The Once and Future King: The Return

4 1/2 months ago a decision was made that rocked the basketball universe.  One simple phrase turned one premier athlete into the biggest villain of the year sans Tiger Woods.  "I'm taking my talents to South Beach" was spoken on the night of July 8th, a night where I closed my store and my eyes were glued to the television because I wanted to see where the king was going to land.  Elation followed as soon as I heard South Beach and shortly after my phone began to ring constantly for the rest of the night with family and friends handing out congratulations for my correct prediction months before.  The night of the Decision was a doubled edged sword, I knew that it would be bad having witnessed the wake of destruction left by Shaquille O'Neal when he left the Orlando Magic in 1996 and being in the arena at times when he would return and receive loud boos every time he touched the basketball, it took ten years but the Magic recovered.  The backlash from Cleveland was night foreseen.

I never saw the moronic Cleveland Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert releasing a letter to fans throwing King James under the bus:

"You simply don't deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.

You have given so much and deserve so much more.

In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight: "I personally guarantee that the Cleveland Cavaliers will win an NBA Championship before the self-titled former 'king' wins one."

You can take it to the bank.

If you thought we were motivated before tonight to bring the hardware to Cleveland, I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our "motivation" to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels.

Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there.

Sorry, but that's simply not how it works.

This shocking act of disloyalty from our homegrown "chosen one" sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And "who" we would want them to grow up to become.

But the good news is that this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called "curse" on Cleveland, Ohio.

The self-declared former "King" will be taking the "curse" with him down south. And until he does "right" by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma."

As a subscriber to the NBA League Pass package I soak in as many games as I can in a night but I am a Heat fan circa 1996 and Heat games are the first games I watch.  The King is booed in opposing arenas every time he touches the ball for the entire game and it must wear him down but Thursday will be different, Thursday is the day that the King returns home to Cleveland and it will be a night filled with anger, hatred, and contempt.  Keep your family and friends away from this one King James because those fake, classless fans will do anything to under your skin.  Remember these were the same fans that resorted to the oldest trick in the book to get under your skin once you departed.  Below are some of the ignorant tweets that King James has received.

• “no one wants to hear u speak. Why dont u speak by laying ur head under a moving car,”
• “hey good game last night, too bad you’re a fraud, BITCH,”
• “u r a big nosed big lipped bug eyed nig**r. ur greedy, u try to hide ur ghettoness.”

Absolutely non of the users who posted those tweets would face the King himself as again they are classless and display cowardly behavior and a self righteousness only seen in a certain segment of people.  As a fan I recall being so uptight, nervous, and anxious the days before Dwyane Wade announced that he was returning to Miami that I just sat in my room for lengthy periods of time to avoid any bad news.  I can honestly say that if he'd left Miami and played in Chicago, I would have wished Wade well, there would have been no jersey burnings, no ignorant tweets, and the Miami Heat owner wouldn't have sent out a letter to fans ripping Wade to shreds.  It's true that the Miami Heat are struggling during this time of transition but they have handled the transition with class and respect because they know what the big picture is and how to attain it, something the Cavaliers have never done.


To all the fake basketball fans who just need something to hate on, I leave you with a little food for thought.  The King has a six year contract with the Miami, with a player option to leave after four years.  It took Shaquille O'Neal three years to finally win his first championship when he left the Orlando Magic and jumped to the LA Lakers.  It's easy to kick someone when they're down by you all know that when that person who is stronger than anyone else finally gets to his feet, your cowardly ways will overcome you and you'll run away with your tale stuck between your legs never to be heard from again.     


 On Thursday, the day the King returns home and you fans should stand up and cheer him for making that town relevant again because without him things would have been a lot worse than they are now.  He filled the arena which in turn helped the downtown area rebuild itself with the infusion of traffic that was received after home games.  Say thank you to him for giving all that he did despite being on bad teams and still leading those teams deep into the playoffs many times.  Appreciate the fact that he brought two NBA MVP trophies to the city of Cleveland, something no Miami Heat player has ever done for the city of Miami.  It's time to grow up and acknowledge and appreciate the things that King James did well to represent the state of Ohio.  For once in your life make a positive statement please show class and respect when Thursday arrives.