It was mildly amusing yesterday to see the different, and often hysterical, reactions to the biggest news event of the week — Lebron James’ decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for the “greener” NBA grass in Miami.

Cleveland went ballistic over what it saw as a betrayal. The city’s newspaper, The Plain Dealer, dedicated its front page to a full-length photo of Lebron and this biting commentary: “Gone. 7 years in Cleveland. No rings.” What a bunch of “homers“!

Bitterness ruled the day in Chicago and New York, cities that Lebron rejected as his new basketball home. And Miami celebrated the anointing of a new sports king.

Lebron fever even hit the hills of my home state, West Virginia. The reason: A couple of weeks before Lebron decided to go to Miami, the Heat drafted West Virginia University all-star Da’Sean Butler. So if Butler makes the team, he could be playing with not only Lebron James but also Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, two other NBA all-stars headed for Miami.

Here’s how Da’Sean reacted on Twitter:

¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡LEBRON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And here was the reaction from Morgantown, W.Va., where Mountaineers fans realized that two of the school’s best players ever, Da’Sean and Devin Ebanks (drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers), could be playing for title-contending NBA teams in their rookie seasons:

WVU assistant coach Eric Martin was watching the announcement, and his thoughts quickly turned to the summer of 2007 when Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined Paul Pierce in Boston.

“The thing that makes it so much better is all of these guys are in their prime,” says Martin. “Da’Sean will have the chance to compete against three of the best players in the world every day in practice. As hard as Da’Sean works in practice, I know he’ll get better.” …

[I]f both Mountaineers make their respective teams, WVU fans will have a new TV special to watch [on Christmas Day]. Martin, who hails from West Covina, Calif., will have to put his L.A. loyalty aside for the day to support both of his former pupils.

“That would be Must-See-TV anyway because I’m a Lakers fan, so I’m always going to watch their games, but the fact that I’ve got somebody I’ve coached on each team, it kind of makes me a little bit more neutral because I’m cheering for both of those guys,” he says.

It just goes to show that good news (or bad) is in the eye of the reader. And this reader is a Mountaineer, so even though I’m only a casual fan of professional sports, I say the news is good. Best of luck to you both, Lebron and Da’Sean!