As most people following NBA free agency know by now, a private plane owned by Dan Gilbert flew from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale last night. It was reported that certain members of the Cleveland Cavaliers organization were headed to Miami to make a pitch to LeBron James.
Told idea of Dan Gilbert's plane heading to South Florida is something that came together quickly.
— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) July 7, 2014
Not sure if it's out there but Cavs GM David Griffin & Z were on @cavsdan plane today in Florida.
— Probasketballdraft (@Probballdraft) July 7, 2014
RUMOR: LBJ meeting with Dan and Z tonight. He's "leaning" towards coming home. Btw, Tues is 4 year anniversary of the decision.
— Tony Rizzo (@TheRealTRizzo) July 7, 2014
However, according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal, Gilbert wasn't on the plane. Neither was GM David Griffin, nor Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Per Lloyd:
"Griffin was in Cleveland on Sunday, Gilbert was at home in Detroit and Ilgauskas never boarded the private jet that flew from Detroit to South Florida, several sources with knowledge of the situation have confirmed to the Beacon Journal. One source with knowledge of Gilbert's inner workings said the Cavs owner, who has a hand in more than 70 companies, has regular business in South Florida."
That's not quite as much fun as the stories that were going around Twitter last night. But if Lloyd is correct, and the plane wasn't linked to the team's pursuit of LeBron, that doesn't mean that the pursuit isn't still very real.
It has now also become widely known that LeBron is planning to meet with the Heat and Pat Riley sometime this week. If he grants a similar meeting to the Cavs, I'm sure we'll hear about it without having to track a private plane.