LeBron James may end up spending nine years in Los Angeles if he plays out his entire contract. However, the thought of ‘home’ will always construct the image of Cleveland. For the Cavaliers, when he arrived as the number one pick, they saw ‘The Chosen One’ as their savior. Likewise, his electric play made him a vital part of not just the franchise, but the community. And during those times, it was ill-advised to mess with him. An NFL receiver learned the lesson the hard way.

While James rose to the pinnacle of Cleveland sports, Braylon Edwards, a star WR for the Browns also gained prominence. He earned comparisons to Randy Moss in his peak season, compiling 16 touchdowns that year. However, an incident outside a Cleveland nightclub led to the end of his storied tale, and a ‘fresh start’ in New York.

The story may have been abysmal for him. But for then-Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum, it’s still his favorite story. After a disturbing incident in his previous game, Edwards ran into trouble outside a club in 2009. He struck a man, which even got the authorities and police involved. The people he did engage with happened to be LeBron James’ friend – Edwards Givens. Two days later, he was traded. For the Browns, it may have been a riddance, but for the Jets, their fates met at the perfect time.

“Rex tells me on the plane ride back ‘Call Roger Goodell we’re going to just cancel the season,” he recalled. At the time, the Jets were stumbling in the AFC. But Edwards’ incident came at the perfect time. “Braylon Edwards that night gets into a little scuffle with LeBron James’ friends. Eric Mangini calls me the next morning. Braylon Edwards is a Jet, and the rest is history,” Tannenbaum expanded.

The former third-overall pick helped the Jets reach back-to-back AFC Championship Games but could never jump over the hump. Braylon Edwards was then traded to the San Francisco 49ers the next season, after which he played the last three games of his career with the Jets again. In his best season with the Jets, he provided 7 TDs for 904 yards for the franchise in 2010.

The two sides of the LeBron James and Edwards story

Braylon Edwards’ demeanor within the Cleveland Browns organization had caused some prior unrest. He wasn’t on schedule with Eric Mangini’s offseason camps and had been involved in rash incidents as well. Then, the brawl with Givens on October 5 acted as the last straw. When speaking of the incident, LeBron James termed the receiver as “childish.”

Givens, who was a promoter was said to be working in the early hours when the incident took place. When James found out hours later, he was stunned. LeBron James detailed his silent relationship with Edwards and criticized him for going after his lone friend. “My friend is 130 pounds. Seriously. It’s like hitting one of my kids. It doesn’t make sense,” he told ESPN.

It was only years later that Braylon Edwards got to tell his side of the story. And it was far different than James’ version. He spoke about in 2019 on the D.A Show and claimed he was “jumped” by rather four guys that night. Moreover, Edwards also claims to have had a friendship with King James prior to the incident. However, due to the animosity involved, they eventually broke ties.

“He and I were friends leading up to this. And I think the way in which it came about, it just wasn’t handled the right way, and then it calls for stricter friction because he and I were friends. We would not necessarily go out together, but when we see each other out at restaurants, we ‘Hey, how are you doing?’. I paid for his tab sometimes, he paid for mine, et cetera,” he detailed.

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