12.03.2010

LeBron Returns To Cleveland Gets Boo'd And Bust's Ass, Miami Wins 118 to 90

The NY Daily News reports:

CLEVELAND - Final score from Quicken Loans Arena: Cleveland Cavalier fans 385, LeBron James 0.

And it wasn't that close.

They sold beer only by the cup, for security reasons, but it was Bring Your Own Insult Night Thursday night when James made his first trip into the lion's den since quitting on his home-area team and leaving for South Beach last July.

They'll always feel jilted here. They'll always curse "The Decision."
"It's almost like your ex-girlfriend coming to your wedding," said the Cavs' Mo Williams, who used to be close to James, but not anymore.

With security extra tight, it was anything but a wedding celebration, or a coronation for the player they once referred to here as "the King."

Over the course of an evening that shaped up as Cleveland's playoff game for the season, he heard 385 rounds of insults, derisive chants and boos. Unofficially. That doesn't count all the derogatory messages on signs and T-shirts.

"Akron hates you!" was one of the loudest chants from the sellout crowd.

Yeah, it got personal, to no one's surprise.

They also chanted, "De-lonte," mocking the alleged fling that James' mother, Gloria, had with Delonte West, a Cavalier teammate last season.

They showered him with "Scot-tie Pip-pen," referencing his new role as the No. 2 star to Dwyane Wade's Michael Jordan.

Through it all, James wasn't fazed in the least, as he poured in 38 points in the Heat's 118-90 victory.

For all the fears that some idiot would do something stupid to try to hurt James, he was never once in harm's way.

For LeBron, the crowd was way tougher than the Cavs, who went belly up early in the third quarter, allowing James to sit out the entire fourth quarter.

When the final horn sounded, he walked over to hug the Cavs' Jawad Williams and was soon asked if he wanted to apologize to Cleveland for his infamous departure.

"I don't want to apologize," he said. "I always say that I'll live with the decisions that I make. At the end of the day, I'll live with my decisions."

You didn't think he'd say otherwise, did you? He could never admit that he made a mistake. Not that Cleveland would ever forgive him, either. The Cavs' owner, Dan Gilbert, reportedly has hired a law firm to investigate Miami for possible tampering. Wherever that leads, James and Cleveland are on the outs for good, judging from the fans' hostile reception.

One of the most popular T-shirts read, "The Lyin' King," with James' face drawn on the front in the same design as "The Lion King." In one row of seats, eight fans each wore one huge black letter on a plain white T-shirt. Standing from left to right, their letters spelled out B-E-T-R-A-Y-E-D.

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