In between the two " Decisions," there were two apologies. There had to be two, or else LeBron James never would have returned to Cleveland.
Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert revealed to Mitch Albom in a USA TODAY Sports article how he reconciled with the best basketball player in the world during a secret meeting prior to James' decision to leave the Miami Heat and return home to Cleveland.
When the once-unfathomable idea of James returning to the Cavaliers first surfaced, Gilbert, whose legacy to this point consisted of writing and publishing a letter filled with vitriol over James' departure from his franchise for Miami in 2010, told James' handlers that he wanted to talk to James about the letter.
"I had told LeBron's guys, whether he comes back or not, I really want to clear the air," Gilbert told Albom. "It shouldn't be like this."
Gilbert said his trip to the meeting brought back memories of the night James made "The Decision" to take his talents to South Beach in 2010.
According to the USA TODAY Sports article, Gilbert was in Sun Valley, Idaho when he watched LeBron break up with him in "The Decision." Gilbert dashed to a computer and hammered out his infamous letter in about 45 minutes.
"There were a couple of people who tried to talk me out of it," Gilbert told Albom via phone from California. "Frankly, I didn't put it in front of enough people. It was boom-boom, put it up. That's something I've learned. When you're in an emotional state ... wait."
When the two finally were in the same room, speaking for the first time since 2010, Gilbert did what he had to do - not from a business standpoint, but from a personal one.
"First thing I said to him was, 'LeBron, you know this is true. We had five good years and one bad night. Like a marriage that's good and then one bad thing happens and you never talk to each other again.
" 'I'm just glad we're here, whether you come or not, LeBron. This has been hanging over my head.' "
According to Albom, James responded with his own contrite message, acknowledging that "The Decision" broadcast was poor form, that James did not think that out properly, either.
"I apologized and we talked and it took maybe 15 or 20 minutes. That's it. Then I said, 'Is that enough about the past?' And we started talking about the future."
Gilbert admits writing "I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER 'KING' WINS ONE(.)" ... "You can take it to the bank." was one of the more idiotic moments of his life.
But while Gilbert has been chastised - in 2010 and in 2014 - for writing the letter, what most people forget is that on the night James first returned to Cleveland as a member of the Miami Heat, a recap from The Associated Press said Gilbert received the most applause of anyone in the arena.
He simply wrote what the vast majority of Cavaliers fans were thinking and didn't have the forum to write such a critique. Cavaliers fans loved Gilbert for what he wrote - even though most of them knew James was likely to earn a title far sooner than the Cavs ever would.
Several media members were wondering in the days leading up to James' second decision how he could possibly forgive Gilbert for what Gilbert wrote in the letter. ESPN's J.A. Adande wrote that if he could, he'd ask LeBron "he could even consider compromising his values" by weighing an offer from the Cavs.
It was James, Adande argued, who quickly came out and said the racist remarks Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling made was "unacceptable for our league." And Gilbert's letter was an attack on the free-agency process James embraced.
"A return to the Cavaliers by James would be a tacit endorsement of all he rejected," Adande wrote of James.
But what Adande and most of the media criticizing Gilbert forget is that LeBron started the process by never talking to Gilbert beforehand about his decision, making the Cavs owner sit through an hour-long humiliation when he proclaimed with the whole world watching that the Cleveland Cavaliers no longer were good enough for LeBron James.
How many people - or more specifically, how many tycoons with a multimillion-dollar corporation - would have said nothing under a similar circumstance?
Gilbert came to realize his actions were wrong - even if he and an entire city thought they were right at the time. But so did LeBron.
Which leaves both sides nothing left to apologize for. To anyone.
Do you think either Dan Gilbert or LeBron James is acting out of hypocrisy in their reunion? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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