Cavaliers’ LeBron James recounts meeting with Dan Gilbert

Presumably LeBron James’ meeting with Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert to mend their relationship in July played a role in James’ decision to sign with the Cavs this summer.

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For the first time, James has spoken about the meeting that helped changed the NBA landscape for the next decade.

In an interview with CNN (transcribed by ballerstatus.com):

"It was a straight-forward conversation, no beating around the bush. He basically said, “No matter what decision you make, we wanted to clear the air to where we can– if we see each other in public, we can always shake each other’s hand and look at the fun times we had in Cleveland when we were together.”"

While James tries to frame this in a way that makes it appear as if Gilbert simply wanted to fix his relationship with James, regardless of if the superstar signed with Cleveland or not, it’s difficult to believe this is true. We all saw what Gilbert did the last time James didn’t choose him.

The fact of the matter is that Gilbert approached that meeting knowing he had to say whatever would make James happy if he wanted LeBron back. So Gilbert apologized and talked about the “fun times” the two had the last time James was in Cleveland.

One has to give Gilbert credit for making James feel that he was truly sorry. If he didn’t, James very well could still be living in South Beach.

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