Fansided

Dan Gilbert met with LeBron James face to face a week ago

By Mike Dyce

Apr 24, 2013; Independence, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert listens during a press conference naming Mike Brown (not pictured) as the new head coach of the team at Cleveland Clinic Courts. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 24, 2013; Independence, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert listens during a press conference naming Mike Brown (not pictured) as the new head coach of the team at Cleveland Clinic Courts. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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LeBron James announced his intentions to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday. One of the biggest hurdles for James was mending his relationship with owner Dan Gilbert after that scathing letter he wrote in 2010 after James announced he was going to the Heat.

It was a big part of the reason he needed to talk to his wife and mother about the decision. James said that he had a face-to-face meeting with Gilbert to clear the air and mend the relationship.

“To make the move I needed the support of my wife and my mom, who can be very tough,” James said in the piece on Sports Illustrated. “The letter from Dan Gilbert, the booing of the Cleveland fans, the jerseys being burned — seeing all that was hard for them. My emotions were more mixed. It was easy to say, “OK, I don’t want to deal with these people ever again.” But then you think about the other side. What if I were a kid who looked up to an athlete, and that athlete made me want to do better in my own life, and then he left? How would I react? I’ve met with Dan, face-to-face, man-to-man. We’ve talked it out. Everybody makes mistakes. I’ve made mistakes as well. Who am I to hold a grudge?”

So when did this meeting occur? Roughly a week ago according to Mark Schwarz in comments he made on ESPN. A week ago happens to be the Fourth of July exactly, and two days before everyone began tracking Gilbert’s plane to Miami.

“About the face-to-face meeting that LeBron James referred to with owner Dan Gilbert,” Schwarz said. “That meeting happened right here, in Miami just about a week ago today. It was a face-to-face meeting, that they got their feelings out on the table; all the thoughts and feelings and the acrimony and the bitterness on both sides.

“The meeting was both personal in nature and professional in nature. Once everyone said everything that needed to be said to one another, they got down to talking about where the organization is going to, what kind of salary cap flexibility the Cavaliers would have, what kind of players they would be able to get, Kyrie Irving’s extension, all the draft picks they’re having to give up.

“And LeBron James apparently was impressed enough.”

So was that really Gilbert on his plane headed down to Miami? Looks it might have been.

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