Goodbye, any pretense of civility from the abandoned Cleveland Cavaliers.
LeBron James will join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and play for the Miami Heat, the back-to-back MVP announced Thursday during a one-hour special on ESPN.
OPEN LETTER: Cavs owner Gilbert blasts LeBron
PHOTO GALLERY: LeBron James in pictures
CLEVELAND CURSE?: LeBron adds to list of sports traumas
GAME ON!: Coverage as the announcement happened
"This is going to give me the best opportunity to win and win for multiple seasons," he said. "I want to be able to win championships, and I feel like I can compete down there. ... All three of us will take less money" to make that happen.
James, subdued when he revealed his decision, left the Cavaliers and northeast Ohio stunned. "I never wanted to leave Cleveland, and my heart will always be around that area," the Akron native said.
Heat fans celebrated on Miami Beach, where Wade watched on TV. "It's going to be crazy," he said.
James establishes the Heat as villains in 29 other cities — the NBA's version of the New York Yankees— but especially in Cleveland, Chicago and New York, where the Cavaliers, Bulls and Knicks thought they had the best chance.
Miami, the fifth seed in the East playoffs last season, faces financial decisions, primarily how to fill out the roster. Only Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley are under contract, and Beasley might be traded.
James gets a five-year deal and said he had no issue joining Wade, who won a title with Miami in 2006.
"For me it's not about sharing," James said. "It's about everyone having their own spotlight and doing what's best for the team."
This punch to Cleveland's gut really hurts. And Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert let James have it, but good.
Long-suffering Cleveland sports fans hurt so much that some threw rocks at the 10-story-tall billboard featuring James with his head tossed back and arms pointing skyward. Some burned his old Cavaliers No. 23 jersey.
Gilbert burned him with these words: "As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.
"This was announced with a several-day, narcissistic, self-promotional buildup culminating with a national TV special of his 'decision' unlike anything ever 'witnessed' in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment."
Gilbert expressed the perpetual sports angst the city has experienced since 1964, the last time a major professional Cleveland franchise claimed a championship —Jim Brown's NFL-winning Browns. Cleveland fans even lived through the loss of their NFL franchise, when owner Art Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore and renamed them the Ravens for the 1996 season.
This hurts almost as much. James was Ohio's own, the favorite son who jumped from high school to the NBA, destined to bring a title to Cleveland. It didn't happen.
Gilbert went on, saying in a phone interview with the Associated Press late Thursday night that James "quit" during the this year's playoffs and should be accountable for his actions.
Gilbert, who posted a letter to Cavs fans on the team's website shortly after James announced he plans to sign with Miami, tells the AP late Thursday night that he feels "personally betrayed" by James and that it's "accountability time." Gilbert added "people have covered up for (James) for way too long. Tonight we saw who he really is."
James forgoes roughly $30 million by not re-signing with the Cavs. But with Florida residency he will benefit from no state income tax on his salary, endorsements and dividend income. Cleveland, though, probably will feel financial pain. In 2003, James' rookie season, Forbes estimated the Cavaliers' worth at $298 million. In Forbes' most recent valuations in December, it was $476 million.
"There's going to be a dramatic economic impact on the city and perhaps the state. ... People could lose jobs," veteran player agent David Falk said of downtown businesses hurt if attendance drops.
Jim Connell, a manager at Flannery's Pub two blocks from Quicken Loans Arena, cut to the core: "It's more of a psychological disappointment."
Meanwhile, the teams in contention to attract James obviously were let down.
• "We are disappointed that LeBron James did not pick the New York Knicks, but we respect his decision," Knicks president Donnie Walsh said.
• "Fortunately, we have more than one plan to reach success, and, as I have found in all areas of my business, that is key to achieving it," New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said.
• Bulls general manager Gar Forman said their strategy "for the future competitiveness of this organization did not begin or end with James. ... It is our goal to keep exploring every avenue that it may take, whether through trades or free agency, to continue to build this team to compete at a championship level."
Now the Heat have a power trio that could rock the league for years to come.
"I can't say it was always in my plans, because I never thought it was possible," said James, who wrestled with his decision for weeks. "But the things that the Miami Heat franchise have done, to free up cap space and be able to put themselves in a position this summer to have all three of us, it was hard to turn down.
"Those are two great players, two of the greatest players that we have in this game today."
Olympic teammates four years ago in Beijing, James, Bosh and Wade all helped deliver gold medals while playing for the USA.
This time, the superstars will pursue another gold prize — an NBA trophy — the one Wade got in 2006, the one that James and Bosh have yet to touch.
Cleveland fans, so accustomed to disappointment, have been let down again — this time, by one of their own sons.
"I can't get involved in that," James said. "I wanted to do what was best for LeBron James ... At the end of the day, I feel awful. I feel even worse that I wasn't able to bring an NBA championship to that city. I never wanted to leave Cleveland. My heart will always be around that area. But I also felt like this is the greatest challenge for me, is to move on."
James' decision ends nearly two years of posturing and positioning by teams hoping to add the 6-foot-8, 260-pound physical force of nature to their roster. He famously announced at New York's Madison Square Garden in November of 2008 that "July 1, 2010, is going to be a big day."
He wasn't kidding. When the clock struck 12:01 a.m. last Thursday, a free-agent frenzy unlike any before it — in any professional sport — got underway with the enough speculation, rumor and second-by-second intrigue to last a lifetime.
Wade has shared the spotlight in the Heat locker room before, doing so when O'Neal was there for the 2006 title run. James said that if not for Wade being willing to make this megadeal happen, the trio wouldn't be together.
"D-Wade, he's the unselfish guy here," James said. "To be able to have Chris Bosh and LeBron James, to welcome us to his team, it's not about an individual here.
"It's about a team."
Contributing: Staff, wire reports
File photo of .  
NBA small forward  announced today that he will "take his talents to South Beach and join the ," after spending six years as the star player for the . Anticipation over LeBron's future team had been simmering for weeks as NBA teams tried to lure the free agent to their rosters. LeBron had met with representatives from the Cavaliers, Heat, , , , and .

In an interview televised by , James said that the Heat would give him "the best opportunity to win now and to win in the future also." However, James admitted, "I can't say it was always in my plans, because I never thought it was possible," and that he had changed his mind repeatedly in the days leading up to the announcement. He emphasized, "It's not about individuals. It's about a team." James also said in the interview that "the things that the Miami Heat franchise have done, to free up cap space and be able to put themselves in a position this summer to have all three of us, it was hard to turn down. Those are two great players ( and ), two of the greatest players that we have in this game today."

Referring to his fans in Ohio, James said, "They can have mixed emotions, of course," and that his hometown of  in the state will "always be home for me."

Though Cleveland had offered James more money, to James and new teammates Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, winning seemed to be more important. Both Wade and Bosh settled for less cash, instead fitting James into Miami's salary cap space.

Wade had announced Wednesday that he would be continuing to play in Miami, while Bosh decided to move to Florida from the . The three were drafted in 2003 and were teammates in the 2008 US Olympic basketball team. Wade said that playing with James and Bosh was "going to be crazy," while Bosh , "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa





































" Fans in Miami honked horns outside the Heat's home arena, while television images from Cleveland showed LeBron James's jerseys being burned. Prior to the announcement, amid rumors that James would sign with the Heat, Heat season tickets had sold out.