On July 8, 2010, LeBron James announced on a live ESPN special where he would play as a free agent. “This fall, I’m going to take my talents to South Beach,” he said. He left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. The program was called The Decision.
In Cleveland, fans burned his No. 23 jerseys in the streets. Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers, called James’s decision a “heartless and callous action.” James later returned to Cleveland and won the city a championship.
To many fans it felt like betrayal. Yet James had done what free agency allows.