I can’t believe I even have to say this at this point, but Cleveland really needs to stop talking about LeBron James.

Stop hanging onto every little scrap that gets pushed out in the media that reinforces there is some sort of miniscule chance he comes back to Cleveland in the next two or three years because he’s not. Stop analyzing every move the Cavaliers make under the lens of whether it increases or decreases the chance he returns.

I love LeBron the player. He’s 80% of the reason I write about basketball and watching him suit up in the Wine and Gold was probably the most fun I’ve ever had being a sports fan, but it is over. Sometimes I like to blame the media for fueling non-stories like this, but a decent chunk of the fan base can’t let it go either. As our own Ben Cox loves to say, in twenty years we’ll be reading stories of “Is LeBron going to buy the Cavaliers?” As much as I think he means it as a joke, I honestly would not be surprised if these stories actually surface down the road.

“But Joe, if there’s even a small chance that the best player on the planet could come back to your team you just have to pursue it. You just have to, man”

I’ve heard the above statement in one way or another way too often when debating the merits of even entertaining the potential of LeBron returning. The problem is that it assumes there is no downside to this never-ending narrative when in actuality it might have been one of the root problems with the Cavaliers organization over the past few seasons. Most evidence points towards Chris Grant gambling heavily on convincing LeBron to reverse “The Decision”.

There was the weird mid-season Woj article where he threw Chris Grant under the bus for this very reason. I had qualms with the article, but Woj is king of breaking NBA stories and if there’s anyone’s sources I’m going to trust, it’s his. There were other signs before that article though. LeBron’s childhood friend, Maverick Carter, was regularly seen sitting with Chris Grant at Cavs games. Grant sat next to LeBron on the Cavaliers bench during Z’s retirement ceremony. Jason Lloyd commented on how Grant’s connection with Rich Paul, LeBron and Tristan Thompson’s agent, was the “launching point” for any feasible attempt to bring LeBron back. Despite a dire need for a real NBA player at the small forward position, it was left to be filled by Alonzo freakin Gee until Dan Gilbert finally turned the pressure cooker up on Grant to actually win and he traded for Luol Deng and his expiring contract. The Cavs kept a large chunk of their cap space open for this coming offseason in which LeBron could possibly opt out of his contract with the Heat.

There was also a strange non-commitment to their budding superstar. I’ve said before that Kyrie Irving has never really embraced Cleveland, but the reverse is also true as Cleveland has never fully embraced Kyrie and that includes the Cavaliers organization. They drafted a stud young point guard in the first true year of their LeBron rebuild and instead of electing to build a team around his skill set they went ahead and drafted a bunch of players who do not at all mesh with the All-Star point guard. They harped on rebuilding through the draft and then spent about a quarter of the season experimenting with Andrew Bynum’s crocked knees in hopes of striking gold instead of letting their young players develop their own style together. Another move people said was “low risk, high reward” which once again just wasn’t true. They hired a “defensive guru” to coach a point guard who, though possesses a ton of talent, still has a lot to learn about running an offense and making his teammates better. Now part of the fan base has rebelled against him and wants to ship him out of here before he can pull a “LeBron” while Dan Gilbert continues to garner more support from Cavs fans than he deserves because he built some casinos and bought a team with the best player in the NBA already on it years ago.

LeBron isn’t going to return and once again compensate for Gilbert’s lack of aptitude in running an NBA franchise. Danny Ferry read the tea leaves when Gilbert went over his head and canned Mike Brown for the first time. Ferry was paid millions for his expertise, but under the pressure of LeBron’s free agency Gilbert cracked and decided he knew what was best for the Cavaliers’ future. He was wrong.

Rumblings persisted through Grant’s regime over Gilbert meddling in roster decisions from him strongly advocating for the Bynum acquisition to his desire to make the playoffs this past season leading to the selection of Anthony Bennett and eventual trade for Luol Deng. Dan Gilbert was front and center when Mike Brown was re-hired; admitting he’d made a mistake firing the man. He symbolically committed to Brown with a lengthy five year contract only to at the end of the season renege on his mistake actually being a mistake by once again firing Mike Brown.

Now we’re left with this story involving an insane contract supposedly being offered to Calipari where the time table of events is crucial and there are discrepancies over how it actually went down. It is possible Gilbert went over Griffin’s head to try and lure Calipari to Cleveland though it seems more likely that Gilbert approached Calipari before confirming Griffin as GM. Regardless, Gilbert would clearly love a big name associated with the franchise’s front office. He commented in an interview midseason to Jason Lloyd that he had come to realize that he’d lost LeBron specifically to Pat Riley, the experience he brought to the table, and the rings in his jewelry collection. That may be true, but Pat Riley was also already proven at the job he was doing, being a GM. He had won a championship in that role besides being a big name coach. Calipari hasn’t even had real success as an NBA head coach let alone a President of an NBA team which is supposedly what Gilbert was ready to make him. Cleveland fans know full well that chucking a ton of money at a big name to fulfill a role they have never performed before isn’t necessarily a recipe for success, see Mike Holmgren.

There are lessons for Gilbert to learn from the LeBron era, but I’m not sure he’s focusing on the right ones or perhaps he’s just focusing too hard on that period in general. It’s time for the organization to move on and formulate a plan that involves figuring out how to beat the best player on the planet, not praying for his return.