CLEVELAND — When you break a city’s heart, there is a steep price to pay. Fan forgiveness takes time, even if you are the King.
“I hate him. I don’t want him back,’’ Jason Timothy, 27, said Tuesday on the four-year anniversary of The Decision, the day LeBron James officially dumped the grittiness of Cleveland, essentially his hometown, for the sunshine of Miami, and eventually two NBA titles.
The prodigal son may soon be heading back home to the Cavaliers.
“He’s arrogant. He’s all about himself. He should have never left us, the way he left us,’’ Timothy explained at Tower City Center Mall, which is a couple of fast breaks away from Quicken Loans Arena. “The city was doing real good when he was here, and as soon as he left, it just wasn’t the same.
“When he left it was spiteful. He took off that Cavs jersey for the last time and just left.’’
LeBron jerseys were burned. His 10-story Cavs banner “We Are All Witness’’ was torn down. The Cavs have gone 97-215 without James.
Now, most Clevelanders dream of LeBron coming back to wear the Cavs’ wine and gold again. The whining would be over.
“I’m welcoming him back,’’ said Timothy’s brother, Calvin Jackson, 26. “He felt he was doing the best thing for his career, and he let it be known that he did want to come back when he was done winning some rings.’’
Such is the saga of King James and The Decision 2.0. In a city so desperate for a championship, LeBron’s legacy stokes a bonfire of opinions, even pitting brother against brother in the friendly dispute.
Everywhere you go in this city, which is home to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, LeBron is the background music. At Bobby C’s Classic Barbershop, barber Brian Warner, 49, hears it all, including from an unnamed Cavs executive who just happened to be getting his hair cut on Tuesday.
“He is the best basketball player in the world, everybody wants him back,’’ Warner said.
“With the guys we got now like Kyrie Irving and Andrew Wiggins and LeBron, that would be sick,” said 21-year-old Gary Baldwin at the Cavaliers’ Team Shop at the northeast end of the arena. “Business would skyrocket, there would be a whole LeBron section of jerseys.’’
There’s even talk Carmelo Anthony could join LeBron here.
“There is still a lot of hate, but fans will take LeBron back with open arms, but also smack him upside his head because he left,’’ said David Black, 21.
“He wants to make it right, because it wasn’t right the way he left.’’ said Zadarius Varner, 18.
“In the neighborhood, everybody hated him when he left. They were burning jerseys,’’ recalled Hasaan Niles, 23. “But now it is water under the bridge. Ohio isn’t the best place compared to Miami, but c’mon man, home is home. And it would be good for the city. We lost like $150 million when he left. For him to come back and bring that revenue back, he’d be a hero.”
“I’m not getting excited until he signs,’’ vowed Eric Schlitter, 29. “Get over yourself, LeBron. It was his right to go leave, I just don’t think he had to go on TV and drag us through the mud in the process. Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez didn’t need a TV show to leave. When it happened, I just opened up a beer and said, ‘All right, here we go.’ Basketball has never been the same in this town since.”
Added Schlitter’s friend, Tom Andreski, 24, “It was like a bad breakup with a girlfriend. You didn’t see it coming. We’re trying not to get hurt again.’’
In 1912, Life Savers candy was developed in this city by Clarence A. Crane.
In 2014, free agent LeBron James, who owns a home in nearby Akron, can be a lifesaver to Cleveland.
“For LeBron, to complete his legacy,” noted Matthew Caine, senior navigator for the classic Renaissance Hotel on the Public Square, “he needs to come back and win a bunch of games or a championship and revitalize the way people think about him here, because for four straight years he’s been booed when he’s come back, and anybody in his position would find that degrading.’’
This is the bottom line for LeBron.
“If he comes back,’’ Calvin Jackson proclaimed, “he’s got to give us a ring.’’
On that point, brother Jason agreed.
“I want to hear LeBron say he owes us a ring,” Jason said. “If he says that, I’ll rock with him.’’
If LeBron James returns home, Cleveland rocks.