“I’m going to take my talents to South Beach.”

— LeBron James, 2010

Who could ever forget those nine words uttered by James nearly 10 years ago during a live televised event called The Decision on ESPN? It was one of the most scrutinized moves by a star athlete. 

The way James made his announcement upset many people nationwide, who said the hoopla surrounding the event was disrespectful to Cleveland, where he had spent the first seven seasons of his career. 

ESPN will explore that fiasco and its fallout in a new documentary, “Backstory: The Decision,” which premieres Sunday at 6 p.m. PST. 

Don Van Natta Jr. is the host and executive producer of the documentary, which will feature interviews with former ESPN president John Skipper and journalists Buzz Bissinger and Mike Wilbon among others.

 “The mission was to go back to this absurd one hour of prime time television 10 years ago when it was announced he was taking his talents to South Beach and peel back the curtain and find out the origin story of what made that happen and why, what LeBron was trying to accomplish and then also what the legacy of the show was,” Van Natta Jr. said on ESPN earlier this week. “At the time it was universally criticized. It was bad for LeBron. Bad for ESPN. But it was really a revolutionary moment for the way athletes tell their stories, for LeBron finding his voice and it really is an amazing moment for player empowerment. That’s the thing that really struck me in the reporting of this episode.”

The special turned James into a short-lived villain. Cavaliers fans burned his jersey. And Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert wrote a scathing letter about James that was posted on the team website, in which he called him "our former hero" and criticized his "cowardly betrayal."

But after winning back-to-back championships in Miami with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in 2012 and 2013, James returned to Cleveland and led the franchise to its first title in 2016, earning the forgiveness of fans who had felt scorned. 

Former NBA commissioner David Stern made no secret that he didn’t want “The Decision” to happen and he tried to stop it. Van Natta Jr. said Stern “begged” Skipper to cancel the show to no avail. 

James' reputation was temporarily tarnished by the event, but he quickly recovered to become one of the most beloved and respected athletes in the world. 

“Even though there were a lot of mistakes that were made, he’s learned from them,” Van Natta Jr. said. “Arguably, he’s really found his voice and become, I believe, the most outspoken and influential American athlete. A lot of it is traced back to that night in Grenich, Connecticut, 10 years ago.”