National Basketball Association

LeBron James receives standing ovation of a lifetime from Cleveland Indians fans

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:58 p.m. ET

Dan Carson

LeBron James and playoff atmospheres are old friends. He knows them well. He calls them just to chat.

It's the natural byproduct of going to six NBA Finals in as many years, but I'd hazard to guess that LeBron never has heard a crowd like the one at Progressive Field on Friday night for Game 2 of the AL Division Series.

James walked out to address the fans, and could barely speak over the riotous standing ovation he received from the sold-out crowd in Cleveland.

.@KingJames is ready to #RallyTogether.

Let's go!!!! pic.twitter.com/1vuBXVOgxi
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) October 7, 2016

That's just...wild.

LeBron James and the Cavaliers just pumped up the crowd at Progressive Field. pic.twitter.com/HnQMAcJgoe
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) October 7, 2016

The capacity at Progressive Field is listed at 35,225. Per Cleveland.com's Zack Miesel, more than 37,000 were on hand for Game 1 on the Thursday—or roughly 12,000 more fans than the crowd that packs into Quicken Loans (listed capacity: 25,562) during the NBA season.

So, besides perhaps the Finals victory parade, this is possibly the largest, most raucous crowd to ever cheer this hard for LeBron James. Even he clutches his chest for a moment with the initial boom from the stands.

I don't know what else to say. It was very cool.

Dan is on Twitter. The Warriors lost a 3-1 lead for the culture.