Pat Riley, Miami Heat release statement on LeBron James deicison

LeBron James announced his intentions to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, returning home to northeast Ohio. That leaves the Miami Heat in the exact same spot that the Cavaliers were in four years ago when he decided to bring his talents to South Beach.

The first person in the Heat organization to comment was owner Micky Arison, who kept it short on Twitter.

The Miami Heat followed with a simple, elegant and classy tweet.

Riley then commented with another statement that was filled with class.

“While I am disappointed by LeBron’s decision to leave Miami, no one can fault another person for wanting to return home. The last four years have been an incredible run for South Florida, HEAT fans, our organization and for all of the players who were a part of it,” Riley said in the statement.

“LeBron is a fantastic leader, athlete, teammate and person, and we are all sorry to see him go.

“Over the last 19yrs, since Micky and I teamed together, The Miami HEAT has always been a championship organization; we’ve won multiple championships and competed for many others. Micky, Erik and I remain committed to doing whatever it takes to win and compete for championships for many years to come. We’ve proven that we can do it and we’ll do it again.”

It is safe to say that the Miami Heat have handled this much better than the Cavaliers when LeBron first left.

Be sure to stay tuned to FanSided.com throughout the remainder of the NBA Free Agency period for the latest news, rumors and signings from around the league.