By: David Andrews

Rarely has a game in the beginning of the season meant so much to two mediocre teams. Upon looking at the box score, one can see it is a battle of a 7-10 Cleveland Cavaliers against the 11-8 Miami Heat. Cleveland is transitioning from the back-to-back Eastern Conference regular season championships to a team with a vacancy in the leader position. Miami is just trying to stay afloat with the self-imposed insurmountable expectations that were placed on them in the off-season. Both are hoping to improve their record, but for Cleveland fans, this is as important as Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

LeBron James’ return to Cleveland will be the most anticipated Cleveland professional sports game in a decade that will not showcase the 2003 first round draft pick and will instead will feature an effort by a team of which only few around the nation are knowledgeable.

This game is the pinnacle of Cleveland’s off-season that was riddled with drama, finger-pointing and arguably the single most notable star in basketball since Michael Jordan embarrassing an organization and a city that saw the Cavaliers rise to contention while the Browns and Indians continued to be stagnant.

The entire nation ‘witnessed’ the hour-long segment, which James, a zero-time NBA champion, finally announced that he’d be “taking his talents to South Beach.” In lieu of the decision, Cleveland was the center of the sports world, as the shots of men and women crying in disparity and fans burning their jerseys looped on ESPN for weeks.

The nation then witnessed the backlash, as Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert ranted in a letter to fans that their once-star player was nothing but a selfish and narcissistic person. Gilbert also asserted that the Cavaliers would win an NBA title before the Heat won one with James. The angry letter, which seemed to comfort many Cleveland fans, was ridiculed for weeks to come by ESPN. The fan backlash also triggered James to play the race card, saying they had no business criticizing him with the words they offered.

The most embarrassing part for Cleveland was watching James, along side Dwayne Wade and newly-acquired Heat power forward Chris Bosh, announce to the Miami crowd (and sports world) below him that he came to Miami not to win one or two championships, but to win at least eight. Cleveland couldn’t help to think back over the seven years he never even won one while playing for the Cavaliers.

The heartbreak continued in July, when the ESPY’s host Seth Meyers continuously tugged at the three biggest stories from 2009-2010: the Tiger Woods scandal, Brett Favre’s indecisive dramatics, and “The Decision.” Meyers mocked Cleveland, pointing out, “leave’ is right there in your name,” before sarcastically stating that they need to change it to Ca-stay-land immediately.

Seth Meyers had the city’s back though, as much of the crowd showed by booing every mention of James. After making a mockery of Cleveland’s name, Meyers told the city not to worry; “Literally every team that has ever won a championship has done it without LeBron.”

Now, the season has started and the Heat are the ones looking for answers for the apparent incoherent play of the most anticipated basketball team since the 1992 “Dream Team” in Barcelona’s summer Olympics.

As many expected, Cleveland is floundering without their flourishing forward. It might be years before the Cavaliers return to the excellence that LeBron helped them to achieve. Thursday’s game could be the win that Cleveland holds onto, as the game that helped them to heal if they win. It is more than a game to stay within reach of .500. It is a game of pride points for an entire city.