LeBron James Comments on Ohio State vs. Akron Matchup in 2016 NIT Tournament

In a battle between two of his biggest loyalties, LeBron James is picking Akron over Ohio State for their NIT matchup Tuesday night.  

“Obviously I’m torn, being a huge supporter of Ohio State, but I’m also a big supporter of my high school coach in Keith Dambrot,” James said Monday night, per Jason Lloyd and Dan Kadar of the Akron Beacon Journal. “He helped shape me into who I am today as a basketball player and it’s where I’m from, so I’m going with the Zips for sure.”

James played for Dambrot during his high school career, leading St. Vincent-St. Mary to two state championships. Dambrot left St. Vincent-St. Mary in 2004 for Akron, where he's been for more than a decade. The Zips have gone to three NCAA tournaments and played in eight postseason tournaments overall since his arrival.

"He's resurrected our program (at Akron), and then obviously what he's done with the Cavaliers," Dambrot said of James, per Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. "He's just got a knack."

Of course, James also has loyalties to Ohio State. He has maintained he would have been a Buckeye had he been forced to attend college, and he's given the program custom basketball shoes. James was even willing to pick Ohio State over Oregon in the pair's national championship game matchup in 2015 despite his Nike ties.

It appears James' ties to Dambrot override his love of Ohio State. James is also being faithful to his hometown, which he shouts out any time he gets an opportunity. The first words of his bio on Twitter are "Est. Akron," and his close relationship with Dambrot has, at the very least, been helpful to the Zips program.

With him now choosing Akron over Ohio State, one has to wonder if we'll see LeBron James Jr. wearing a Zips uniform someday. 

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