If ever there was a time for LeBron James to leave home, this was it.

The outpouring of venom from the Cavaliers’ owner and the wrath of jersey-burning fans betrays an underlying, festering resentment that makes James’s decision to leave Cleveland for Miami seem prudent.

This was another extraordinary LeBron moment — first the week-long build-up, then the thousands who gathered Thursday in front of the Boys and Girls Club to be part of “The Decision.” Finally James, playing “The Bachelor,” told us Miami was the lucky franchise.

The most extraordinary part of the event was the reaction of Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert, who responded with a venomous, face-saving personal attack on the team’s Web site that, in its own way, validates James’s decision to leave Cleveland.

In an amazing abdication of leadership — and a remarkable revelation of a flawed character — Gilbert made James a sympathetic figure.

Referring to a “shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own,” Gilbert called James’s decision process “a several day,  narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with the national TV special of his ‘decision’ unlike anything ever ‘witnessed’ in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.”

Yet it was Gilbert who created the King James monster; it was Gilbert who nurtured and reinforced James’s prima-donna-isms, all of the preening and dancing. Now he acts like a lover scorned and lashes out with gibberish about karma and curses.

Gilbert must think he really owned LeBron James.

Surely, he understands business.

You win some, you lose some. With LeBron James, Gilbert won a lot more than he lost.

The Cavaliers owner built his fortune and owns an N.B.A. franchise. He lost a gem in James. And now he has lost our respect.

Gilbert has released enough players and let go enough employees to understand that loyalty, especially in sports, is largely a matter of convenience and timing.

Loyalty is often jettisoned. Look at the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have lost their jobs through layoffs, cutbacks and downsizing.

LeBron got the Cavs before the Cavs could get him.

Will the Heat win a championship? Read the full NY Times Article

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