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.
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| 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.
