I am not from Cleveland.  I have never been to Cleveland.  In fact, the only time I've even been to the state of Ohio, I posed for a picture outside of a Columbus bar in Michigan Wolverines gear.  As a native of Ann Arbor and a resident of the D.C. area, sports teams in the Buckeye state have been my lifetime nemeses.  But on Thursday, for the first time, I could sympathize with LeBron's home state.  The only problem?  He couldn't.

While he was busy promoting The King, he forgot the region that's been loyal to his highness for the last seven, check that, eleven years.  Since high school they've been eating out of the palm of his hand and he payed them back like he was Marie Antoinette.  He might as well have said "Let them eat cake."  That's how oblivious LeBron was of his kingdom.

ESPN provided the drama by reporting where sources said LBJ was going, then dedicating an hour to revealing that "Oh my god! The rumors were true!"  And LeBron provided the comedy, pretending that he actually cared about his hometown.

He didn't have to stay.  It would be unfair and presumptuous for anyone to tell the man where he has to play basketball.  But what he made clear was that in a team game he was only looking out for number one.  Or should I say number six?

How fitting is it that the same year LeBron shows he can't stack up to Jordan by changing his number from MJ's famed 23, he also shows he's no match by jumping ship to try to win one the easy way.

I get it.  He felt his NBA championship clock ticking and wanted to go somewhere to win now with hopes of building a legacy like that of the aforementioned hall of famer. If LeBron finally does it in Miami though, he becomes the guy who could only win on a team full of all-stars.  Where does that leave him?  In this era, not only behind Kobe but now second fiddle to D-Wade too, who will always have at least one more title than James as long as they're both in South Beach.

I know LBJ is all about the business side of the NBA.  He wants to be a brand.  He wants to start a club. He wants to be a billionaire.  He wants to be more than just a basketball player. And in order to get there, he needs rings.  But I expected a little respect for the game that he hopes will take him to such heights.  The one where you play as a team to reach a common goal.  Not the one where you quit on your teammates, conforming to a common standard in a league already full of mercenaries.

If LeBron had any guts he would've stayed in Cleveland for the long haul. That's what all-time greats do. But instead he was selfish and cowardly.  He left a place in need for what he thought was his personal benefit.

"I want to do what's best for LeBron James and what LeBron James is going to do to make him happy [sic]," he said in third person during an ESPN interview with Michael Wilbon. Somehow he didn't realize that what's best for the LeBron James he wants to be in the history books is to stay at home.

He had the chance, like Jordan, Magic and Bird, to follow the team path that in a me-first game has proven to be the way to NBA greatness. Clearly, his tatoo saying "loyalty," is only skin deep.

LeBron James should have stayed in Cleveland, the place that he needed just as much as they needed him.  He needed to be a leader of a championship team and, in a time of financial and athletic upheaval, they needed a champion. For a guy who said he wanted to be like Muhammad Ali he certainly failed as the people's champ.

But worse than botching the choice was the utter disgrace ESPN called The Decision. Could James have sounded any more arrogant? This was a PR nightmare.

"It's been real heavy because I know a lot of people look up to me, because of what I've done for the city of Cleveland, that area, what I've done for that franchise and for my teammates," he said after announcing his intentions to sign with the Heat.

As cocky as he sounds, the truth is that James did a lot for Cleveland.  Since drafting LBJ seven years ago, north-east Ohio has gotten just three winning seasons from the hapless Browns and Indians combined.  LeBron almost singlehandedly has given them six.

And that's why if you're a Cleveland fan, or even more so a Cleveland owner, you say thank you, zip your lip and get on your way.  I know you're angry and it stings, but no matter how many jerseys you burn or how many spiteful, irrational letters you write, he's not coming back.  LeBron James made himself look foolish; you don't need to go and do the same.  Unfortunately for the city, one sports calamity was followed by another.  First your star left you.  Then your team management went crazy.

"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER 'KING' WINS ONE," Cavalier's majority owner Dan Gilbert wrote in an open letter to the team's fans.  (The all-caps were his, not mine.)

He followed it up with a similarly nutty "some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there."  Mr. Gilbert, explanation please?

LeBron did try to save face. "At the end of the day I feel awful that I'm leaving. I feel even worse that I wasn't able to bring an NBA championship to that city," he said to Wilbon.

LeBron, sympathy wasn't necessary and won't fix the gaping whole that you left in the state of Ohio. All I ask for is the truth.  It's not that you couldn't win a championship in Cleveland, it's that you wouldn't.  You quit before it was played out.

Now you're stuck in Miami, the place where you can never live up to expectations, the city that will never love you like your hometown once did.