Even though he has left the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise on two different occasions, LeBron James remains an absolute hero in the state of Ohio. LeBron spent 11 seasons with the Cavaliers and brought the franchise its first NBA Championship back in 2016.
With the 2022 NBA All-Star Game taking place in Cleveland, LeBron got to return to where he has had so many unforgettable memories, and even though he has returned plenty of times before, LeBron appreciated the ovation he received.
“When they said, ‘from Akron, Ohio, the kid from Akron, Ohio,’ that was pretty cool,” LeBron said. “And then just hearing the ovation that I got from these fans here, they seen 11 years of my NBA career, and they saw pretty much, I mean, four years of my high school career, and some of them even followed me all the way back to when I started playing basketball at Summer Lake at the A.R.B., that’s Akron Recreational Bureau if you don’t know. I’ll tell you that anyways.
“I mean, these guys have followed my journey. For me to be back here, like I said, today, and for them to give me that warm welcome, didn’t only mean something to me, but it meant something to my family and friends that are here, and my kids from my school are all over this place. It’s just super dope. Super, super, super dope, and I was very humbled and appreciative of that.”
The phrase, ‘the kid from Akron,’ is something LeBron says a lot and even used it when discussing Stephen Curry’s performance as the Warriors star was also born in Akron as well. LeBron went into detail about what that phrase means to him and those from the city.
“You can look back there. We’re literally all kids from Akron. We are a group of young men who always felt like we was looked over because of the popularity and notoriety that cities like Cleveland and Columbus and Dayton and Canton even gets mentioned because of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Cincinnati gets mentioned. We always felt like we were the fly-over city.
“I just remind myself and remind my following and the group of fans and the people that follow my journey that I’m a kid from Akron or one of the kids from Akron that has made it and trying to make it possible for the next kid from Akron. Yeah, that’s what it’s about.”
Regardless of everything LeBron has accomplished throughout his career, he has never forgotten where he came from and has embraced being from Akron. And the city has never ceased to embrace LeBron James either, as he will forever be synonymous with the city.
LeBron James praises Stephen Curry’s 50-point performance in All-Star Game
LeBron James and Stephen Curry stole the show at the All-Star game with his 16 three-pointers taking home the Kobe Bryant MVP Award. Afterward, LeBron had nothing but praise for Curry.
“First of all, well, I mean, Steph, come on, man. This guy is from a different planet,” LeBron said after the game. “He literally has an automatic sniper connected to his arm, and when he lets it go, not only himself but everybody on the floor, in the stands, on TV, on their phones, whatever you are watching on, you think it’s going in every time. Nine times out of 10 and sometimes 10 times out of 10, it does go in.
“To be out there and watch that kid from Akron as well shoot the ball the way he shot it, it was unbelievable. It was pretty cool.”
