(Newser)
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As the news broke that LeBron James will join the Miami Heat, fans whose teams lost out were disappointed, "but mostly they were flabbergasted by the tone deafness of the whole enterprise," Will Leitch writes for New York. Worse, the hour-long display of cluelessness surrounding the announcement exposed a raw nerve: "We've truly seen the ugly, dark heart of sports, and we won't be able to come back."
From the format to the content, James' ESPN special hit a symphony of sour notes, including an omission that "was so, so cruel to Cleveland, not once thanking the fans who made him into what he was." Sports fandom is founded on a tacit agreement between athletes and the people who pay their salaries, writes Leitch: "We cheer for athletes because sports does not matter, not really. We trust that they are not laughing at us. That trust felt broken tonight."
