Cleveland won't bring out the welcome mat when LeBron James and the Miami Heat visit tonight at Quicken Loans Arena. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
In case you haven’t heard LeBron James is returning to the lion’s den tonight, also known as The Q.
James and his battered and beleaguered Miami Heat squad will face a blood-thirsty crowd that will unleash their anger and hatred on their former favorite son, who basically left the franchise for dead in favor of a better life in South Beach.
Cavs fans have been waiting for this moment since the night when LeBron told the world that he’s “taking his talents to South Beach.” The city of Cleveland, and for the entire state of Ohio for that matter, felt like a jilted housewife who just found out that her husband is moving in with a younger and sexier woman. Wouldn’t you be upset if that were you? I would.
It was bad enough that James left the Cavaliers for another team, but the way he embarrassed them on national TV made it ultra worse. Did he really have to go on ESPN and announced that he was leaving Cleveland? Bad decision, Bron. Bad decision. Had he done it in a more subtle way, he may have salvaged his relationship with some fans. Now, ALL THE FANS want his head on a silver platter and feed it to the lions.
If I were LeBron, I would skip his little powder routine because it would literally cause a riot inside the arena.
Expect the Cavaliers and owner Dan Gilbert, who slapped the White-Man-From-Town-Curse on LeBron shortly after he skipped town, to pull out all the stops tonight to make their former King really, really uncomfortable. This game is Cleveland’s NBA Finals and Super Bowl combined. The Cavs could care less if they lose the rest of their games as long as they win this one.
Mo Williams said that the Cavs are not only playing for Cleveland, but they’re playing for all basketball fans who despise the Heat. Daniel “Boobie” Gibson admitted that, even though he considers LeBron a friend, he will go at LeBron hard tonight. Not sure how Boobie is going to go at LeBron, but we’ll take his word for it.
Here’s how I see this night unfolding:
— As soon as LeBron steps on the court, he will feel the wrath of 20,000 angry Clevelanders, who will boo him like Philly fans booed Santa Claus. He’ll get booed even when he’s sitting on the bench. Heck, they may boo him when he goes to the restroom.
— LeBron will struggle shooting early and the Cavaliers will come out fired up and take a lead in the first quarter, taking advantage of dead legs from the Heat, who played the night before.
— Anderson Varejao will record a double-double in this game and will outplay Chris Bosh.
— Mo Williams will play out of his mind.
— The Heat will make a game of it as Dwyane Wade will carry his buddy LeBron for much of the night.
— But in the end, the Cavs will feed off the high energy from their fans and will come out victorious.