LeBron: Returning to Cavs Would Be "Great Story"
Just weeks after watching jilted Cleveland fans burn his jersey in the streets, LeBron James said that he could still play for the Cavaliers again one day.
"If there was an opportunity for me to return and those fans welcome me back, that'd be a great story," James told GQ Magazine's J.R. Moehringer. "Maybe the ones burning my jersey were never LeBron fans anyway."
Last month, in his nationally televised, much-maligned "Decision," James announced he would be joining the Miami Heat, leaving some Cleveland residents devastated, others irate. The Akron-born James tells GQ he has a long and complicated history with the city.
"Clevelanders, because they were the bigger-city kids when we were growing up, looked down on us," said James, who rooted for the Chicago Bulls as a kid. "So we didn't actually like Cleveland. We hated Cleveland growing up. There's a lot of people in Cleveland we still hate to this day."
In the article, James also responds to his most vocal critic - Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who blasted the superstar free agent in an open letter to Cleveland fans.
"I don't think he ever cared about LeBron," James said. "My mother always told me: 'You will see the light of people when they hit adversity. You'll get a good sense of their character.' Me and my family have seen the character of that man."
James added that Gilbert's tirade "made me feel more comfortable that I made the right decision."
In the article, James also takes issue with former NBA star and current TV analyst Charles Barkley, who has slammed James for choosing to join a team with two other big names - Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.
"Charles was probably trying to be funny," James told GQ. "It wasn't funny to me."
In the end, James says he would change "nothing at all" about his decision or how he handled the announcement. He says he stands behind his move - and so do the people closest to him.
"They're happy to see my happy. That's what they can see in my face," he said. "They say, 'It's been awhile since we've seen you look like that.'"
James graces the cover of GQ's September issue.