"LeBron James returned to The Q on Friday night in his first and only visit of the season. It was his third time back since he took his talents to South Beach, along with whatever jot of respect for his Cavaliers teammates and tittle of competitive pride he possessed.

Thursday, James gave everything but a complicated handshake and a bro hug to the fans here, saying just maybe he'd deign to play in Cleveland again when he becomes contractually available in two years, and yada-yada. I'll spare you the third "yada" because LeBron -- the sweetheart of Sigma Chi, all ready for Rush Week, wanting people to like him despite his heedless actions -- is an old story here.

As is the Cavaliers' failure to channel any of the hurt or anger the fans feel. The Cavs lost to Miami, 111-87. It wasn't remotely that close.

Miami is very, very good. The Cavs were very, very bad this night.

I suppose everyone must deal with it. Yet while visions of more draft lottery balls might dance with each loss in the heads of those fans who weren't seated in the small Front-Runners R Us section, it was still hard for many to see the Cavs give such an uncompetitive effort.

For all the resistance the Cavs offered, the self-styled "King" could have enjoyed his pipe, his bowl and his fiddlers three, the latter playing a merry tune as he scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the third quarter. "