LeBron James on forgiving Dan Gilbert: 'Men, we all make mistakes'

LeBron James's return to the Cleveland Cavaliers is all about the future, not the past.

When James left in 2010 he was ripped to shreds in an online letter by Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, the rage dripping off each Comic Sans character. The sendoff stood as a reason to doubt James could return to play for the same owner, but Gilbert apologized, the two worked it out, and James ultimately returned home.

How, exactly, did James come to put the post-Decision ordeal behind him? He explained Wednesday with a quote that sums up the nature of forgiveness pretty well:

How did I forgive? I'm a man. Men, we all make mistakes.

As a man, if you got a problem with somebody, you sit down face to face and you talk to them eye to eye. And you hash it out and move on. So, I think a lot of things that go on in life or in sports with people kind of holding grudges is because they're afraid to actually take a step forward. It's a fine line between pride and progress, and I'm on the progress side. I'm not on the pride side.

Gender-biased language aside (we're certain women can also both make mistakes and sit down to hash them out), that's a pretty good reminder you can always move forward.