When people see, hear, or even shout, the name LeBron James it is usually in reference to the sport of basketball. The man who first started making waves in the basketball world as just a boy from St. Vincent-St. Mary's High School in Akron, Ohio, is now one of the most popular athletes on the entire planet. Even people who are not basketball fans usually recognize the name, LeBron James. He's won three NBA Championships, three NBA Final's MVP awards, and four NBA regular season MVP awards, he has multiple other accomplishments and awards to his name as well.
The one thing I absolutely love most about LeBron James is that no matter how many awards he wins, astounding accomplishments he makes, or records he breaks, he always reminds the world that he started out as just a kid from Akron.
From the day I heard about LeBron James, I was a fan. I became a fan of James because of his talent as a basketball player, but I have stayed a fan of James because of who he is as a man. When James announced on live television that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers, I was shocked and saddened, just like many other Cavs fans. I was disappointed, but I did not condemn James for leaving and I tucked both of my number 23 Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James jerseys away for the time being. I can honestly say that I hoped he would return, some day. I had to believe that man who had fought so hard from the very beginning of his career to bring a championship to his home state, to the fans who first supported him and first called him the King, where he had become the best player in the world, would some day return to bring redemption to Cleveland. I can proudly say that I was not disappointed.
Yes, the way James left Cleveland was not handled in the best way, and some people did have the right to be angry with him. Whether it was just the fact he wanted more than anything to win a championship and he thought Miami could provide that right away, and Cleveland could not -- whatever the reason he left, he never talked badly about his home. No matter how much he was taunted, mocked, cussed at, by Cleveland fans, James remembered where he came from.
This man is a classy man. He does not get in trouble. He has never landed in jail, never been accused of a crime, never talked truly badly about anyone (not counting smack talk on the court, or in interviews). He married his high school sweetheart; he has three children with his wife whom he loves and supports; he remains friends, as well as business partners with his best friends and basketball teammates from high school; he has his own charity that pays to send thousands of kids to college; he is an exceptional business man and he continues to work hard no matter how successful he becomes. I mention all these different things that I think help make him a good man because in the world, today, there are countless athletes and celebrities who do not even come close to setting as good of an example for younger generations as LeBron James.
Even when it pained me to watch James win championships with a team that was not the Cleveland Cavaliers I remained a fan of this man. I am always impressed with how he conducts himself on and off the court. He is a man with an incredible amount of power and influence throughout the world and he uses it for good. He knows that there are people who admire him for solely who he is as a basketball player, but James does not make excuses, he does not act out and he continually puts his best foot forward because he truly is a good man.
James is not perfect; I don't think he would ever claim to be. He realizes that there are things, people, more important than him, including God who he makes a point of thanking for his success. Somehow, James manages to stay humble. Somehow, he lifts up a team of highly skilled players and makes them even better. Somehow, he did return to Cleveland and win a championship when most of the world doubted him. Somehow, he has earned the respect of millions of people, somehow he manages to do what seems to be the impossible. Somehow, he manages to remember that at one time he was just a kid growing up in Akron.
