Win or Lose, LeBron James Has Already Made Good on His Promise to Cleveland
CLEVELAND — Dear LeBron:
You're not busy, are you? I had a few thoughts I wanted to share, and I hope the good people of Ohio agree with me as well.
This is my 574th article I've had the privilege to write for Bleacher Report but the first open letter. I write you now as both an analyst and resident of Northeast Ohio, even having spent four years in your hometown of Akron.
It's almost been a whole year since you announced your return to the Cleveland Cavaliers on July 11, 2014. As exciting as that day was, the weeks leading up to it were almost as memorable.
Sports radio in Cleveland dropped everything to focus on the possibility of your return. Reports and rumors ran wild. Conversations transitioned quickly from, "Hi, how are you?" to "Did you hear LeBron might be coming back?" We even got a little crazy and gathered outside your Bath Township home (sorry about that), hoping to be the first to hear any news. A buzz was definitely in the air.
You mentioned in your Sports Illustrated essay that our passion "can be overwhelming," but said it drives you. Athletes such as yourself drive us the same way we motivate you. Your performances give us hope and a bond to unite over. Cleveland, Akron and other surrounding areas have struggled economically, yet our saving grace, our escape, has always been a trip to the arena, ballpark or stadium.
This is what makes the upcoming weeks so special.
You're 30 years old, which means you've never witnessed a pro sports championship in Cleveland. No one born after 1964 has. Only three times has one of our teams even made it to a championship round or game since that time, with your 2007 Cavs being the last to accomplish such a feat.
Now, eight years later, here we are again.
You said last summer that you wanted to win a title this year but that you were realistic. You said it would take longer than 2010, when it took two years to create a championship team. Still feel the same way?
After all, your Cavaliers have the best record (12-2) of any team in the postseason. The defense, once a question mark in the regular season, has been phenomenal. The Cavs are first among all playoff teams, allowing just 92.6 points on 28.1 percent shooting from deep. According to a source in the know (via ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin), this is also the best basketball you've ever played, ever.
The chemistry appears to be there. What seemed like a somber locker room earlier in the season quickly turned into a regular postgame party. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love have helped ease the scoring pressure on you all season. New additions Timofey Mozgov, Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith have infused size, shooting, length and defense throughout the rotation. This team also has some of the best veterans to learn from that the league has to offer with James Jones, Mike Miller, Shawn Marion, Kendrick Perkins and Brendan Haywood.
We know a family environment, such as the one you had at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, is important to you. It may have taken some time, but the Cavaliers have become just that.
Even though the Cavs enter the Finals as underdogs to the 67-win Golden State Warriors, we're confident that you guys can get this thing done. Everything's changed from 2007. At the time, you were just 22 with zero prior championship trips. Now 30 with two rings to show, you have to feel much more confident about your chances than you did the first time the Cavaliers faced the San Antonio Spurs all those years ago.
All the pieces are there for you to lead Cleveland to a place it hasn't been in so long. Bringing a title to Northeast Ohio would mean redemption and fulfill all the promises you made in your letter last summer.
Except, it wouldn't.
You never promised a championship. You talked about things far more important.
It's easy to label you a basketball player, a celebrity and a businessman. Sometimes it's easy to forget that you went through rough times. Moving from house to house. Growing up in a single-parent home. Having to mature early as the man of the house.
People from outside of Ohio may not get it, but this is really where our connection begins. Not because you play for the Cavaliers. It's the fact that you were born here, went to school here, grew up and became a man here, like so many of us did. LeBron James didn't hatch from a genetically modified superhuman shell. You weren't born with incredible basketball skills. Like the rest of Northeast Ohio, you had to work for what you have. Everything was earned.
That's why it doesn't matter if you and the Cavaliers win a championship or not for your impact to be felt.
The 800 Akron Public School students you sponsor through the LeBron James Family Foundation will still receive the help they need. Students will still get mentorship opportunities through the Akron After School program. This means parents, teachers and volunteers are working with at-risk youth to improve their math and reading skills, encouraging them to pursue education as a valuable lifetime tool. The program works, too. I've been there, worked with these same students. Your foundation is making a difference.
These students made a promise to you that they would go to school, be respectful to their parents, teachers and peers, be active and make good decisions. In return, you promised them to be the best role model you could be, on and off the court. By doing this, these students are being empowered to make the best choices for their futures, something kids and teenagers don't do nearly enough.
It's not just students in the community you're supporting but teenagers and adults as well, whether it be through donations and $1 million gymnasium improvements to St. V, or to parents of Akron After School students by offering to help with groceries and rent.
You promised to never forget where you came from, a promise you've certainly kept. The Cavs matter again, facing a bright future for years to come. This may or may not be your best shot at a ring in Cleveland, but it certainly won't be your only one.
The Cavaliers and Warriors will be an amazing series to watch. Winning a championship is obviously the goal, as well it should be.
To you, LeBron, try not to feel too much pressure. The city desperately wants a title now but certainly doesn't need one. What we really needed was hope, a quality that has pulsated throughout our area ever since you returned home.
Win or lose, you've also made good on your promise to lead, to bring a group together and to accept all the challenges that have gone along with joining a new team.
By helping and inspiring hope for all the students, adults, fans and residents of Northeast Ohio, you've done far more important things than win basketball games. Regardless of how the Finals turn out, LeBron, you've followed through.
For that, we're grateful.
Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers and NBA for Bleacher Report since 2010.
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