For one weekend a year, LeBron turned Akron into a cool place to be. LeBron would invite his closest NBA friends to ride in his annual August bike-a-thon, an event that raised funds to support youth programs for organizations such as the Akron Urban League. No matter how bright LeBron’s star shined, he made it clear he was one of us. And it extends beyond the significant civic and philanthropic contributions he has made to improve the quality of life and open doors for other Akron kids. I am a witness not only to LeBron’s athletic greatness - which has shaped my two sons’ sports world view - but to the bond between LeBron and the community that he says raised him. By the time LeBron decided to take his talents to South Beach, I was the managing editor at the Cleveland Plain Dealer and signed off on the now-famous “Gone” page created by the talented designers on my staff. Like so many others, I was a Cavs season ticket holder for the seven years of LeBron’s first Cleveland tour. I watched his friends and family cheer when the Cavaliers selected him as the top pick in the 2003 NBA draft. Mary High School state basketball championship. 6 Heat jerseys.Īkron has had a love affair with LeBron James since I arrived 13 years ago to be editor of his hometown newspaper. Then-Akron mayor Don Plusquellic celebrated him for his many contributions to the city.
Local couples took trips to Miami to watch him play. The LeBron James Grandmothers’ Fan Club pledged to give him a parade no matter where he won his NBA championship rings. LeBron changed basketball teams but he never actually left Akron - and Akron never left him. A half-hour south of Quicken Loans Arena in Bath, Ohio, where LeBron resides, a neighbor on the corner of LeBron’s street posted a hard-to-miss sign in the front yard declaring support for LeBron to let him know his Akron family was still ride or die.
When LeBron James announced his plans to join the Miami Heat in July 2010, national media focused the narrative on angry Cleveland Cavaliers fans burning jerseys in downtown Cleveland.
0 kommentar(er)
