Great news, Cleveland Cavaliers fans.
LeBron James and Dan Gilbert are still cool.
No, seriously. They’re fine. Playing nice and everything.
By LeBron’s standards, they’re doing incredible, per ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin:
“I think it’s really good,” James said when asked about his rapport with the Cavs’ owner. “We had one bad moment, and it just overshadowed all the great times we had together, and now we’re back together.
“We both have something in common: That’s to bring a championship back to this city, and that’s what it comes down to. That’s what our thrive is, that’s what our drive is, and we have an opportunity and we have an obligation to represent this team and this franchise the right way.”
Cute.
Gilbert’s description of his relationship with LeBron was equally adorable:
Gilbert described their relationship as “very good, very solid.” It’s so light between the two these days that they even joke with each other.
“I just saw LeBron,” Gilbert said during a news conference Wednesday, addressing the media for the first time since February. “He looked at me and said, ‘Looks like you grew an inch.’ I said I could use it.”
Aw.
It’s always good to have your best player and owner on the same page. The Cavaliers don’t want anonymously sourced reports that allege disconnect and divide and destruction dominating the headlines. I mean, which team does? That both Gilbert and LeBron have moved on from 2010 is promising for a Cavaliers franchise now in the thick of a championship chase.
To which we must ask: Is this at all surprising?
Of course not.
There’s no way James returns to the Cavaliers without squashing whatever beef he had with Gilbert. No way, no how. His basketball ties may run deep in Cleveland, but there aren’t any ties deep enough to belie the fact that Gilbert owns the Cavaliers. If LeBron wasn’t comfortable playing for him, he wouldn’t be playing for him.
This does, however, make you wonder how big a deal that letter truly was in 2010. Perhaps it’s something LeBron made peace with immediately, while he was busy chasing and caging championships with the Miami Heat. It’s easy to forgive amid success—especially when the forgiven party is failing spectacularly without you.
Moreover, returning to Cleveland is something James must have thought about for a while. I’m not talking weeks, or even months, but years. That it took him a little over a week to decidedly abandon a team that made four straight NBA Finals appearances takes some balls. Don’t care who the Heat couldn’t get, or how rickety Dwyane Wade’s knees were, or how sticky Pat Riley’s hands were from all the hair gel, or how inconsistent Chris Bosh would play during the playoffs. They made four straight NBA Finals. Wade and Bosh seemed willing to make some sort of sacrifice to keep the band together. The NBA was—and still is—speeding toward a salary-cap eruption in 2016. LeBron could have made it work.
Instead, he chose Cleveland, his “home.” There isn’t any shame in that. More importantly there isn’t any strain on his and Gilbert’s relationship. It’s all good.
You can stop losing sleep now.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
