LeBron James of the Miami Heat holds the championship trophy after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.Photograph by Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images
Two years ago, when LeBron James decided to take his talents to South Beach, he left behind a very bitter Dan Gilbert in Cleveland. The Cavaliers owner and Quicken Loans founder fired off a now legendary e-mail calling James “heartless and callous,” among other things. He also guaranteed, in Comic Sans all-caps, “THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE.” Adding, perhaps unwisely for a man who made his fortune in mortgage lending, “you can take it to the bank.”
Rock Ventures and Quicken Loans Chairman Dan Gilbert
Photograph by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
James and the Miami Heat won one on Thursday night. And David Stern crowned James NBA Finals MVP for his regal performance. Gilbert has been quiet except for a tweet, in Twitter’s standard Helvetica, congratulating “Miami & OKC for an exciting Finals.”
