Cavs Owner Pulls the I-Didn’t-Hear-You Routine When Asked About LeBron’s Dramatic 2010 Exit

Sports fans everywhere will remember the infamous “Decision” in 2010. The primetime ESPN special was an entire hour-long live broadcast devoted to LeBron James announcing that he would be leaving his hometown Ohio to, “…take my talents to South Beach.”

It was a devastating blow to the Northeast Ohio community; the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers Dan Gilbert published a hilariously embarrassing good riddance open letter about James — written entirely in Comic Sans — blasting the Ohio native to the entire Cavs fanbase. “You simply don’t deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal,” wrote Gilbert, going as far as to make one sweeping declarative statement that is as sad in hindsight as it is funny:

“I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE”

Flash forward to Father’s Day 2016, and the Comic Sans letter that was anything but sans comedy seems like a world away. James is back in Ohio and his Cavs are world champs after winning Sunday night’s decisive Game 7, and the opportunity to ask Gilbert about James’ 2010 exit from Ohio was too good for ESPN’s Doris Burke to pass up.

During the postgame celebration at midcourt, Burke asked Gilbert about the journey that the fans in the city of Cleveland took to reach this pinnacle, 52 years after the city’s last big win. “When LeBron left in the fashion he did after the first time,” Burke asked, referring to his 2010 exit, “could you ever have envisioned him returning and fulfilling this dream?”

Gilbert’s answer? Priceless, and the exact sort of bob-and-weave you’d expect from the Comic Sans genius sweeping every inch of imaginable dust right under the rug, standing inches from the man he once ripped as a, “shameful display of selfishness and betrayal“:

“I couldn’t hear you exactly Doris, but all I know is no group deserves this more, no fan base deserves this more. And I’m speechless and proud of everybody. It’s like a fantasy for everybody.”

For the record, Gilbert seemed to hear all the other questions just fine. I guess all’s well that ends well when you’re on top.

Watch the above clip from ABC.

__
J.D. Durkin (@jiveDurkey) is an editorial producer and columnist at Mediaite.
[image via screengrab]

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.