LeBron James / (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
By Andy Baskin
598 days have passed since “The Decision.” Cavs fans – are you still angry?
Friday will mark the third time LeBron James and the Miami Heat have returned to the “Q” since that fateful day. The Heat have not won a title since the lovefest in Miami the day LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh decided to shack up in Miami.
Dallas may have eased the pain by winning the title last year. The Cavs’ win over Miami last year at home made things feel a little bit better. The venom may be sucked out, and time is healing the wound.
It’s hard to imagine the air of seething hatred that electrified the “Q” last December returning for all things Miami and LeBron Friday night.
Things have changed.
Other than seeing Daniel Gibson and Anderson Varejao on the floor. LeBron’s era in Cleveland is in the rear view mirror. Place it in the history books with Austin Carr’s era and Brad Daugherty’s era, first overall picks that lead the franchise to a place in the playoffs they had never been before.
The time spent rooting against LeBron may be better served rooting for the Kyrie Irving era. He is not the entire story.
The LeBron era is long over. Carr and Daugherty were pieces of the puzzle. We honor them by looking in the rafters of the “Q.” Only Dan Gilbert knows if the LeBron era will ever catch our eye above the floor in Cleveland.
Now it’s about putting together new pieces into a puzzle. Head coach Byron Scott is getting the most out of the guys that he possibly can. He is squeezing orange juice from a rock.
I wonder what LeBron would have been like playing for Byron Scott. I doubt the dog and pony show Pat Riley let Bosh, Wade, and James put on in Miami before the team ever won a game would fly on Byron Scott’s radar.
Now, we watch team basketball every night in Cleveland. A coach that won’t tolerate anything but hard work. At just 19 years old, Irving is already executing Scott’s plan. The player isn’t running the show. We know who is in charge these days. Once Scott gets all the tools he needs, the thought of June basketball will be on the radar.
If Miami doesn’t win it all this year, Dan Gilbert’s words of the Cavs winning a championship before LeBron could come true.
Being mad seems like a waste of time now. Watching the next chapter of Cavs history seems like a better way to spend my energy.
