When LeBron James said this…
LEBRON: "This fall, I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat."
…This was the reaction from Cavs fans at the Harry Buffalo.
(crowd yells)
The bar is just feet from Quicken Loans Arena. Matt Neiheisel drove from Youngstown to be there.
NEIHEISEL: “It’s so hard to talk. I’m ready to shed tears.”
LeBron was supposed to bring a championship to this hard luck city. Now, he’s dead to fans like Salvatore Ross.
ROSS: "LeBron’s an idiot. He’s pompous. He wants the spotlight. Miami is the perfect place for him."
Outside on the sidewalk, Clevelander Jason Lemieux hugged and consoled his friend Stephanie Ramos.
LEMIEUX: "Oh my god, look at this. This is sadness."
RAMOS: "I feel like my heart’s been ripped out, stomped on and everything like—once he said South Beach, I don’t know why people were still standing in there."
Just after she said that, some Cleveland fans ripped apart a poster of LeBron James. But perhaps the harshest words came in a letter from Cavaliers’ majority owner Dan Gilbert. He said LeBron deserted the region and called the decision a cowardly betrayal.