LeBron James apologizes for "The Decision," bloggers and fans online say it's too late
(CBS/What's Trending) - It's about time. After the Miami Heat's series-clinching 97-87 win against the Boston Celtics, LeBron James did what he should've done 10 months ago: He apologized to the city of Cleveland.
"The way it panned out with all the friends and family and fans back home, I apologize for the way it happened," James said of "The Decision" -- that hour-long sucker punch to the gut of Cavs fans in which he spurned his former team to join Dwyane Wade in Miami. "As much as I loved my teammates back in Cleveland, as much as I loved home, I knew I couldn't do it by myself."
It was the first hint of remorse from James since the announcement in July, and it was exactly what NBA fans have been waiting to hear.
Last August, James extended an olive branch to his hometown of Akron, taking out a full-page ad in the local newspaper to thank and comfort grieving fans. But, he only addressed the city of Akron. There was no mention of greater Cleveland, where James played his first seven seasons in the NBA and where he was just as lionized. The ad, it seemed, served only to deepen fans' sense of rejection. So why apologize now, so long after the fact? David Steele of Sporting News believes it was genuine, but doesn't understand the timing, suggesting that it raises even more questions about James' past motives. Steele writes: "It was everything that he didn't say and do about [The Decision] for 10 months that comes off as insincere. Or at least badly misjudged." That's an understatement. Along with the "The Decision" and James' failure to acknowledge the backlash, let's not forget the defiant commercial, his karmic tweet, and this exercise in narcissism in which James and his entourage pranced on their own alters, puffed their chests out and predicted multiple titles. "I mean, it's gonna be easy," James said nonchalantly. Just like that the NBA had a new villain. Steele concludes that had James been contrite from the beginning "the forgiveness, appreciation, even possibly embrace of LeBron James could've happened long ago, and saved him more headaches than even he might realize." Not necessarily.Last night's apology, it's safe to say, is too little, too late for a town still mending the knife wound in its back. But, had James' admission occurred the day after "The Decision," it still wouldn't have mattered -- at least not in Cleveland.
Clevelanders have been burned too many times and are too jaded. They will (justifiably) curse James for the next half-century, if not forever -- a sentiment eloquently shared in Esquire today by Scott Raab, a lifelong Cleveland fan. They will curse James as fervently as they curse Art Modell, former Cleveland Browns owner who moved the beloved team to Baltimore in 1996 and effectively became the city's Public Enemy No. 1. To this day, Modell still can't set foot in Cleveland. Think an apology will mend any fences? So, LeBron needed to say what he said. Cleveland deserved that much. But, no one said it would make a difference.