If
there is one date that four-time Kia MVP LeBron James will always remember in
his soon to be Hall of Fame NBA career is Dec. 2, 2010. That was the night he played
at the Cleveland Cavaliers as a member of the Miami Heat for the first time. It
was an experience unlike any other where he got booed, cursed at, screamed on by
the sell out crowd of Quicken Loans Arena that once cheered his name. He did
make up for it four years later when he returned home, led the Cavs to four straight
appearances in The NBA Finals, and won the city it first title in a little over
five decades. The question is what will be in store for LBJ as he and the
Lakers come to town on Thanksgiving Eve on ESPN?
Like
that first appearance as the visitor nearly eight years ago as a member of the
Miami Heat, James and his new team are in the exact same position as his former
team is.
The
Los Angeles Lakers enter action just a little over the .500 mark at 9-7 and the
Cavaliers are struggling mightily after losing the 14-time All-Star in free
agency for the second time around, as they possess a 2-13 mark.
This
will mark the 14th time that James will be facing the Cavaliers,
with the first 13 coming with the Heat, and six as a member of the team that he
said in a national televised ESPN announcement where he told Jim Gray and the
entire nation that he was “taking his talents to” in July 2010.
James’
first visit as the opponent was a spectacle that one had to see in order to
believe. There were coordinated chants by the fans. Dozens of signs were on
display throughout the crowd. Objects were thrown to the court.
“Once
I hit the court in warmups, you could hear the boos. It was probably the
loudest I’ve ever heard boos in my life. I felt the animosity. I felt the scrutiny.
But once the ball was tipped, I’m in my safe haven. There’s nothing that can
stop me from trying to be the best I can be.”
This
was on the heels of when he made “The Decision” over the summer where fans were
burning his jersey and fans were on television crying and calling him a traitor.
“It
was something that nobody had ever seen before,” James said of that moment. “Everybody
knew the emotions behind it. Cable television made sure that they captured
every moment. It was an eerie feeling, just going back. It was an uncomfortable
feeling going back because of the situation. And I knew how up in bunches
everybody was.”
When
it was all said and done though, James would have the final word as he scored
24 of his 38 points on the evening to break the spirit of the audience and lead
the Heat to a 118-90 win. When he was substituted out of the game for good at
the end of the third quarter, the Heat were up by 30 points.
“The
only thing I was talking about was, ‘How can I play well?’ I wanted to play
well. I wanted to play well more than anything,” James, who was 15 for 25
shooting on the night with eight assists and five boards said. “I knew I had
the group of guys that were going to ride for me that night, no matter what.
That was just the makeup of our club. I wasn’t worried about that. But it was
an eerie night.”
This
game wound up being a serious turning point for both teams as the Heat entered
the contest 11-8 and proceeded to win 19 of their next 20 games and proceeded
to make it all the way to The Finals, where they lost to the Dallas Mavericks
in six games.
The
Cavs on the other hand really nosedived after that loss going from a 7-10 mark
at that point to losing 35 of their next 36 games and really never recovered
until James returned in the summer of 2014.
This
next first visit back to “The Land” as a member of the Lakers should be
different for James after coming back to the Cavs in free agency in as
mentioned the summer of 2014, leading the Cavs to The Finals four straight
seasons and leading them back from a 3-1 deficit in the 2016 to take down the
mighty Golden State Warriors in seven games to capture the city’s first pro
sports title since the Cleveland Browns led by Hall of Famer Jim Brown won the
NFL title in 1964.
Unlike
the first time when James received a nasty reception, he will be feted with a video
tribute and likely hear loud cheers from fans who were witnesses to perhaps the
greatest run in Cavaliers’ franchise history and in that town’s pro sports
history.
If
it is anything close to what has been scene in the ESPN advertisements with the
song “The Way We Were,” it will a welcome sight for fans who have not much to
cheer about their Cavaliers so far this season.
James,
who had 51 points in the Lakers 113-97 win at the Heat (6-11) on Sunday night
is not really thinking too much about his latest return to northeast Ohio as he
is about the play of his newest team the Lakers, who have won six of their last
eight games after a 3-5 start.
“I
don’t know,” James, who registered his 13th 50-point game of his
career said to reporters on Sunday about his expectations of his return to Cleveland.
“I don’t try to put too much into it. I will go out there and see if we can
keep this thing going. I think we are playing some really good ball right now.”
That
good ball James is referring about is the Lakers run of four wins in their last
five contests and during this stretch, he has averaged 33.6 points on 56.1
percent from the field.
In
the first four seasons the James spent with fellow future Hall of Famer Dwyane
Wade and perennial All-Star Chris Bosh, the Cavs went 97-215 and it has not
been any better the second time around.
Their
aforementioned 2-13 start included an 0-6 beginning, which led to the ouster of
head coach Tyronn Lue and it has not gotten much better under his replacement
Larry Drew.
Of
their 13 losses so far this season, the Cavs have lost eight of those games by
10 points or more, including their 113-102 setback at the Detroit Pistons (8-6)
on Monday night, where they were down by as many as 30.
To
bring the Cavs struggles into clearer context, they have trailed by 20 points
in a game eight times in the early stages of the 2018-19 NBA campaign mainly
because they have been outscored by 58 points in the opening stanza in those 13
setbacks.
It
has also not helped that key veterans on the Cavs in All-Star Kevin Love, who
signed a massive four-year, $120 million contract extension, and guard George
Hill are shelved because of injury.
Sharp
shooting vet J.R. Smith, who was a big part of those Cavs teams that reached The
Finals four straight seasons has been in and out of the rotation this season
and in it was announced on Tuesday in a statement that “J.R. Smith will no
longer be with the team as the organization works with J.R. and his representation
regarding his future.”
“The
organization wishes J.R. and his family well and appreciates, and thanks him
for his contributions in the community, to the team and his role in the 2016
NBA Championship.”
Smith
told Jason Lloyd of “The Athletic” about his feelings for the Cavs currently, “I
don’t think the goal is to win, the goal is not to try to go out there and get
as many wins as you can. I think the goal is to develop and lose to get lottery
picks.”
Other
than Love, center Tristan Thompson, sharp shooter Kyle Korver and Channing Frye
are the only players remaining from that 2016 title team.
“It’s
tough to lose a guy like that, especially when you’ve been in the trenches with
him. You’ve been to war with him,” Love said to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols and
Richard Jefferson in an interview on Tuesday alongside Frye.
“These
guys both know what JR has meant to this team and meant to this city. He was one
of the fan favorites. He was a guy that played both sides of the ball…and we
all wish him the best, we all love him and he’s going to do good but in a lot
of cases in this league it’s a business as well as you know sometimes it’s
better for both parties to part.”
One
player that will also be center stage on Wednesday night for the Cavs is rookie
lead guard Colin Sexton, the No. 8 pick in June’s draft.
He
was the First-Round pick that the Cavs were sent from the Boston Celtics for All-Star
guard Kyrie Irving the summer prior.
A
move that was very shocking to James, even though Irving had requested a trade
from the Cavs. What made the move even more head scratching is Irving had two
more years left on his contract and if James did decide to leave last summer,
which he ultimately did, the Cavs could have had their franchise player of the
future already on their roster.
In
the aforementioned Cavs loss at the Pistons on Monday night, Sexton had 18
points, and in his five starts at the point guard spot has averaged 18.6 points
and overall this season is averaging 13.2 points.
“I
think one thing with us we always hold him accountable,” Frye said to Nichols
about how the team has taken to Sexton being a starter. “When Colin went into
the starting lineup, Colin’s numbers have gotten a lot better because we’ve
held him accountable to like, ‘As a starting point guard you need to play like
this.’”
“So,
for us right now our record doesn’t reflect how hard these guys work. How much
better I feel we’ve gotten but we still have a long way to go.”
On
Wednesday night there will be a serious buzz in Quicken Loans Arena with return
of LeBron James the second time around. While it will be nowhere close to the hostile
level it was eight years ago, it will be a special one. One that we all will be
watching as the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Cleveland Cavaliers at 8 p.m. on
ESPN.
Frye
said to Nichols and Jefferson that he expects the fans to give the future Hall
of Famer an “amazing reception.”
“I
think everyone makes decisions about what they want to do what’s best for their
life and I think for both parties it just ended up working out,” he said, “and
I think for us, I think it’s going to be great. I know Cavs fans are going to
be awesome and loud, and hopefully that type of energy helps us, and we get win
No. 3.”
Information,
statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 11/20/18 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The
Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Jorge Sedano, Amin Elhassan, Paul Pierce,
and Richard Jefferson; and 11/20/18 www.espn.com
story, “The Night LeBron James and Cleveland Will Never Forget,” by Dave McMenamin
and Brian Windhorst; and www.nba.com/games/20181121/LALCLE#/preview.
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