People of Cleveland listen to me. You have the opportunity this week to do something truly remarkable. Something no other fan base has ever done. Something unprecedented. When your prodigal son returns on Thursday to play basketball in your arena, please, please don’t show up. I’m not saying this is any way to protect him, I’m saying it to prevent him from getting precisely what he wants.
Sure, you can show up and boo. And hoo. And wave your signs. Permissible ones that is. And wear your jerseys with knives in the back of them. Or whatever charred remains of them are still wearable. And you can shout. And scream. And wave your arms behind the back-board. You can yell mean things from the upper deck. You can chant clever, cutting two or three word phrases. You can do all that, but who really cares? If you want to do something that will really hurt, don’t show up.
If there’s one thing Lebron James has made abundantly clear it’s that he loves the lemon-light. Limes are reserved for winners. He loves a spectacle. And this game on Thursday will be just that. If you make it. You’ll be playing right into his hand. But if he walks out, and the cameras turn on, and it’s an absolutely empty arena, now that would be a bad-ass statement. The Chosen One returns to no witnesses. The King with no clothes on.
An empty arena would say we’ve turned our backs on the guy who turned his on us. It would say we just don’t care. It would say, screw you; we’ve got better things to worry about. We’re over it. The thing that scares Lebron James is not some fan yelling from the fourth row. Or some idiot throwing his nachos at him. Or shooting 3 for 14. The thing that really terrifies him is the same thing that has terrified every narcissist since the beginning of time—irrelevance.
And you have the unique opportunity to afflict him with just that. The Miami Thrice have been doing their best on the court to make themselves irrelevant, a middle of the pack team, but they’re still the biggest thing in basketball. Everyone wants to see them play. Everyone wants to root against them. So showing up and doing just that makes you the same as everyone else, Cleveland. Staying home and greeting them with silence, that would be something special.
Turn your backs on the guy who turned his on you. Don’t require extra security. Don’t be denied by censorship. Don’t drive ratings through the roof. Don’t be a part and a pawn in this passion play that TNT is selling special ad prices for. Do something different. Do something authentic. Do something that that sends a definitive message. Do something that will actually resonate. Deny everyone, TNT, the media, Lebron James exactly what they want. A show.
Listen, I don’t want to overdo the significance of this whole situation. An athlete is just an athlete. Sports is just sports. I don’t want to be dramatic. But what Lebron James did to you just wasn’t right. And you need to come up with an appropriate response. Something that will actually cut deep. The world’s biggest no-show. The most public standing up. What hurts more, when a former lover leaves a mean message, or simply moves on? Think about it Cleveland.
Cleveland you are a blue-collar, Brown-coated, blood-clotted, beer-chugging, bloody-knuckle bunch of folk. You are a proud, yet picked upon people. And this week you have the opportunity to do something truly memorable. Don’t be a part of the same old song and dance. Don’t play your pre-ordained role. When Lebron James returns on Thursday to play basketball in your arena, do exactly what he did to you. Walk away.
