FanPost

The Long Way Home

In a previous article, I broke down the merits of both the Cavaliers and the Heat based upon basketball reasons only, considering the immediate impact LeBron could have with each roster and their long term championship aspirations. Let’s be clear. Returning to Cleveland is not just about family, nostalgia and sentiment. LeBron’s future with the Heat was tied to the diminishing abilities of Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. After being absolutely manhandled in the Finals against the superior Spurs, bringing the team together for one last hurrah was not going to be enough. Not next year and certainly not in years to follow.

On the flip side, the Cavaliers roster features shinny new toys like Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, and fresh out of the box, Andrew Wiggins. They might not be ready to win right away, but they give LeBron a squad that he can mold for years to come. Mentoring has always been an important role for LeBron, a role he cherishes as a father to his sons and to the thousands of kids he has influenced through his charities, school programs, and basketball camps. But with the exception of Daniel Gibson and Mario Chalmers, he has never had the opportunity to mentor on the basketball court.

While in Cleveland, LeBron was always surrounded by aging veteran players like Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace, and Shaquille O’Neal in his twilight. In Miami, it was Wade, Ray Allen, Shane Battier, and Udonis Haslem. Now he has the chance to build a team from the ground up. No short cuts. What this team will look like over the next decade (potentially) will be in the hands of LeBron James now a seasoned, NBA champion. His legacy starts on the basketball court. A team by his own design. Part superstar, part coach, part owner - this will be his team through and through. Winning one championship in Cleveland is the greatest possible achievement left for a player who has nothing left to prove.

After the Finals were over, Pat Riley gave a thinly veiled challenge to LeBron James telling him, "you don’t find the first door and run out of it" - an ironic message after wooing LeBron away from his hometown team four years prior. But at that time in 2010, LeBron was a different person. He had yet to win a ring and with each passing year the monkey on his back grew to King Kong stature. From the day he was drafted by the Cavaliers in 2003 at the age of 18, LeBron was deemed the sports savior of a city. "Chosen One" was a moniker given to him by Sports Illustrated while still in high school. It was already written deep into his formative psyche even before being inked across his shoulders. But in retrospect, he was only a kid playing a basketball fantasy not at all prepared for the harsh reality waiting for him.

It began with the mismanagement of the Cavaliers assets. During his rookie season, LeBron had little young talent to grow with. In the previous two drafts, former GM Jim Paxson missed on both lottery picks DeSagana Diop and Dajuan Wagner, and in 2004, he failed again selecting draft bust Luke Jackson. To make matters worse, the Cavs had no draft picks in 2005 and wasted two additional first round picks in trades for Jiri Welch and Sasha Pavlovic. The Cavs did find fortune with two second round selections, Carlos Boozer and Anderson Varejao (who was added via trade). However the deal to keep Boozer as part of the young Cavs nucleus went horribly awry. After having a handshake agreement with then owner Gordon Gund, Boozer reneged on the deal opting to sign a deal with the Utah Jazz. The forgotten "letter" by Gordon Gund explains the details. But the Cavaliers are at fault in their own way for putting personal feelings ahead of business procedure, and the disarray of their cap situation that kept them from matching the Jazz was of their own doing. Instead of having a flexible roster with young talent to gel and develop with, LeBron started his young career mired in a pool of overpaid veterans and underwhelming prospects - a situation that would remain until the very end.

In spite of a lack of talent and managerial flare, LeBron would lift the Cavaliers into a perennial playoff team. Along the way it was LeBron alone tasked with overcoming a competitive Eastern Conference. He dominated the Wizards trio of Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler three years in a row. He found a way against the championship Pistons in ’07 - turning in a legendary performance in Game 5, scoring 29 of the last 30 points en route to a shocking Finals appearance with a less talented and less experienced team. He battled against better and more balanced teams in the ’07 Spurs, the ’08 Celtics, and the ’09 Magic; no matter how well he played or how impressive his box score, he never had enough around him to win it all.

By the end of the ’09-’10 season, LeBron had little to give a Cavs franchise that had given him little to work with. With free agency looming, he was already beginning to have visions of playing with close friends and fellow all-stars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Miami was an oasis destination, down to the pristine beaches and palm trees. Even before the Cavs playoff exit against the Boston Celtics, LeBron looked defeated. Fans would call him a quitter for his seemingly disinterested play during his last series against Boston, and speculated that his mysterious elbow injury was just a way to avoid responsibility for the defeat. After losing the series in 6 games, LeBron quickly shed his jersey as he walked down the tunnel. He might as well have gotten into his Lamborghini and drove straight to Miami that night.

There’s no reason to remind ourselves of how he left. Everyone knows the decision special was a disaster. LeBron knew it while cameras were rolling. No one questions he could have been more forward with Dan Gilbert. But for us Cavs fans, the mistakes of how he left hid from us the truth of why he left. In that moment we felt let down by our homegrown hero. We never seriously considered that we failed him too. We asked him to win without help. We asked him to make up for the blunders made by management. We asked him to carry the load with underperforming, undeserving teammates on his back. We asked him to come back to a team with no young talent, no deserving running mates, and no direction forward.

So he left. We burned his jersey, booed him at games, blasted his reputation. Without a competitive team of our own we found sport in rooting against him, calling ourselves the Cleveland Mavs when the Dallas Mavericks upset his super team in their first Finals appearance. But then the Heat broke through the following year beating the up and coming Oklahoma City Thunder in 5 games. LeBron was sensational during that playoff run averaging 30 PPG. The curse had been lifted - not for Cleveland, but for himself. He was now an NBA champion. We were still bitter, watching him raise the trophy and feeling like it should have been ours and an apathetic sports town celebrate something they didn’t know they wanted until the previous year. Of course there has to be real Heat fans who have been faithful to a franchise that has had it’s own share of suffering. Those who endured the ’07 .183 win percentage season were likely as annoyed by their bandwagoners as much as the rest of the sporting world was. But for Miami, it was just one more party. One more opportunity to take a day and enjoy the summer sun.

Meanwhile the Cavaliers continued to flounder. Even with all the picks and cap space, the Cavs couldn’t earn a playoff spot in an anemic Eastern Conference. After going all in last year and coming up empty, the city began to turn on its franchise and owner. There was already talk of "blowing up" the team even before anything was built. Rumors circulated that Kyrie Irving wanted out and fans weren’t sure if they wanted him anymore anyway. Emotions were negative surrounding the team and the city. But then something miraculous happened. In what was considered by scouts to be one of the best draft classes in a decade, the Cavaliers climbed from 9th overall all the way to 1st overall by a 1.7% chance. Hope had swung back Cleveland’s way. The Cavs selected highly touted prospect Andrew Wiggins as the heir apparent to LeBron James. The Cavs also rebuilt credibility in the front office by holding onto acting GM David Griffin and hiring highly touted international coach David Blatt plus former player and coaching assistant Tyronn Lou. All-Star PG Kyrie Irving signed a max extension. Suddenly the Cavs were gaining positive momentum and LeBron was watching.

It was always in the cards for LeBron to come home to Cleveland. He tried to play the villain his first year in Miami, but like the black mask he would occasionally wear to protect a broken nose, it never fit him right. But sometimes you have to pretend to be someone else to truly know who you are at heart. Going to Miami, joining the party, being the bad guy, only reminded himself who he really was. He was a kid from Akron wanting to come home.

So he found himself at a crossroad. He still had prime years left in his legs. The Cavaliers had the cap space, the young talent, and some positive energy. If he was going to take the road back to his hometown, now was the time to do it. Some might take the cynical view of his decision to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. And while the S.I. essay was indeed good PR, it was also the necessary gesture of a man making things right. Admitting his mistakes and forgiving Dan Gilbert for the letter took humility. Understanding the fans who burned and booed him took empathy. Leaving a four straight finals team for a four straight lottery team takes guts.

"Who am I to hold a grudge?"

If forgiveness is the theme, this is the essay’s most important question. None of us are blameless. None of us are without past pains and regrets. All of us have bridges to rebuild with our best of friends to our worst of enemies. Some have called us hypocrites for hating LeBron for taking his talents elsewhere but loving him for bringing them back. But it’s the ones who you care about the most that cut the deepest wounds. No one would have blamed LeBron from never coming back. Michael Jordan and Larry Bird would have spent the rest of their careers trying to destroy Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland Cavs using every ounce of bitterness as motivation. Not LeBron James. That’s not who he is. Reconciliation - not revenge - is LeBron’s true colors.

We enjoyed the seven years LeBron played in a Cavs jersey. The winning, the playoff runs, the media attention - it was a great ride. But now it means more than entertainment. It’s personal. You only learn how much something means to you once it’s gone. Both Northeast Ohio and LeBron James have experienced this loss. Rarely in life do you get a chance to get it back.

That’s what makes this story so special and the chance to win together even sweeter.

Follow Britton L. Roberts on twitter @theBLRreview

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