Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert was asked if he "deserved" to have superstar LeBron James back on the team after the scathing letter Gilbert posted online when James left in 2010 for the Miami Heat. James, meanwhile, said his rapport with Gilbert now was "really good."
Gilbert's critical letter of James following the infamous 2010 "Decision" soured the relationship between the two for almost four years. The two made up over the summer, and James ultimately returned to his home state and to the team that drafted him.
James's arrival helped bring Kevin Love and a number of veterans to Cleveland, instantly turning the Cavaliers from a lottery-pick team to a title contender. Given Gilbert's letter from 2010 and the fact James is now back, the owner was asked if he "deserved" to have the four-time MVP back.
Per ESPN:
"I don't know if 'deserve' is a word that I sort of look at in this context," Gilbert said. "No, unless you're really doing some significant harm to another human being, I don't think the bridge is ever burned. We had a night there where emotions were flying high on all sides.
"Except for the fact that it's in the media ... things like that happen a lot in business where people have phone calls and heated exchanges, and people are writing each other emails and letters, and then the next day they're eating lunch and doing business. It's not a be‐all or end‐all type of thing.
"Except when you're in the sports world, something like that is blown up and the whole world knows it. The learning from that is you have to understand that and watch the kinds of things that you do because it can be blown completely out of context and out of proportion. Plus it's just not a smart thing to do in general. I think the franchise deserves what it has here, and I think LeBron deserves the city of Cleveland and the franchise, and all the perks that are around him. We can't wait to get started tomorrow night."
Gilbert and James had said they buried the hatchet when they met in July, shortly before James decided to sign a two-year deal with the Cavaliers. As for James, he said he and Gilbert were on good terms now.
"I think it's really good," James said when asked about his rapport with Gilbert. "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."
Cleveland opens the season against the New York Knicks on Thursday.
