Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert Defines Life With LeBron James

LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time in his professional career, but Dan Gilbert isn’t even mad at him. LeBron left the team to join the Los Angeles Lakers and signed a four-year deal with Jeanie Buss’ team. Magic Johnson brought him to Los Angeles, but he resigned  a few weeks ago.

Let’s go back to Gilbert. The Cavs owner spoke with The Plain Dealer’s Terry Pluto about several topics related to the team, including Koby Altman’s hire and Kyrie Irving’s trade. When asked about LeBron, he was pretty honest.

“With LeBron, there was a limited shelf life in terms of his age and his contract commitment,” Gilbert said. “It’s a ‘win now at all costs’ … It all revolves around the sun, which is him. Whatever pressure comes with it, it worked out. We won a title.”

LeBron helped the team win their only title. He returned from Miami and brought the Cavs to the NBA Finals.

Fans found out that Gilbert’s relationship with LeBron was actually rocky. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst wrote about it before LeBron’s departure.

“This is all a whirlwind around LeBron James vs. the Cavs’ front office, which is to say it’s about James vs. owner Dan Gilbert.

“James (11 points, 3-of-10 from the field) is completely dispirited. Never before in his career has he played like this. Maybe on the occasional midseason evening he has been less than energetic — in the past, he has called it ‘chill mode’ — but never like this.

“Then the Cavs look back and point out James will not commit to them past this season. Point out they tried to get him another star when coming to the brink of a deal for George last summer but stopped when James declined to commit to the franchise. They point out that they have the highest payroll in the NBA and are paying a hideously painful repeater luxury tax. That the team lost $18 million last season because it spent $25 million on luxury taxes.”

Gilbert paid tribute to No. 23 upon LeBron’s contract with the Lakers. The king’s second departure wasn’t as bad as the first one. “Unless someone has at least verbally committed, you had to assume that could happen,” the Cavs owner said. “We were better prepared this time around.”