In 2010, LeBron James took a unique route to announce his departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers. He collaborated with ESPN to release a special called ‘The Decision’ on July 8 to declare that he would join the Miami Heat.
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The public condemnation from the Cleveland Cavaliers fans was marked by many of them burning his #23 jersey and resenting him for leaving his home state, Ohio, where he had built his basketball career. Despite the backlash, James didn’t show immediate regret for his method.
On GQ’s September 2010 edition, J.R. Moehringer chronicled his interviews with James during the heated 2010 summer. During an interview that took place less than a week after ‘The Decision’ episode, Moehringer asked LBJ if he wanted to do things differently considering the amount of hate he has received.
James was positive that he did the right thing. James had sat down with sportscaster Jim Gray in the Boys and Girls Club, Greenwich, Connecticut, during the live broadcast of ‘ The Decision’.
The event raised $2.5 million through advertisement revenue for the non-profit youth organization, which vindicated James’ choice to broadcast his next NBA destination to the world. This alone made him feel that the road he took was worth it. Moehringer wrote in the GQ article,
“When I ask what he’d change, what he’d do differently, he says cheerily: “Nothing at all.” He reminds me that $2.5 million from The Decision went to the Boys Girls Clubs, one of his favorite causes: “When I found out I had an opportunity to do that for those kids, it was a no-brainer for me.”
During the interview, he hinted at a return to Cleveland despite the Cavaliers’ fans’ relentless animosity. While LBJ did come back to Cleveland after five years, it was almost impossible to imagine at that time.
The Decision infuriated the Cavs fan base
ESPN recorded the immediate response of Cavs fans after James’ decision. Many fans felt their hero-turned-villain superstar, who made a spectacle out of the whole thing, publicly humiliated them. Here is what one of the Cavs fans, Eric Mauldin told ESPN,
“I think it was a slap in the face to this city, who had supported him and been behind him since he was in high school. To go on national TV and spit in our face like that is very, very, very wrong.”
Many NBA analysts also resented James for the long delay in announcing his decision during the ESPN special that lasted 75 minutes. Earlier, it was reported that he’d do so within 10-15 minutes. However, he took much longer, much to the chagrin of many analysts and viewers.
LBJ’s iconic “‘I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat’’ statement was highlighted by the critics who claim that this dramatic flair of announcing the decision was a disrespect to the rest of the teams. ESPN writer J.D. Adande claimed,
“[James] tried to build the drama at the expense of the common courtesy of notifying teams of his plans.”
For many, ‘The Decision’ remains a stain on LBJ’s legacy because of its seemingly self-serving nature. However, James was lured by Pat Riley’s promise of playing a Magic Johnson role alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
The decreased scoring burden translated into two championships with the Heat and the King did right by Cleveland fans after honoring them with a championship in 2016.
