An Unlikely Sense of Comfort
The summer of 2010 wasn't much fun for Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.
Ohio-born, Ohio-bred superstar LeBron James ditched the Cavs for Miami and the Big Three that summer - leading to a fiery Comic Sans indictment by Gilbert against James that came to define and haunt the struggling franchise for four years running.
However, this past Sunday, Gilbert and James took the first step towards burying the past.
"We had five great years together and one terrible night," Gilbert told James in a secret meeting in Miami, per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. "I told him how sorry I was, expressed regret for how that night went and how I let all the emotion and passion for situation carry me away. I told him I wish had never done it, that I wish I could take it back."
Rather than chastise Gilbert for the contents of the letter, James countered with his own guilt over his 2010 televised ESPN special, "The Decision," emphasizing his willingness to put both parties' mistakes in the rear-view mirror.
"It was more comfortable than I actually thought it would be," Gilbert said of his meeting with James, James' agent Rich Paul, and LeBron's business manager, Maverick Carter. "They made it easy for me."
LeBron's Secret Letter and a New Day for Cleveland
After his meeting with Gilbert, LeBron James had plenty to think about - including the prospects of a face-to-face meeting with Miami Heat president Pat Riley.
On Wednesday, Riley met with James at an upscale hotel in Las Vegas. He reportedly used Gilbert's letter as ammunition in an attempt to shoot down the prospects of a James return to Cleveland.
However, the meeting, which lasted just over an hour by most accounts, concluded with the Heat seemingly in the same position they were beforehand - waiting on James to make up his mind.
However, per Michael Sebastian of Advertising Age, James' decision was already in the works of being signed, sealed, and delivered. Sports Illustrated senior writer Lee Jenkins had worked out a hush-hush agreement with James to break his announcement in the form of a personal letter from James via the magazine's website.
"On Wednesday, Mr. Jenkins traveled to Las Vegas," Sebastian writes in his article posted on Friday. "He met with Mr. James on Thursday night before writing the essay with him. Mr. Jenkins emailed the essay to his editors around mid-morning on Friday. "Everyone reading it was learning the news for the first time," [SI managing editor Chris] Stone said."
Jenkins had cautiously informed his editors this past Saturday of the possibility of the magazine picking up the scoop, doing his very best to help deliver James' message without inciting a media frenzy.
"The reason we got this story, I think, is because LeBron's team trusted us not to turn it into a circus," Stone indicated. "So to parlay it into a commercial endeavor ahead of time would have been inappropriate."
"It all goes to Lee Jenkins," added Stone. "He made this happen."
A New Day, Free of Regret
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert's first indication that he had secured one of the biggest returns in sports history wasn't thanks to the Sports Illustrated scoop. It came in a quick call from James' agent which read, "Dan, congratulations. LeBron's coming home."
Gone now is the weight of Gilbert's letter, which came to define the Cavaliers owner despite his business success and vast charitable contributions. Now, both James and Gilbert can move on towards a common goal - bringing a championship to the city of Cleveland.
"Do a Google search on me, and it's the first thing that comes up," Gilbert told Yahoo! Sports about the infamous letter. "To a certain segment of society, it's like somebody killed somebody, like somebody killed their kid. I told LeBron, 'That letter didn't hurt anybody more than it hurt me.'"
"For the first two months, I kept thousands of letters – not hundreds – thousands written to me. There were 90-year-old ladies and CEOs, and I realized that that letter had transcended the event, went far beyond LeBron. After a few months, I would re-read it and just be full of regret. That wasn't me, that wasn't who I am. I didn't mean most of the things I said in there. The venom it produced, from all sides … I wish … I wish I had never done it."
"I'm grateful that we all get another chance together now."
