|
 James addressed Cavaliers fans in a video posted Saturday for
Bleacher Report.
"Hopefully I was an inspiration, being back to you guys for this
first year," James said in the video. "Hopefully I can continue that
in the near future. And I just thank you guys -- I thank the fans, I
thank everybody for the support that y'all gave us all year, the
support that you gave me by welcoming me back.
"And hopefully I made you guys proud in Year 1. Like I said, I'm not
satisfied, I'm not happy with the way things turned out. I'm bummed
about it for sure. But hopefully I can put our team in position once
again to try to compete for a championship next year and year-in and
year-out. That's my goal, and my inspiration hasn't changed. So I
appreciate everything. I thank you guys, I love you guys and I'll
see y'all soon."
James returned to Northeast Ohio in July 2014, leaving the Miami
Heat four years -- and two NBA championships -- after bolting
Cleveland in an excruciating public departure aired by ESPN and
titled "The Decision."
The Cavaliers lost to the Golden State Warriors 105-97 in Game 6 of
the NBA Finals last week and James was "not happy with the way it
closed out."
---Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce has decided not to retire,
but he is expected to forgo his player option and become a free
agent for next season.
According to the Washington Post, Pierce will bypass his $5.54
million player option to play in his 18th season. The decision,
which is due by the end of the month, would make Pierce a free agent
for the second straight year.
Opting out opens the possibility of Pierce playing elsewhere but
does not completely eliminate the prospect of him returning to
Washington as he could choose to re-sign, the newspaper reported.
According to the report, Pierce will either return to the Wizards or
join the Los Angeles Clippers to be reunited with his Doc Rivers,
his coach for nine seasons with the Boston Celtics. Pierce, a Los
Angeles native, won the 2008 NBA title with the Celtics while Rivers
was the coach.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Vanderbilt and Virginia will meet in the championship series of the
College World Series for a second consecutive year starting Monday
in Omaha, Neb., but the Cavaliers' presence in the finals is a
complete surprise this time.
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Virginia (42-23) barely made it into the postseason, finishing with
a 15-15 record in Atlantic Coast Conference action that included a
five-game winning streak to end conference play.
They were the No. 3 seed in their four-team regional in Lake
Elsinore, Calif., but swept through that without a loss, then beat
Maryland in two games in the Super Regional.
Virginia played highly rated Florida three times in the College
World Series, and beat the Gators twice to advance to the
best-of-three championship series.
The championship series features Vanderbilt shortstop Dansby
Swanson, the No. 1 overall pick in the major league draft, by the
Arizona Diamondbacks. He was the Most Outstanding Players of the
College World Series last year, but he is just 1-for-13 at Omaha
this this year.
AUTO RACING
Erik Jones' last-ditch push had a victory payoff for the 19-year-old
driver.
Neck-and-neck with Ryan Blaney entering the final dozen laps, Jones
finally slipped ahead after a restart and rolled to a 1.958-second
victory margin in Sunday's Owens Corning AttiCat 300 race at
Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.
Jones claimed his second NASCAR Xfinity Series race of the season,
recorded his eighth top 10 series finish and completed a weekend
sweep that included Friday's NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series
American Ethanol 200 at Iowa Speedway.
Jones, the youngest NASCAR driver to win two races in the same
weekend, has run in all three series this season.
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