LeBron James Retakes Number 23 For Cleveland Return: How Will Cavs Fans Respond?
LeBron James will take back his old number of 23 when he returns to the Cleveland Cavaliers next season.
So if you liked him in the No. 6 Miami Heat garb, you’d better just get used to it.
The announcement came first via LeBron’s Instagram account and was later pushed out to his Twitter profile (@KingJames) at around 11:59 am. As one of his more than 13.8 million followers, that’s how we accessed it anyway. Here’s the tweet itself:
23 it is! It’s only right I go back. 2·3=6 We still family 6. #HomeTeam #StriveForGreatness http://t.co/2MpznC8JNM
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 27, 2014
And that’s some pretty cool math! Yes indeed, LeBron James No. 23 has been around since his high school days when he played for the Fighting Irish of St. Vincent-St. Mary.
While most of the commenters on James’ social media accounts seem cool with him heading back to No. 23, the commenters over at Bleacher Report decided to take a few jabs at him. One in particular that would be sure to sting if LeBron didn’t already have two NBA Championships under his belt, all the money he could ever need, and even remotely cared about what some internet commenter thought, was this one from Z Crispy:
“Let the 2-3 finals jokes begin.”
This, of course, refers to the fact that the five times James has gone to the big dance, he lost twice with the Miami Heat and once with the Cavs.
If you join in on that, just remember he’s been five times and won two of them (2012 and 2013 seasons), which is significantly more than you’ll ever do.
The remaining wild card that we won’t know until he plays his first game of the 2014-2015 season is this: how well will Cleveland fans accept him back?
Will there be any Brett Favre-Green Bay-styled bickering between King James and the fans, or will it be a smooth transition?
The Cavs have a lot riding on LeBron James for a two-year contract (He has the option of becoming a free agent again at the end of the 2014-2015 season and the deal is estimated to be worth around $42.1 million).
So obviously, ownership believes; fans may be a harder sell given the way he left.
As for now, though, LeBron James number 23 is back, and we expect that, love him or hate him, it will put some butts in the seats.
What do you think about LeBron James, readers? Glad to see him back with the old number? And do you think he’s the best of all time?
[Image via Domenic Gareri / Shutterstock.com]
