope for his success anywhere he plays.

[adiddy32]

It'd be the same for me.... Like Simba going off into the wild, then coming back to take his place in the circle of life.


Hahah that was rich!!

[tristan20]

Cleveland doesn't deserve Lebron. Gilbert burned his bridges, fans burned his jersey.

[Jimmer327]

Cleveland doesn't deserve Lebron. Gilbert burned his bridges, fans burned his jersey.

The media completely portrayed the wrong image on Cleveland by showing those images of drunk, depressed, frustrated people first reactions to him leaving. You don't understand how passionate Cleveland fans are unless you live in Ohio. I support the owner and his letter 100%. What would you want? Your fans to cheer and say it's fine that their hometown hero is leaving? No you want diehard, passionate fans who care. Do you want an owner who says okay LeBron, best of luck to you in Miami? Hell no, you want the guy to call him out and promise a championship before he gets one even though everyone knew it was impossible. I don't know about you, but you go ahead an decide. LeBron was the first pick, hometown hero, straight out of high school, most hyped athlete of all time and he was close to a championship and just left. Please explain what you'd want to see. Please, I'm waiting.

[Nyfancam01]

The media completely portrayed the wrong image on Cleveland by showing those images of drunk, depressed, frustrated people first reactions to him leaving. You don't understand how passionate Cleveland fans are unless you live in Ohio. I support the owner and his letter 100%. What would you want? Your fans to cheer and say it's fine that their hometown hero is leaving? No you want diehard, passionate fans who care. Do you want an owner who says okay LeBron, best of luck to you in Miami? Hell no, you want the guy to call him out and promise a championship before he gets one even though everyone knew it was impossible. I don't know about you, but you go ahead an decide. LeBron was the first pick, hometown hero, straight out of high school, most hyped athlete of all time and he was close to a championship and just left. Please explain what you'd want to see. Please, I'm waiting.
you HAVE to be kidding.......... those were TRASH teams around him -_-
James had NOBODY worthwhile around him. I'm VERY glad he got his titles in Miami.

[Jimmer327]

Probably will feel the same to those who didn't burn his jersey and act like idiots.

Not sure about the owner though, how do you come back from that letter? Just makes you look like more of an idiot when you run after it offering max.

Simple because he is passionate and cares about his team/city and winning a championship. What did you want the owner to do, say good luck to him? You just don't understand. The city volunteered to chip in to pay Gilbert's fine because they supported it.

[Jimmer327]

you HAVE to be kidding.......... those were TRASH teams around him -_-
James had NOBODY worthwhile around him. I'm VERY glad he got his titles in Miami.

Haha if he had the best record in the league back to back seasons and reached the finals once with those trash teams. Then he was one piece away. Easily could've brought a FA into Cleveland.

[tristan20]

The media completely portrayed the wrong image on Cleveland by showing those images of drunk, depressed, frustrated people first reactions to him leaving. You don't understand how passionate Cleveland fans are unless you live in Ohio. I support the owner and his letter 100%. What would you want? Your fans to cheer and say it's fine that their hometown hero is leaving? No you want diehard, passionate fans who care. Do you want an owner who says okay LeBron, best of luck to you in Miami? Hell no, you want the guy to call him out and promise a championship before he gets one even though everyone knew it was impossible. I don't know about you, but you go ahead an decide. LeBron was the first pick, hometown hero, straight out of high school, most hyped athlete of all time and he was close to a championship and just left. Please explain what you'd want to see. Please, I'm waiting.


Gilbert was immature and so were the fans, there is no way they should act like animals. Gilbert should have been the bigger man.

[Jimmer327]

Gilbert was immature and so were the fans, there is no way they should act like animals. Gilbert should have been the bigger man.

You just don't understand. Do you know how many people still have their LeBron jerseys? The media brainwashes everyone to think everyone burned theirs. I have no problem with what Gilbert did. What should he have done?

[Jimmer327]

No one understands, LeBron was the heart of Cleveland.

[tristan20]

You just don't understand. Do you know how many people still have their LeBron jerseys? The media brainwashes everyone to think everyone burned theirs. I have no problem with what Gilbert did. What should he have done?

How professional was Gilbert? NBA is a business, Gilbert knows that.

[Cervantes]

So, if Cleveland was ''one piece away''...where was that piece? I don't blame Lebron for leaving, I blame Gilbert/the front office for not giving him help.

PERIOD.

He'll return home, eventually, and give Cleveland something they've always wanted: A championship. Only problem? It was won by Miami.

Hello, Craig Ehlo

[dasiegel]

as bad as lebron was to leave the way he did, the cleveland fans didn't just get mad and complain, the owner publicly humiliated him and the fans burned jerseys and signs and did some really nasty sh!T, i think the fans that just take him back are pretty sad and contradictory.

[xbignick]

The media completely portrayed the wrong image on Cleveland by showing those images of drunk, depressed, frustrated people first reactions to him leaving. You don't understand how passionate Cleveland fans are unless you live in Ohio. I support the owner and his letter 100%. What would you want? Your fans to cheer and say it's fine that their hometown hero is leaving? No you want diehard, passionate fans who care. Do you want an owner who says okay LeBron, best of luck to you in Miami? Hell no, you want the guy to call him out and promise a championship before he gets one even though everyone knew it was impossible. I don't know about you, but you go ahead an decide. LeBron was the first pick, hometown hero, straight out of high school, most hyped athlete of all time and he was close to a championship and just left. Please explain what you'd want to see. Please, I'm waiting.

Oh please with the how passionate your specific fanbase is. What a cliché.

To realize he earned the right to free agency and could do as he wishes would be a start. He was your "chosen one" as Dan Gilbert put it, would think fans would want what's best for him at some point, to realize he's a human being that deserves the right to make his own decisions.



Simple because he is passionate and cares about his team/city and winning a championship. What did you want the owner to do, say good luck to him? You just don't understand. The city volunteered to chip in to pay Gilbert's fine because they supported it.

No. I do understand. You apparently don't. It's a business and he made the best decision for him not only financially but for the path to compete.

To burn a bridge when you know he has a chance of coming back is straight up idiotic. Passionate? Learn to contain yourself. You're not a child, you're an owner making more than the player that's leaving is. In a free market he'd be a $50M player.

How's that statement he made that people could "take to the bank"? Where's that championship he promised? Saying what Lebron did was not what you want your child to learn, but writing a bitter letter and stomping your feet when you don't get your way is?

It was a PR move gone wrong by an idiot.

[xbignick]

Oh and to respond to his letter, the only thing they've won since Lebron left to win some rings are draft lotteries.

[alexcampos]

The Hypocrisy is too much to bear....

If Lebron really does go back to Cleveland, it will truly show how sports fans....particularly basketball fans REALLY are.

What an utter joke all of this is.

[xbignick]

And I do realize that these types of moments shouldn't stereotype a whole fan base, see the way Phillie fans are seen, difference is here the owner took part and he's still apart of the team.

[jj2]

The media completely portrayed the wrong image on Cleveland by showing those images of drunk, depressed, frustrated people first reactions to him leaving. You don't understand how passionate Cleveland fans are unless you live in Ohio. I support the owner and his letter 100%. What would you want? Your fans to cheer and say it's fine that their hometown hero is leaving? No you want diehard, passionate fans who care. Do you want an owner who says okay LeBron, best of luck to you in Miami? Hell no, you want the guy to call him out and promise a championship before he gets one even though everyone knew it was impossible. I don't know about you, but you go ahead an decide. LeBron was the first pick, hometown hero, straight out of high school, most hyped athlete of all time and he was close to a championship and just left. Please explain what you'd want to see. Please, I'm waiting.

Yes, exactly this, that way he might actually come back one day. Gilbert is a smart guy and he should have known better. It's not like it was just a spur of the moment thing either, they left the letter up on their website until a couple of days ago! Now I'm obviously not Lebron, but if one of my past employers ever did that to me then there's not a snowflakes chance in hell I'm ever working for them again.

You might applaud Gilbert's reaction now, but you might think differently if it prevents Lebron from ever wearing a Cavs jersey again. I guess only time will tell.

[mjw9002]

if i was lebron i wouldn't go back till Gilbert did not own them anymore,

[metsplaya123]

The Hypocrisy is too much to bear....

If Lebron really does go back to Cleveland, it will truly show how sports fans....particularly basketball fans REALLY are.

What an utter joke all of this is.
Says the fan of a team which doesn't have real fans

[SDcardguy24]

No one understands, LeBron was the heart of Cleveland.

Sounds like he still is to you :p

[rookies]

It sucks Lebron is going to go back to cavs. Cavs ownership and that whole city doesnt deserve a team and Gilbert doesnt deserve to be a owner even his people he has at the lottery are very annoying always. Regardless lebron wont go west and only good team in east with potential is cavs. Especially if they pry away and get klove and a few of lebrons guys like birdman, rashard, and ray allen.

[rookies]

Says the fan of a team which doesn't have real fans

Chill out everyone. I hate the bulls but am a fan of MJ. Nearly everyone is a fan of MJ and not everyone is a Bulls fan in the world so the bandwagon thing is so overused/ overplayed.

[zakkwyldesbeard]

If I were Bron, I wouldn't go back to Cleveland largely because of Gilbert. Gilbert's petulance following 'the decision' underlined what most well-informed NBA followers already knew: that he is a horrendous owner, perhaps the worst in the NBA (it might be hard to snatch that title off Jim Dolan though!)

[montej1695]

When Lebron chose Miami if Gilbert had given Lebron his blessing, thanked him for his time spent in Cleveland and all of the effort he gave on the court Lebron would have signed with the Cavs already.

Instead he was a classless owner and whined like a spoiled brat...

Hard decision for Lebron to go work for him again, even if he wants to go back and play for the fans of Cleveland.

[Knicker_Please]

Chill out everyone. I hate the bulls but am a fan of MJ. Nearly everyone is a fan of MJ and not everyone is a Bulls fan in the world so the bandwagon thing is so overused/ overplayed.

I'm neither a fan of mj or a bulls fan...
Player fans confuse me honestly. It's not golf, it's a team sport. I get liking a player, but I don't get being obsessed with a player who doesn't play on a team you support.
It's cool I guess, I just don't get it. No matter how good they are...

[pingbling23]

Says the fan of a team which doesn't have real fans

temp suspended for trolling i assume. well played mods, well played. i think it would be a great story for lebron going back to the cavs but i dont see it happening the way the owner acted.

[currycurrycurry]

Chill out everyone. I hate the bulls but am a fan of MJ. Nearly everyone is a fan of MJ and not everyone is a Bulls fan in the world so the bandwagon thing is so overused/ overplayed.

YES, RIGHT ON!!! LBJ haters (or of any other players) need to take a chill pill with all the negativity.. sheesh.

[Brobocop]

So let me get this straight, some people are saying that LeBron to Cleveland is all media driven and has no real weight to it. But it's totally believable that every Cleveland fan burned their LeBron jersey because they saw it on the news. Okay, got it.

[asujbl]

The "burning his jersey" thing is always my favorite. Always.

I've asked people on this board multiple times to show evidence outside of the one video (that ESPN likes to play on a loop) of people in Cleveland burning jerseys.

It's always the same video over and over again with maybe a sporadic one in between.

People act like it was a mass bonafire in Public Square. It was a couple drunk dudes that hung the jersey on a stick.

And those that hate Dan Gilbert? No one can change your mind if you think he's a nut job.

He's also a nut job with a bottomless stack of cash. If there is one thing you can not fault Dan Gilbert for is his willingness to spend anything and everything on the Cavs.

LeBron knows this.

To answer the initial question? No it won't be the same.

And that's a good thing.

LeBron is a totally different player, and person, then he was in Cleveland initially. He's a man with kids and a wife now. He isn't the guy that took 50 dudes on every road trip.

[armyatc22]

The funny thing is that every Cleveland fan that burned his jersey would have done the same thing if they were in his shoes....I'm sure about 95% of the world would have

The talent wasn't coming to Cleveland and LeBron took less money to go to Miami

[BostonNut]

Says the fan of a team which doesn't have real fans

Shots fired. :coffee:

[auctionjmm]

If I were Bron, I wouldn't go back to Cleveland largely because of Gilbert. Gilbert's petulance following 'the decision' underlined what most well-informed NBA followers already knew: that he is a horrendous owner, perhaps the worst in the NBA (it might be hard to snatch that title off Jim Dolan though!)

When Lebron chose Miami if Gilbert had given Lebron his blessing, thanked him for his time spent in Cleveland and all of the effort he gave on the court Lebron would have signed with the Cavs already.

Instead he was a classless owner and whined like a spoiled brat...

Hard decision for Lebron to go work for him again, even if he wants to go back and play for the fans of Cleveland.

I work for a third party contractor so I am very familiar with the "free agent" process and how things work when a contract expires and comes up for bid again. In the real world, this process involves lots of face-to-face communication and honesty. Every time we've gained or lost a contract, we were adequately informed and knew how the process was unfolding so that we could prepare for a new deal, or move our money elsewhere. Lebron James broke every rule in 2010 by having minimal contact with ownership, offering them no clues about his future, failing to respond to Gilbert's texts in the days before July 8th, and not notifying the Cavs BEFORE going on tv (James' agent finally decided to call/text Gilbert 5 minutes before the Decision aired).

Gilbert had probably never felt more insulted than he did right there. He's probably never had a business dealing where a 100 million dollar asset walked off with 5 minutes notice and zero communication. From a business perspective, it was shady and insulting, and Gilbert responded like a human being would. If Lebron had scheduled a meeting earlier and manned up to Gilbert about his desire to leave, I have a feeling the response would be much different.

Gilbert is not a horrendous owner. He is willing to do anything to improve his business, and money is not an object. He was considered an idiot for throwing his money away on Baron Davis, and that move led to Kyrie Irving. If the Cavs organization had looked bad over the past 4 years, much of it was personnel. Dan trusts his personnel, and his biggest mistake was not firing Danny Ferry earlier and finding a better GM. Despite some bone-headed personnel decisions, the new GM and new coach seem like very good hires. If those guys are leading the ship from here forward, Dan will be able to sit back and let his money talk instead.

[Brobocop]

I'm also a bit stunned that some people see what Gilbert did as some unforgivable thing while many have looked past LeBron and the Decision telecast. I see both as one in the same. Two stupid decisions that two smart people made in the public eye that both probably regret. I am willing to bet that the only reason the dumb letter stayed up on the Cavs website was that people forgot it was even there. Someone probably realized it and rushed to take it down.

[rats60]

I'm also a bit stunned that some people see what Gilbert did as some unforgivable thing while many have looked past LeBron and the Decision telecast. I see both as one in the same. Two stupid decisions that two smart people made in the public eye that both probably regret. I am willing to bet that the only reason the dumb letter stayed up on the Cavs website was that people forgot it was even there. Someone probably realized it and rushed to take it down.
Lebron made a bad decision and he realized it. Dan Gilbert made a bad decision and has repeated it every day for 4 years. Didn't realize the letter was still on the website? Lol. Did you forget he priced Lebron's fathead based on Benadict Arnold's bday? Gilbert was so unproffesional that he was fined 100 k by the NBA, but Gilbert still was behaving poorly 4 years later. Do you really think someone want to play for him?

Did you forget Lebron's first free agency? Lebron resigned with the Cavs, but the team didn't put the pieces around Lebron to win. Anyone who thought Lebron was resigning with the Cavs was not living in the real world.

[MasterPattie]

I'm also a bit stunned that some people see what Gilbert did as some unforgivable thing while many have looked past LeBron and the Decision telecast. I see both as one in the same. Two stupid decisions that two smart people made in the public eye that both probably regret. I am willing to bet that the only reason the dumb letter stayed up on the Cavs website was that people forgot it was even there. Someone probably realized it and rushed to take it down.

I agree with you that the letter Gilbert wrote 4 years ago shouldn't be something that is unforgiveable. But it really matters what Lebron thinks, not any of us.

Brian Windhorst stated on ESPN yesterday that is biggest deterrent preventing Lebron coming back to Cleveland is Dan Gilbert (not the roster or anything like that). So, it would appear that Lebron still may have an issue with Gilbert. That is understandable, isn't it? It's hard to go back to a team where you don't like the owner.

Obviously it's Lebron's decision so we'll see where he lands. Even if he doesn't go back to Cleveland this year he could go back at some point in the future. Even though Windhorst stated that Gilbert is the biggest factor preventing Lebron from coming back to the Cavs he also has always stated that he does truly believe he will be back in a Cavs uniform at some point. Obviously it's just an educated guess but he is as close to the situation as anybody.

[f1element]

Can't wait to see heat # 6 jerseys burning.

[BOOMER7]

LBJ best option would be CHICAGO if they could pull it off without dismantling the core. They could compete and potentially win 4-5 titles with the nucleus they have in place by adding LBJ.

[Halbert]

Any fan should be able to appreciate James' play on the court.

[dasiegel]

LBJ best option would be CHICAGO if they could pull it off without dismantling the core. They could compete and potentially win 4-5 titles with the nucleus they have in place by adding LBJ.

Yea but he and Melo and probably Bosh are gonna cash in on this max deal thing this time!

[spurs50fan]

Fans would sell body parts if it meant winning

They'll love if he came back.

[CubKings]

Can't wait to see heat # 6 jerseys burning.

Nah, most Heat fans probably don't care enough.

[BlueSunday1287]

Lebron made a bad decision and he realized it. Dan Gilbert made a bad decision and has repeated it every day for 4 years. Didn't realize the letter was still on the website? Lol. Did you forget he priced Lebron's fathead based on Benadict Arnold's bday? Gilbert was so unproffesional that he was fined 100 k by the NBA, but Gilbert still was behaving poorly 4 years later. Do you really think someone want to play for him?

Did you forget Lebron's first free agency? Lebron resigned with the Cavs, but the team didn't put the pieces around Lebron to win. Anyone who thought Lebron was resigning with the Cavs was not living in the real world.

The letter on the website was removed over three years ago, the only way it could be found is through a search engine from a stagnant archived page.

[f1element]

I just want bron to leave so I can like him again :)