'The fly-over city': LeBron James makes All-Star Game homecoming a love letter to Akron

CLEVELAND — Every time LeBron James spoke over the past week, he made his 18th All-Star appearance a love letter to Akron.

On Sunday night he signed it with a flourish and a chalk toss, as well as a roar.

The phrase he coined — “Just A Kid From Akron” — became the theme of the 71st NBA All-Star Game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Los Angeles Lakers star James made the game-winning shot in Team LeBron’s 163-160 victory over Team Durant. Akron-born Stephen Curry poured in 50 points for James’ team and was voted MVP.

In the stands were James’ wife, Savannah, and their three children, LeBron Jr., Bryce and Zhuri, and his mother, Gloria. So, too, were his agent Rich Paul, his business partner Maverick Carter, and his right-hand man Randy Mims. After the game, James shot photos with former teammates at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, among them Romeo Travis, Sian Cotton, and Brandon Weems, the Cavaliers’ senior director of player personnel. James brought them with him to the interview room.

All from Akron, and James enveloped himself in that cocoon.

He didn’t hesitate to explain to the world what his “kid” motto means to him.

“You look back there,” he said, referring to his high school friends, “we’re literally all kids from Akron. We are a group of young men who always felt like we were looked over because of the popularity and notoriety of cities like Cleveland and Columbus and Dayton. Canton even gets mentioned because of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Cincinnati gets mentioned. We always felt like we were the fly-over city.

“I just remind myself and remind my following and the group of fans and the people that follow my journey that I'm a kid from Akron or one of the kids from Akron that has made it and trying to make it possible for the next kid from Akron. Yeah, that's what it's about.”

During player introductions, his hometown got another shout-out, and James threw back his head in a massive roar. After playing for the Cavs for 11 seasons in two stints and breaking Cleveland’s 52-year championship drought in 2016, James felt the love from the crowd.

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“When they said the kid from Akron, Ohio, that was pretty cool,” James said. “Then hearing the ovation that I got from these fans, they’ve seen 11 years of my NBA career and they saw pretty much four years of my high school career. Some of them followed me all the way back to when I started playing basketball at Summit Lake at the A.R.B., that’s the Akron Recreational Bureau, if you don't know, I'll tell you that, anyways.

“These guys have followed my journey, and for me to be back here today and for them to give me that warm welcome, it didn’t only mean something to me but it meant something to my family and my friends that’s here. My kids from my school are all over this place. It just super dope. Super, super, super dope and I was very humbled and appreciative of it.”

James’ ground-breaking I Promise School, which opened in 2018 in a partnership with the LeBron James Family Foundation and Akron Public Schools, works with academically at-risk students and offers a free college education. Team LeBron’s All-Star Game beneficiary was the Kent State I Promise Scholars Program, which earned $450,000. (Team Durant earned $300,000 for the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.)

There were more hometown mentions in James’ love letter.

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When he thought about what happened in the game, he said, “I could not have dreamed of that moment any better ... For me to be back here, like I keep stating, 35 minutes south I grew up here in Akron, Ohio, to hit the game-winner in the All-Star Game with me and my guys back in the back, we used to watch the All-Star Game.

“I remember 25 years ago we were 12, 11, wishing that we had the opportunity or the means to come up to Cleveland and watch some of the greatest basketball players of all time because they inspired us so much. For me to be here today, my best friends to be here, my wife, my kids, my mom and so many people that have seen me grow from really a young talent to where I am today, I couldn’t picture that moment any better.”

Also being introduced on the NBA 75th Anniversary Team at halftime, James said it was a night to cherish.

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“I hope in great health, I hope so. Health is most important, but I hope I never forget this moment,” said James, 37. “It would be cool if 20, 25, from now when they do the top 100 that it’s back here.

“I’m glad my kids got to witness. Then when my grandkids show up at some point, I’ll be able to show ‘em some footage, what their grandad was able to accomplish when he played the game of basketball.”

James spent the weekend seeing “my guys” and his joy was literally overflowing afterward. Perhaps they discussed his comments from Saturday, when he left the door open for another return to Cleveland if he can fulfill his desireplay with Bronny.

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“Even though I see them when I come back home in the summer, we always link up,” James said. “There's just something special. We've never spent an All-Star Weekend all of us together. Every last one of them was here — Sian, Willie [McGee], Dru [Joyce III], Frankie [Walker Jr.], Brandon. We were all here together for the first time.

“Then having my mom in the building and having my wife and my kids here, it's just ... how much more can a man ask for really when you have an opportunity to live this moment with everybody that has seen you come up? Let me not forget Maverick, Rich and Randy as well. We spent All-Star Weekend together for the first time in my career, and I don't know if that will ever happen again.

"So, there's no reason for me not to have joy.”

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 'Just A Kid From Akron' LeBron James surpasses NBA All-Star dream