“I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.”
With those words, LeBron James changed NBA history – and made millions of Cleveland Cavaliers fans incredibly upset.
Saturday, July 8, marks the 13th anniversary of James deciding to leave his first team, the Cavs, and head down south to the Heat, where he would win two titles and truly become the massive superstar that he is today.
At the time, James’ decision was widely criticized.
This Day In Sports Clips on Twitter showcased a compilation of James’ on-air announcement and the reaction from Cleveland fans, who felt burned, ignored, and betrayed.
July 8, 2010: LeBron makes The Decision & Cleveland fans react.
pic.twitter.com/RbSxk9xniu— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) July 8, 2023
All these years later, James still gets some negative responses for the way he handled his departure from the Cavaliers.
Some people call him a coward and others say he chickened out from the situation he was in.
Coward
— Slicksie (@Slicksie) July 8, 2023
he chickened out.
— DON PAQUITO (@richardong1) July 8, 2023
But many people have come around to James’ choice, even though they aren’t particularly fond of how he broadcast it to the world on primetime ESPN.
These fans note that James eventually came back to Cleveland and won the championship that he promised.
They also claim that it wasn’t James’ fault that his decision was a television special.
That was the work of agents, producers, and money-hungry people behind-the-scenes, they say.
Than he made up with them and brought a championship….lebron shouldnt have been blamed for the decision…that was his agents, espn, etc looking at dollar sighs and exploiting the situation
— Hellman (@AndrewHeller1) July 8, 2023
He handled this the wrong way, but in the end I don’t blame him for taking his shot to get a title & then going back to Cleveland to get them one,
— 2009 /2010 Phillies & 2008 eagles (@2009philieseag1) July 8, 2023
Many people are using the anniversary as a way to once again bash Cleveand’s front office.
It was their fault that James left in the first place, these people state.
They say that because the team’s management failed to build a strong team around James, he had no choice but to give up on the Cavaliers at the time.
Cavs fans shouldn’t have been mad at LeBron imo
The front office failed to built a good enough team around him and of course LeBron got tired of carrying them and predictably left. The fans should’ve been more mad at them
— ChiefBlue4298 (@STLBluesFan98) July 8, 2023
If James had never returned to Cleveland and won a historic championship for that city, this moment in NBA history would still be red-hot with emotion.
But today most people have calmed down about it, even Cavaliers fans who were so angry at the time.
Yes, James took his talents to South Beach in 2010, but he then brought them back to Ohio years later.
NEXT:
Cavaliers Share Hype Video For Under-The-Radar Addition