For the notorious NBA star LeBron James, Cleveland has always been home. It is where his NBA career took off and how he became the two-time NBA champion, four-time season MVP, and two-time finals MVP that he is today.

He made his official return on October 30^th in Cleveland against the New York Knicks. Thousands of fans from all over the country swarmed Quicken Loans Arena, including many celebrities such as David Beckham, Justin Bieber, Usher, Spike Lee, and Michael Strahan. When James’ name was said for the starting lineups, the soldout crowd greeted him with a deafening roar.

The Cleveland sports teams united that night, as Cleveland Browns players were in attendance to support their city.  In an interview with ESPN, cornerback Joe Haden said, “The way [LeBron is] basically saying he’s doing it for the city, he feels entitled to come back and win a championship for the city… If I didn’t play for Cleveland and I wasn’t really around the city and really didn’t know the fans and didn’t really know how passionate they were and how they really felt, you wouldn’t really understand.”

His homecoming, however, didn’t go as the soldout crowd may have expected. The Cavaliers lost and many credit the loss to James. “LeBron James shot miserably. His passes were errant. He didn’t look good doing much other than tossing powder in the air. His homecoming was horrendous,” said sports reporter Tom Withers.

Though it was not one of LeBron’s better games, he did finish with 17 points, 4 assists, and 5 defensive rebounds in the 95-90 Cleveland loss. His biggest problem that night was with his turnovers, as he finished with 8 total and the most out of any player. “I was throwing passes where I thought some of my teammates were,” said James to ESPN. “Those things will come… It was one game and we’ve got to learn from it.”

West senior Zach Schwarz believes that LeBron belongs in Cleveland and made the right choice leaving Miami. “I wouldn’t say he would be better in Miami. If he would’ve stayed, they would probably win most of their games because of their chemistry and talent. But he left Miami so he could bring a title back home and Cleveland has no chemistry right now so it’s like a wait and see kind of thing.”

Whether you’re a LeBron fan or not, many believe the season can only get better after the first game. Hopefully, Cleveland can get their act together and live up to the hype that sports fans and reporters have made them out to be.