According to Bloomberg Businessweek, LeBron James’ first-person article on why he chose to go back to the Cleveland Cavaliers on the Sports Illustrated website netted them more than 6.1 million unique visitors last Friday. That’s the most traffic for any sports story at any time.
The biggest traffic event in Sport Illustrated’s history previously was a column at the MMQB by Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman following his controversial on-field interview after the NFC Championship in January (4.3 million unique visitors). And prior to that article, Jason Collins’ first-person essay announcing that he was gay topped the list previously (3.7 million unique visitors).
Although speculation was running wild, LeBron James shocked the world with his 952-word statement posted on the Sports Illustrated website announcing that he would not be returning to the Miami Heat and therefore making his way back home to the Cleveland Cavaliers.