Tom Izzo

They probably wanted him to come out of the box.

That's the most difficult.

That was the degree of difficulty one.

Give him some confidence going down the list.

Miami was the mistress, and the torrid four-year fling came with sparks and emotion and jewelry.

But then LeBron James went back home to his original love.

And that'll leave even a city of tourists and transplants feeling cheap and rented.

Rationally, this is silly, of course.

Rationally, Miami knows it lost LeBron exactly the same way it got him.

Rationally, he fulfilled the terms of his Miami contract.

But the best parts of sports don't reside in the rational.

There are no good and happy endings in transactions like this.

There are only endings.

And so Miami is allowed to feel conflicted.

jilted but grateful, bejeweled but befuddled, fulfilled yet somehow empty, and of course longing because you can see how anyone can confuse four years of crazy, crazy passion with true love.

You can't help but miss something that intense, but there is not a consensus about how to feel about him now, not on the team and not in the city.

Dwayne Wade still loves LeBron.

Pat Riley does not.

So it'll be interesting to see how Miami fans react to his return.

Will it be appreciative applause or hurt hissing?