LeBron James‘ return to Cleveland Thursday is going to be the most-hyped NBA regular-season game since Michael Jordan came out of retirement.
You’ll be watching, I’ll be watching, everyone who cares remotely about basketball — and many who don’t — will turn on their televisions for the moment when LeBron’s name is announced as a member of the Miami Heat starting five. For months, the city of Cleveland has percolated in a stew of hate, marinated its distaste for LeBron amidst a long, hot summer on through fall and now into winter’s fringe. At long last this will be the Cleveland’s chance to unleash hell upon LeBron, not just for “The Decision” he made but for how he made it.
In ancient days most kings didn’t survive their decapitations. Well, King James survived his. Now he’ll get to see what life after sporting death is like.
In May, I tried to put LeBron’s departure into context for Cleveland, what losing him would mean to the collective self-worth of the city. The result was this list of the 11 most debilitating departures in sports history. I tried to take into account the age of the athlete, the dominance he had in the sport, how much the city wrapped itself in the athlete’s mantle as part of the city’s collective DNA. The result? LeBron’s departure ranked second on that list of most crushing sports departures of all-time, just behind Wayne Gretzky.
So now that LeBron’s going back home again, I wondered where this return ranked as a seminal moment in sports returns. After all, athlete returns are complicated. Sometimes they’re acrimonious, sometimes joyous, always they’re emotional. With that in mind, how does King James’ return to the kingdom he once ruled compare to other memorable returns in sports?
Here’s one man’s best efforts at the 11 memorable players, teams, or coaches returning to the place they once called home.
Even though Thomas Wolfe long ago let us know that you can’t home again, that doesn’t mean we don’t try to in the world of sports.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS COMPAL ELECTRONICS COSMOTE MOBILE TELECOM DLINK DIGITAL CHINA HOLDINGS DIRECTV GROUP ELPIDA MEMORY