Last Thursday night marked the most anticipated return since, well, maybe ever. A player that had spent his entire career playing for the Cavaliers finally came back to the city that had loved him since his entrance into the league. Here's a hint: It's not a 7−foot−3 bald Lithuanian.
In case you haven't heard, LeBron James traveled to Cleveland for the first time since he left the team, city and state for the greener and sunnier pastures of Miami. In the lead−up to the game, the angry Cavaliers fans lived up to the hype. Quicken Loans Arena was full of an energy unique to this situation. Hatred united 20,000 of them in one common purpose.
As TNT began its pregame show, the chants and jeers were already bouncing around the stadium. The camera that followed the Heat out of the locker room and onto the court showed LeBron's perspective, which was nothing short of horrifying. The crowd, right on top of him, let out perhaps the loudest chorus of boos ever unleashed on a single human being. The camera found shirts in the crowd that read "Quitness", "The Lyin' King" and "Queen James."
Yet King James never seemed fazed by the ambush of vengeance that awaited him the moment he stepped on that court. Those first steps, which were actually more of a skip, told us everything we needed to know about LeBron's return to his former home: It wouldn't rattle his confidence. He put on a display of dunks in the warm−up. He went through an array of handshakes with his new teammates when he was introduced. He did his patented chalk toss before the game.
But in unleashing their barrage of fury, Cavaliers fans found a sliver of silver lining in James' departure and finally got to let him know how they really felt about his decision. For a moment, they had the sympathy of the country on their side, and maybe even a moral high ground to be proud of. Maybe everything would turn out all right, they thought. And then the game started.
LeBron had perhaps his most LeBron−esque performance of the season, displaying all the talents that Cleveland fans didn't want to be reminded of. He knocked down 20−foot jumpers fading away. He launched himself into passing lanes in the blink of an eye. He finished fast breaks with his unique combination of power, speed and body control. And worst of all for Cleveland fans, he was doing it all with a smile.
To top it off, the return of LeBron in a Miami Heat uniform finally forced the loyal Cavaliers fans to come to terms with what's left of their team. Feeding off the crowd's energy, Cleveland matched Miami's talents with incredible effort and hustle and even held the lead for some of the first quarter. But the Heat fired away, opening up a 19−point lead at the half. Midway through the third quarter, as the Miami lead extended to 80−50, reality finally set in for Cavaliers fans: LeBron had come back to their home, taken what little remained of their souls and dunked all over it. There was nothing Mo Williams, Anderson Varejao or Daniel Gibson could do to stop the onslaught.
James finished the night with 38 points, five rebounds and eight assists. He only played 30 minutes, and watched the final quarter of the 118−90 Miami victory from the bench. He certainly noticed the crowd's reaction, but it never took him off his game.
One particular play typified the entire night: James took the ball on the right elbow, dribbled toward the baseline, met a double−team, dribbled out towards the sideline and took a fall−away jumper that arched over the extended hands of two Cavaliers defenders, went above the corner of the backboard and landed perfectly into the net. It was his night. As much as Cleveland fans booed, yelled, hollered and jeered, there was nothing they could do to stop him.
