(Getty)

LeBron James has been coming back to Cleveland since July. Three and a half months later, LeBron’s home and he can finally play basketball.

The buildup to Thursday night’s game had nothing to do with basketball. There was the Sprite commercial, and the Beats by Dre commercial, and the Nike commercial. Cleveland got new jerseys and Kevin Love. LeBron may or may not have gotten hairplugs.

It was all riveting, and outside of Kevin Love, all secondary to winning basketball games, which is ironic considering the effort James made when announcing his move to make it just about basketball.

(USA TODAY Sports)

The homecoming hysteria was understandable, even warranted for the King. The more than 20,000 faithful (plus Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift) certainly seemed to think so.

When the raucous crowd quieted to a dull roar, James and the Cleveland Cavaliers fell to the New York Knicks 95-90. He had 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, and eight turnovers on the night.

Welcome home. You’re 0-1. Now what?

Now James can play basketball. Just play basketball. He doesn’t have to worry about coming home, putting on a show, or anything else outside of putting a ball into a hoop more times than the people dressed differently.

(USA TODAY Sports)

In his open letter, he touched on his desire to raise a family where he grew up, and to show kids in Northeast Ohio that their home was a pace to be proud of. But the prevailing theme remained. He was coming home to win. He didn’t promise a championship, but with that talent around him it’s difficult to not expect it.

LeBron is a competitor. He’s asked to be many things but above all else, he excels as a competitor.

He’s home. Now he can compete.