CLEVELAND, Ohio -- LeBron James wants to know "What should I do?"

A better question might be "What should WE do?"

A group of Cleveland-area advertising, marketing and public relations pros are asking how Northeast Ohio should welcome home the prodigal MVP when the Cavaliers host the Heat on Dec. 2.

Like the rest of us, they have divergent opinions.

Some say fans need to take the high road and keep in mind that national media will be watching and TV cameras will be rolling.

"We should coach everybody who goes to the game that night to be good sports, and not one 'boo,' " said Jerry Hoegner, retired director of marketing services for The Plain Dealer and former vice president of marketing at Wyse advertising agency.

But others at a forum Wednesday said James' prime-time announcement July 8 that he was quitting the Cavs to play for Miami is still too raw and painful.

"I'm still bitter about LeBron," said Bryan Baylog, a former broadcast executive who now works for New York Life. When James left, "we lost our chance for a championship."

Either way, James' return is sure to be an enormous event in Cleveland. People have talked about it since the day he left, and tickets for the game are sold out. Floor seats are available on eBay for close to $1,700 each.

Tad Carper, senior vice president of communications for the Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena, said the team wouldn't try to script fans' reaction.

"We're hoping that our fans channel all of their energy and passion into support for the Cavs" and "safe and law-abiding behavior."

The communications pros -- the Northeast Ohio Communication Advocates -- discussed several ways to channel Cleveland's reaction, from online videos to social media to mass media. But no set plan emerged.

Frank Bird, publisher of Cleveland Magazine, said that with 1.5 million people in Greater Cleveland, it's going to take a Herculean effort to keep everyone well-behaved. "People haven't had their chance to boo," he said.

W. Benoy Joseph, associate dean and professor of Marketing at Cleveland State University's Nance College of Business Administration, said Cleveland needs to show the nation that it has moved beyond James.

Instead of whining about who left, he said, fans need to focus on the Cavs who are playing well.

"We should do the sportsmanlike thing and treat him with civility and respect, applaud his athleticism and play the game," Joseph said. "This is a good community that has too many things going for it, and we don't get hung up on LeBron."

In James' latest Nike ad, he rebukes his critics and asks rhetorically, repeatedly, "What should I do?"

Filmmaker Dan Wantz of Chardon created a takeoff video, "Cleveland's response to Nike's recent commercial." It has gotten more than 3.1 million hits on YouTube.

Wantz has his own feelings about how to greet James.

"I think to applaud him is the wrong way to go," he said. "I think we need to do it in a classy way that still shows how we feel."

Hoegner chided those who said there might be trouble: "The problem is that's what's expected, a bunch of drunk, fat people acting up. Do we really have to be that predictable? Can't we have manners?"

Dick Clough, a Lakewood advertising, marketing and publishing veteran, said he wasn't as upset over LeBron leaving as he was about "how the national media portrayed Cleveland, as if our entire community was somehow defined by his 'Decision,' " the title of his announcement on ESPN.

Ed Stevens, president of Stevens Strategic Communications, praised James for getting the Cavs to the Eastern Conference finals and the NBA finals.

"He gave us a great gift," he said. "When he comes back, maybe we should think about what can we do in a positive way that says, 'Thanks for the memories.' "

Carin Rockland, vice president of marketing for Team NEO, a regional business attraction group, said: "We need to be appreciative of what is" -- not get hung up on the fact that "one guy who wears shorts and puts a ball in a hoop leaves."

She asked how many locals know that the number of Cleveland bioscience companies has tripled to 600 in the past six years, or that the majority of the nation's polymer research happens in Akron.

"Do you think that a business gives a hoot whether LeBron plays for us?" she asked. "They care more about the fact that we've got the world's best heart hospital."