LeBron James decided that certain people in Ohio, were deserving of some gratitude from him. So he took out a full page ad in the Akron Beacon Journal, thanking them for supporting him. There is no mention of Cleveland in his Akron thank you note. James plans on appearing at an annual bike-a-thon that he sponsors in Akron.As reported by ESPN.com, James thanks the residents of his hometown for their support and love,and says he will always come back to the city that he refers to as the “ central focus “ of his life.
The letter from James is certainly a great gesture, but unfortunately for the Miami Heat superstar, there should have been a letter that was addressed to the fans who paid to watch him play in Cleveland.That message should have been communicated by LeBron to the fans of the Cavaliers, before he made his formal announcement of his departure from the Buckeye state. In fact, an advertisement in a Cleveland paper,detailing his departure,and thanking the Cavs fans for their support, would have been better received, than the one hour soap opera he was featured on,as the vehicle for making the announcement of his NBA plans.
The feelings in Cleveland were already quite bitter about his decision, so the advertisement in Akron, with no references to the city where he played for seven years, will be another layer of salt on their wound.
The ad in the Akron paper states: “ It was here where I first learned how to play basketball, and where I met the people who would become my lifelong mentors. Their guidance,encouragement and support will always be with me…..It’s where I started, and it’s where I will always come back to. You can be sure that I will continue to do everything I can for this city, which is so important to my family and me. Thank you for your love and support. You mean everything to me.”
Those final two sentences, would have meant the world to the city of Cleveland, and the Cavs fans in particular, especially before the rest of the world knew where LeBron was heading. The letter was a great idea, but from this point of view, James missed the most important target for this type of message, by about 35 miles.
Stormin Norman Rumack has been a respected sports radio broadcaster for nearly two decades. You can learn more about Norm by visiting his official website latenightvampire.com
2 comments: on "LeBron Thanks Akron"
It's really unfortunate (see: pathetic) how fans of teams in small market cities think that they have some sort of personal rapport with athletes and that their every action has to be justified. Sorry Cleveland, but LeBron doesn't owe you anything; he played his ass off for seven years, without a lot of help around him. He has nothing to show for it, and now he's going somewhere where he can win a championship. Not only that, he's taking a pay cut to do so. In an era where so many athletes leave a team and go elsewhere because they want more money or want to have more influence on the team they play on, LeBron took a decrease in both in the name of winning. Every Cleveland fan would do the exact same thing if they were him.
You know who does owe Cleveland an apology, though? Dan Gilbert. He owes the city of Cleveland a big old "Sorry that we had the greatest player of this generation, but were so monumentally incompetent that we were unable to build a championship calibre team around him."
Cavs failed with him
His support cast over 7 years
Jason Kapono
Big Z
Shaq who was out of his prime
Mo Williams
Anthony Parker/Jamario Moon
Wally Szerbiak ( srry if name is wrong)
Ben Wallace= crap
and Larry Hughes
There all decent players but 0 titles. Lebron isnt getting any younger and getting a chance to play with Bosh and Wade would be a massive upgrade ( Also big Z tagged along with Lebron to the heat and cav fans dont even care lol)
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