Friday column: No class anywhere night of ‘Decision’

Let me start with this:

In his self-promotion and glory seeking, LeBron James — egged on by his suck-up entourage — has been shameless. Patience and a tall beverage wasn’t what was needed to get through The Decision. What was needed was a barf bag.

And his ego-fest the next day in Miami with new running buddies Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh might have been worse.

Wrote Israel Gutierrez of the Miami Herald:

“They giggled, danced and whooped while waiting to be raised onto the AmericanAirlines Arena platform, literally rising from the floor in a cloud of smoke before 10,000 of their most devoted, delighted and delirious fans.”

All that was missing was the public address announcer intoning: “And now, Miami, bow down to your new gods” — that and human sacrifice.

Now, if Dan Gilbert had been around …

But the thing about James is he’s all of 25, and from a very young age has been told that he’s the greatest thing since … well since never. He’s been told he’s the greatest thing. Period.

So, while one would hope that James would know better, there’s reason to see why he doesn’t.

The owner of the Cavs, on the other hand, is 48, and he definitely should know better. Gilbert’s written rant the night of The Decision read like a hastily penned screed from a pimply 16-year-old dumped by his first girlfriend.

(And no, Jesse Jackson, there’s really no reason to bring race into the issue but thanks for playing, just the same).

James had every right to make the move he made. And while his decision to keep his hometown team twisting in the wind was ill advised, he also had the right to do that. If Gilbert didn’t relish the prospect of being blindsided, he could have given James a deadline.

For that matter, if Gilbert really thought that James was an out-of-control narcissist, as he claimed in his letter, he could have given “The King” some boundaries while he was still a Cav. He could, for instance, have told James he wouldn’t put members of James’ entourage on the Cleveland payroll, told him his gang couldn’t ride with him on the team plane. Could have told him “no” once in a while.

If Gilbert really thought James had “quit” on the Cavs during the playoffs, as he alleged in his letter, he should have called him on it then.

I feel for the Cleveland fans who feel devastated and betrayed by James’ leaving for South Beach. But part of me also wants to say, “Get a life.” To Dan Gilbert, I want to say, “Grow a spine.”

There are a 1,001 ways LeBron James could handled his departure from Cleveland with more class. But the proper response to his actions was not to demonstrate even less class.

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.