“More Than 10 Million People Watching”: Cavaliers’ Owner Attempted to Ruin LeBron James’ The Decision By Tipping Off Brian Windhorst

LeBron James single-handedly held the nation's attention in July 2010 with his unconventional method of announcing his free agency decision on a live ESPN broadcast. However, all the teams invested in the LeBron James sweepstakes, already knew his chosen team by the time of the announcement. Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers, was not pleased with James's decision to leave his team and attempted to preempt James's grand announcement by asking journalist Brian Windhorst to tweet about James's decision prior to the broadcast. However, Windhorst declined, citing that it was too late, and besides, his meager following of 30,000 would not match the ten million viewers tuned into the broadcast.

After James announced his decision to play for the Miami Heat, Gilbert posted a strong rebuke on the Cavaliers' official website, and in a telephonic interview with the Associated Press, accused James of being a quitter. Gilbert also guaranteed that the Cavaliers would secure an NBA championship before James did. However, this claim fell flat as James proceeded to win two titles with Miami Heat out of the four NBA finals he played with them, while the Cavaliers did not make the playoffs once during this time.

In the 2014-2015 season, James returned to Cavs, and true to his promise, led the Cavaliers to their first NBA championship win in 2016, making them the first team to come back from a 3-1 deficit in NBA finals history.

In the 2018 off-season, James left Cavaliers for a second time and headed to California to play for the Lakers. His first game against Cavaliers playing for the Lakers saw him being warmly welcomed by the fans, marking a stark contrast to his entrance in 2010 when he was booed despite scoring a blowout win for Miami Heat. However, just like 2010, James was at the top of his game, leading Lakers to a win.

James' name will forever be linked with the Cavaliers. He is expected to receive a statue outside the team’s arena after his retirement, and his jersey will hang in the team’s rafters. While his initial departure stung the fans and the city, his heroic return more than compensated for it. The state of Ohio now views him, rightly so, as a hero.