Zydrunas Ilgauskas preparing for a 'hard, emotional' return to Cleveland with the Miami Heat

With his feet in another ice bath and a towel over his head inside a mostly silent locker room at TD Garden in Boston, Zydrunas Ilgauskas knew it was over.

LeBron James was at the next locker talking to friends in the moments after the Cavaliers were eliminated from last season's playoffs following a Game 6 loss to Boston. James would later say that, at that time, he didn't think that was the last night he'd wear a Cavs jersey.

But Ilgauskas knew it was the last time for himself.

"I knew my days as a Cav were over as soon as the Celtics series was over," Ilgauskas said last Friday as he was putting on his new uniform in a new home locker room in Miami."I felt if I was going to continue to play, and I wanted to, I needed a change."