Well, unless you're Amish, you've probably heard by now that LeBron James is a Cavalier no longer. Yes, as LBJ put it, he is "taking his talents to South Beach" to join the Miami Heat, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Pat Riley, and a whole lot of nightlife. Given the sequence of events over the last few days, the last few weeks, heck ever since Game 5 of the Celtics' series, it doesn't surprise me a great deal. The destination? That surprises the heck out of me. The leaving part? It was going to happen eventually; LeBron is no Reggie Miller or Derek Jeter. The television spectacle? That's the part that makes me a LeBron fan no more. In trying to be as civil as possible less than 24 hours removed, here are my thoughts about what will go down as one of the top two darkest days in Cleveland sports history (in contention with the Browns moving to Baltimore).

The 9-year-old Kirk is having a hard time understanding this.

I tell him, "You know the Cavs? The lowly, mediocre, all-too-predicatable Cavs?  The team that you love despite that mediocrity? Well, they're going to really be something right around the time you go through high school and college." Unconvinced, yet intrigued, the younger me begs for further details. "The summer after your freshman year of high school, they're going to draft a local kid, a high schooler with ferocious dunking ability and an uncanny gift of sharing the basketball. They call him 'King James', and he's going to save the franchise from a near-move from the city. They'll re-tool their uniforms, you'll start calling them the Cavaliers, and they will pay homage to the past with a wine and gold color scheme. You know that skinny, awkward, pimple faced Lithuanian the Cavs drafted last summer? Well, he's going to become your favorite player, the franchise's pillar. Together with this King fellow, they'll bring the franchise its first conference championship in team history! Their embrace at the pinnacle of celebration will be your computer background for years. Cleveland will have the most wins in the league for two straight seasons, over 60 in each! The team will sell out for two years straight, the fan base will come alive like never before, and they will have an owner who spends money and is committed to winning like no one in Cleveland ever before. Cleveland will become a name to be reckoned with in the NBA!"

"That all sounds amazing!" nine-year-old me replies, "so why do you have such a sad look on your face?"

I hesitate, "I don't know how to tell you this, but you know how the city of Miami just ripped your heart out as their still-green Marlins defeated the Tribe in the World Series? Well, that city's going to strike again. They take away the King, and the franchise is never the same."

"WHY!", shrieks my younger self, "Did they not give him enough money? Did he not get everything he wanted? Were they still winning games? There's got to be some reason."

As tears fill his eyes, I go on, "They could pay him more than any team, he got everything his heart desired in Cleveland, and yes, they were still winning games, his last two years in Cleveland were the team's best two seasons in franchise history. The only reason he gave us is that Miami provided a better place to win multiple championships. He joined forces with this Flash fellow who already has one and a modern-day dinosaur from up north who's not as good as he thinks he is. He says they've all wanted to play together for years."

"But isn't that sort of taking the easy way out? Shouldn't the King be able to do it without Flash and the dinosaur fellow?"

"Yes, he should, but he doesn't even believe in himself anymore. It looked like he basically quit on his team in the fifth game of the last series, an abysmal 32-point blowout at home. He wants a ring so bad, that he doesn't care how he gets it. His brand, his legacy, his chance to be among the greatest of all time is ruined. It would've been less trouble if he had bought a ring off eBay. In short, he is a 2-time MVP winner who is afraid of the moment, with the cards laid on the table, he wants someone else to make the tough calls."

"How did he break the news to the Cavs and their fans?", the downtrodden youth asks.

"That's the worst part!", I shout. "He did it on NATIONAL TELEVISION in an hour-long glamor pageant that was all about him! It would've been bad enough for him to leave anyway, but the way he did it makes me never want to root for him again, never wish anything positive for him for the rest of his sleazy, over-publicized life. Not once did he apologize to the city of Cleveland for leaving them like *that*, or in a heartfelt way thank them for all the good times, all the sellouts, all the times they came to his defense against opposing forces and national pundits, all the support."

"That's low."

"The lowest."

"So, what can I do about it?"

"My advice to you is to enjoy the ride while you're on it. Watch every Cavaliers' games, especially the last four years. Live and die with them, start a website, make some of the greatest friends of your life through this team, embrace this team for all that it is, celebrate your tail off when they win the Eastern Conference, savor it, because it's the greatest and farthest the Cavaliers will get with the King."

"And when it's over...?"

"When it's over, try to handle yourself with dignity. Your life is so tied to these teams, maybe too much, definitely too much. It's going to crush you and give you a pain like you've never felt before in your life. However, keep it in perspective. You've had a pretty good life so far. A family that loves you, many loyal friends, working toward a college degree, a strong faith in God, pretty good health, and you've never had to truly go without anything vital in your life. There's a lot of people in this world hurting over a lot more important things than a basketball team an hour to the east."

Perhaps that's a little bit of a corny way to get out some of my emotions, but hey, it's my website. Here's a couple other things that I need to say.

• I love Dan Gilbert for his all-out assault of LeBron James's integrity late last night, but I have mixed emotions about the future. If Gilbert commits to the team longterm and rebuilds, yes rebuilds, the right way, this team can be successful again, maybe even win it all. Maybe. But, he can't try to hold onto the playoff appearances for the next couple of years to do it. Instead, the team should keep the cap room it has now, find quick, young guards who can push the ball to Byron Scott's liking, and get two lottery picks the next two seasons. Hopefully, you get two guys to build around and can acquire a third and role players via free agency with the cap space (or trades). Back to the statement, for those who say it hurts Cleveland's chances of landing a big free agent ever again, I disagree. Those chances are already so low that DG likely did no discernible damage, plus 29 NBA cities and pretty much the whole nation outside of South Beach see LeBron as LeScumbag now anyway and will permit Gilbert some leeway.

• Who's the real villain in all of this? Chris Bosh. If Bosh had agreed to come to Cleveland, him and LBJ could and would have formed a perennial contender and won an NBA championship. Instead, he chose Miami and did enough convincing along with Wade to get LBJ down there. Is Miami the best place to win a title now and in the future? Maybe not, it could just as well be Chicago, but I do know in my heart of hearts it wasn't Cleveland, not without a legit number two. That doesn't mean I don't think the team could've waited two years for cap room and signed Chris Paul or some other big name to give LeBron the help and the ring he craves. However, as it currently stands, Cleveland wasn't the most attractive option.

• Danny Ferry did everything he could to keep LeBron here, and ultimately, it's what did the team in. The Cavaliers' commitment to winning was not good enough, their trade for Jamison ultimately tying them up too much to make them players for another key free agent. In short, LeBron's failure to commit longterm made the team have to gamble at every short-term option that presented itself instead of waiting for the ultimate right move, the best move they could make. Ferry made a lot of very good moves, but no great ones with the handcuffs slapped on him by LeEgo.

• You could tell that LeBron didn't realize the ramifications of his special until he actually had to force the words "South Beach" and "Miami Heat" out of his mouth. James looked like a robot, very little emotion, even less comfort. This coming from a guy who has flourished in front of the camera for years on a daily basis. He even interrupted his announcement with, "this is very tough". He still doesn't realize fully what he's done, and he won't for many years. Trust me, he'll live to regret this decision, even if he does win a ring or two in Miami. He'll always be one ring behind Wade and a distant second at best in his generation behind Kobe.  He can't live here in Northeast Ohio anymore, either he'll have to sell his house or airlift it piece by piece down to Florida. People won't leave him alone, I can guarantee that. He'll need to have his own national guard to just go out and get a bite to eat. Heck, if I were him, I would skip the two games in Cleveland next year, for the safety of him, his teammates, and Cleveland fans and anyone in downtown. His 23 will remain unretired for as long as Dan Gilbert's the owner. Z instead will go into the rafters alone whereas the two would've likely gone in next to each other someday.

• Where do the Cavs go from here? Well, with a lineup of Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Antawn Jamison, and Anderson Varejao or J.J. Hickson, you're going to be hard pressed to make the playoffs. So, the best thing to do is not to hold onto mediocrity, embrace the rebuild, do things the right way, and hope that a couple of these guys (like Andy and J.J.) will be around for the renaissance.

• For now, we're left to pick up the pieces of the crown that our King shed, deserting his kingdom to become an apprentice, an advisor, a jack, an assistant in someone else's kingdom. My only suggestion is to not let the action of the last couple of weeks taint the magical seven years we had with LeBron. Put them behind glass so you can look upon them with fond memories and recall the height of Cavaliers' basketball.

Finally, never give up the hope that someday, someday soon, we'll be celebrating a real live pro sports championship in Cleveland, and LeTraitor, LeSellout, LeBenedict, LeLoser, LeBum, LeCopout, LePrince will wish he was in on it.

All for one. One for all.

Kirk

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