LeBron: Back for Good?

Today's post was written by Natalie Schmid, a Play Like a Champion Today intern.  Natalie is a rising high school junior and a member of her school's swimming and soccer teams. 

King James is back in Cleveland, and media attention is, once again, on him. This begs the question: Is LeBron just coming home and being loyal to his home in Ohio or is all this just to get more attention and more money? When LeBron left the Cavaliers to go to the Heat, the whole fan base was devastated—people even burned his jerseys.  However, now he is back, and the Cavs organization is welcoming him back with open arms.  Fans also seem to be welcoming him, luckily for LeBron, or he could have had a real tough time back in Cleveland if they had not.

LeBron is coming back to the Cavs like a hero saying that he will win championships with them. This could be true, but one thing that is certain is that LeBron coming back to the Cleveland is that he is getting a lot of publicity and the season has not even begun (and his last team just got definitively beaten in the NBA Finals.) Is publicity the real reason that LeBron switch back to the Cavs? One could argue that this is an entirely money and publicity-driven move, but then again, it LeBron could just want to go home to Ohio.

photo courtesy of sbnation.com

LeBron James grew up in Ohio and began his professional life there. LeBron has said that he always knew he wanted to go back to Cleveland eventually, I guess now is that time. But for whatever intention LeBron has now, there still is the fact that he left Cleveland for championships and money with Miami. There is a certain expectation in sports that you are loyal to your team. Even in professional sports where playing well is the athlete’s job, there is still team loyalty that happens (and fans often associate players with specific teams.) And King James did not exhibit that, so could this just be another stop for LeBron on his quest for many championships, or is it returning to his roots to stay?

As an athlete I believe LeBron won’t betray his Cavaliers again by leaving. As much as it is a job for him, the loyalty and community you feel with teams cannot be ignored. I believe he won’t ignore it, and that LeBron is in Cleveland to stay because it is where he started and where he will likely end his career when he is ready. While he certainly benefits from the publicity, I do not think that LeBron’s return to Ohio is not just for media attention, he is there because he grew up there and is ready to win championships there too. LeBron seems to have grown up a lot over the past several seasons, and despite winning championships in Miami, I hope he is now ready to actually PLAY Like a Champion in Cleveland.