LeBron James Fesses Up, "April Fools, Cleveland!"

Just Kidding!

CLEVELAND—In possibly the greatest hoax of all time, NBA superstar LeBron James today admitted that his recently announced move to play for the Miami Heat was nothing more than a big April Fools joke, although a little late. “Just kidding! Me having some fun with you media knuckleheads. You cats’ll believe anything,” he smirked. LeBron swears emphatically that he’s staying put as a Cleveland Cavalier. “I’ll see everybody at the Q in October, just like always.”

Loves a Good Joke

James revealed the truth this morning in an exclusive interview with ace reporter Joshua Lyre from his favorite comedy website HumorVolcano.com over coffee at the Krispy Kreme close to LeBron’s mansion. “That bit y’all wrote about me joining Irish step dancing*, absolutely hilarious. I do so love a good joke,” LeBron began with a hearty laugh.

“Y’all know me. I’m a playa! Gotta enjoy life. All that Miami stuff was total B.S.,” LeBron said with a big grin. “Leave the snow and ice of Cleveland for sunshine and beach babes? No way. Cleveland’s home.”

Betrayal Response

When Lyre pointed out that Cavalier fans became outraged and felt betrayed after LeBron’s ESPN announcement extravaganza, James replied, “That just shows how much Cavs fans love me. So tell ‘em straight, ‘Cleveland, I love you back even more. Several million times more, in fact.’”

Apology

“OK. So maybe it wasn’t the funniest April Fools joke ever,” LeBron apologized. “But you gotta admit, I sure had you guys going!” he said, busting out laughing. “People just need to lighten up some. Geez. Everybody’s so serious.”

Co-conspirator

James also fessed up that Cavaliers’ owner Dan Gilbert was in on the joke as well. Gilbert’s nasty comments and scathing open letter, all an act. “Was he scary, or what?” LeBron asked with a wink.

Bottom Line—Acting

LeBron closed the interview with, “What I really want, see, is to be an actor after basketball. Consider that Miami stuff my audition. Pretty good, huh? I’m thinking one of the daytime soaps. Then I’d be a real star.”

*Read LeBron James Leaving NBA for Irish Step Dancing here.

07.23.10

(We published an earlier version of this article on The Bleacher Report, where it received a Bronze Medal as a "Hot Read.")