LeBron James may wind up re-signing with the Miami Heat in the very near future, but don’t be fooled into thinking Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert isn’t trying to bring him back. There are just too many signs to ignore.
On Monday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst pointed out that the scathing letter Gilbert wrote to LeBron after James left the Cavs in 2010 is no longer up on the team’s official website. It had been available at this link for four years prior to Monday.
The open letter, which was kind of an embarrassment to Gilbert and the Cavs, ripped LeBron for betraying Cleveland and described the MVP as “narcissistic.” It also guaranteed fans that the Cavs would win a championship before James did, and we all saw how that turned out.
In addition to the letter being removed, there is also reason to believe that Gilbert (or his people) flew to South Florida on Sunday. A report from Windhorst and his colleague Marc Stein later indicated that the Cavs believe LeBron is legitimately hearing them out and has not ruled out a return to his home state.
We have said all along that we believe LeBron will ultimately return to the Heat, and we’re not going to change our minds. But as I said earlier, the only thing LeBron could do to better his legacy aside from winning another ring or two with the Heat would be to return home and bring a Larry O’Brien trophy to the people of Cleveland. Just go ahead and admit it — that would be fun.
