Dan Gilbert, Cavaliers Owner, Stands by LeBron James Letter

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert created controversial headlines when he vilified LeBron James for leaving town and heading to Miami via free agency in July.

Gilbert is still refusing to back off the comments he made then, promising to look toward the future instead.

When James first left town, Gilbert wrote an open letter to Cavaliers fans, calling James a "former hero" and told the city that they did not deserve "this kind of cowardly betrayal."

The outspoken owner joined Tony Rizzo on ESPN 850 WKRN in Cleveland on Wednesday morning and didn't shy away from anything he said. However, he did admit that it's in the past and he would like to move forward.

"I don't regret it. I think that's the feeling that I had and most of Cleveland had. ... I can't back off on that," Gilbert said in the interview. "What I can say is that we've tunneled and now are focused on the future. To dwell on something like that, you're just wasting energy."

Gilbert told the radio station that he has not spoken to James since he left Cleveland but is focused on the future of his franchise and does not want any rehashing from last summer's free-agent spectacle.

In July, Gilbert promised to expose more of James' poor decisions while he played for Cleveland, but Gilbert has since decided to leave them in the past.

"Emotionally at first ... you kind of want to dump anything and everything for five years that you didn't like," he said. "But in reflection, for me to bring some of that stuff up now would be like sour grapes."

For now, Gilbert is looking toward the future -- without LeBron. The Cavaliers face the Celtics in the first game of the post-LeBron era Wednesday night.