Obviously for those who know me, I am a LeBron James fan to the core. Watching him from high school to his 7th year in the NBA playing for his close-to-hometown Cavaliers has been a true joy for myself, having family from outside of Cleveland, I know how much he means to not only the city but also the state of basketball in Ohio. No one can know what LeBron is thinking with the upcoming July 1st Free Agency period, except LeBron, and maybe his mother (well than you have to include DWest) wait I am getting side tracked. But seriously, the weight of an entire city has been on his shoulders since David Stern said "with the 1st overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft". From jump street he was deemed the savior to all of their championship mis-happenings - The Drive, The Shot, The Fumble; for those of you not old enough to know what any of those are, google them and you will see about 3 decade of Cleveland heartbreak and realize why James was going to be the end to all of their championship woes. But now, the city is faced with a different type of heartbreak, the type that could fold their NBA Franchise. What if James leaves Cleveland? It has been the talk of the nation since last July, and now it has all come to the forefront, with just over a month until the opening day of Free Agency. Personally, if James leaves Cleveland I will write him off and will not support him one bit, I will throw out all of my LeBron swag that I own because being a traitor is not something that I support. "Born Here, Raised Here, Stays Here" is a 100ft banner that hangs outside of Quicken Loans Arena, space bought by blue collar, hard working people who are pleading, begging him to stay. If he leaves, the city, which has enough financial struggles to begin with, will fall even farther down the slippery slope. The number one import/export for Cleveland is LeBron. He is the reason the city can keep its head above water, he gives an escape for the unemployed who are struggling to get by. Now you will have those who will say "it is just a game", well to many that is what they live for: sports. That is why people drop hundreds of dollars to go to a professional sports game, to see the best athletes in the world compete for a few hours. That is why we, as a society, allow athletes like Alex Rodriguez to sign 10 year - $250 million dollar contracts, with out raising the question, why is he getting paid that much money to hit a white stitched baseball and teachers salaries are getting cut every year? Personally, I like to believe that LeBron realizes where he comes from, and what he means to the city, in turn helping him to decide to stay. Why would he want to go to Chicago and live in Jordan's shadow for the rest of his career? Why would he want to play for the shady Russian billionaire Nets owner (though his homeboy Jay-Z is a miniority owner, which poses a serious threat)? And finally, why would he want to go play for the Knicks? If he thought he was scrutinized for his poor play in the playoffs this year, imagine if he was in NY and that happened, think about the cover of the Post and all of the hundreds of other magazines and gossip columns, they would absolutely tear him to shreds. So I plead with you LeBron, do whats best for yourself, best for you city, and best for the NBA...Stay in Cleveland.
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