Open Letter to Fans from Cavaliers Majority Owner Dan Gilbert

Dear Cleveland, All Of Northeast Ohio and Cleveland Cavaliers Supporters Wherever You May Be Tonight;

As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.

This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his "decision" unlike anything ever "witnessed" in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.

Clearly, this is bitterly disappointing to all of us.

The good news is that the ownership team and the rest of the hard-working, loyal, and driven staff over here at your hometown Cavaliers have not betrayed you nor NEVER will betray you.

There is so much more to tell you about the events of the recent past and our more than exciting future. Over the next several days and weeks, we will be communicating much of that to you.

You simply don't deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.

You have given so much and deserve so much more.

In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight:

"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.

If you thought we were motivated before tonight to bring the hardware to Cleveland, I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our "motivation" to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels.

Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there.

Sorry, but that's simply not how it works.

This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown "chosen one" sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And "who" we would want them to grow-up to become.

But the good news is that this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called "curse" on Cleveland, Ohio.

The self-declared former "King" will be taking the "curse" with him down south. And until he does "right" by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.

Just watch.

Sleep well, Cleveland.

Tomorrow is a new and much brighter day....

I PROMISE you that our energy, focus, capital, knowledge and experience will be directed at one thing and one thing only:

DELIVERING YOU the championship you have long deserved and is long overdue....






Dan Gilbert
Majority Owner
Cleveland Cavaliers

@kingjames

Looks like LeBron is trying to out Favre, Brett Favre. Once we got that whole NBA championship thing out of the way, it was all about King James. I'm not sure the NBA draft even happened. LeBron has been done with his free agent meetings since Saturday, but he's been busy.

Have you been to LeBronJames.com recently?

The launch date is nearing for the online home of LeBron James and you can put yourself on the guest list!

Personally directed by LeBron, the new site will keep you up to speed on his actions off the court, his focus on strengthening the community and why “It will always be about more than basketball”.

It will be interesting to see if there's a comment section on this website. Though even more recently King James has joined twitter. His account, which has been verified, is http://www.twitter.com/kingjames. LeBron already has a staggering 207,000+ followers. In his first and only tweet he mentions Chris Paul got him to sign up.

Hello World, the Real King James is in the Building "Finally". My Brother @oneandonlycp3 gas'd me up to jump on board so I'm here. Haaaa

Tuesday night the following was reported on ESPN.com.

LeBron James is planning to announce the team with which he will sign during a one-hour special on ESPN Thursday night, ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard has learned through independent sources.

ESPN would only confirm that active discussions for the special are ongoing. But sources tell Broussard that representatives for James contacted the network, proposing that James makes his announcement during a 9 p.m. ET special.

How does ESPN learn something about ESPN from independent sources? Regardless, at 8 p.m. local time this "primetime special" will air. I'm left pondering what kind of content will drive this hour. Plus, if he picks Cleveland I want an hour of my life back.

World Wide Wes

William "World Wide Wes" Wesley put in his two cents about the Lebron James free agency saga. Luckily for Chicago Bulls fans, Wesley's two cents are worth a lot since he is considered to be the most influential person in the NBA. The man behind everything in the basketball world said in a quote Friday, "He's up out of there(Cleveland)" saying that all of Lebron's inner circle already knows the decision. The Yahoo article also said, "We're going to Chicago, and Chris Bosh is coming to." It's all a possibility, due to the trade of Kirk Hinrich the Bulls have two max contracts to offer so in a perfect world, James and Bosh will be calling Chicago home in about a week and a half. In the end, unfortunately, only one person knows what #23 (uh make that #6) will be doing next year. In the meantime, tune in to A Case of the Mondays on sportstownchicago.com for all your Lebron Watch updates. Every Monday from 11am to 1 pm!

Captain Kirk to the Wizards!

Kirk Hinrich and the 2010 17th overall pick were dealt for what's rumored to be a future 2nd round pick. As long as the Bulls play their cards right, it could go down as one of the best trades in franchise history. Remember coming into the 2009/10 season when we were all worried that we couldn't afford one max free agent? Exporting Salmons mid-season began the dream. Now the Bulls have positioned themselves to go after not one, but two free agents from the dream class.

While LeBron is the prize--even if the Bulls wound up with lets say a Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson. That's a better team than either of them plus Hinrich, but let's not kid ourselves. We want LeBron and he should want us. Wherever he decides to go he'll be paid well, but he needs rings to secure his legacy. The one thing teams like New York and Miami had over Chicago was more cap space. They could sign LeBron and another free agent of his choosing. Would that be enough to win it all? Previously the Bulls could counter pitch that with having a great core in place, and being closer to a championship.

While the Bulls were the smart option before. Now they have to be the only choice. Who knows? Maybe the Bulls aren't done. The rumored Deng to the Magic deal doesn't seem to be picking up steam. I'd still like to see that contract moved. Bottom line it's a great day for Bulls fans. It seems like it's only a matter of time before the King arrives.