Cleveland Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert Explains Infamous Letter And LeBron James Homecoming

Four years ago LeBron James and Dan Gilbert went to war. LeBron left Gilbert's Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat, and the owner launched a horrific attack on him, via a letter. Neither covered themselves in glory, but unthinkable as it seemed a few years ago, today LeBron announced he is returning to his former team. The Cavaliers are full of joy, and Gilbert has explained his past actions and his hopes for the future. Read his in-depth feature with Yahoo below.

He explained:

"We had five great years together and one terrible night," Gilbert told James, and so started the process of reconciliation on Sunday night in Miami. "I told him how sorry I was, expressed regret for how that night went and how I let all the emotion and passion for the situation carry me away. I told him I wish I had never done it, that I wish I could take it back."

"It was more comfortable than I actually thought it would be," Gilbert told Yahoo Sports on Friday afternoon. "They made it easy for me."

"Do a Google search on me, and it's the first thing that comes up," Gilbert told Yahoo Sports. "To a certain segment of society, it's like somebody killed somebody, like somebody killed their kid. I told LeBron, 'That letter didn't hurt anybody more than it hurt me.'

"For the first two months, I kept thousands of letters - not hundreds - thousands written to me. There were 90-year-old ladies and CEOs, and I realized that that letter had transcended the event, went far beyond LeBron. After a few months, I would re-read it and just be full of regret. That wasn't me, that wasn't who I am. I didn't mean most of the things I said in there. The venom it produced, from all sides ... I wish ... I wish I had never done it.

"I'm grateful that we all get another chance together now."

Three years ago, Gilbert says he "started to hear rumblings that this could be possible," that James had thoughts about someday making a return to the Cavaliers. "I went back and forth in my mind, thinking: Could this really happen? It was a volatile thing for years, and now that it's happened, I'm still in shock."

What do you think, readers?  Did LeBron request a public apology as part of the deal to return?