NBA All-Star weekend PSA: LeBron James is the Kid from AKRON, not Cleveland
AKRON, Ohio — Perkins Park is surrounded by snow and silence, a cold, wet February afternoon chasing even the most ambitious hoopers away from one of the city's most famous courts. A sloppy mix of water, ice and snow covers huge portions of the partially cracked cement. One net is dangling from the rim.
A small gaggle of geese marches up a hill behind empty bleachers and naked trees.
The courts down this skinny one-way road are totally empty — and somehow LeBron James is still everywhere.
A week before James plays in his 19th NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland, the town where he rescued a franchise and earned the city a coveted title, he told The Los Angeles Times that this wasn't a homecoming.
"People always say, 'You're going back home.' But I tell people all the time, 'I'm not from Cleveland.' There's no disrespect to Cleveland. But, when you're from Akron, you're not from Cleveland," James said. "This is where I'm from. "
The proof is everywhere.
At Perkins Park, his logo is at center court, under the melting snow. At St. Vincent-St. Mary High, his name is above the doors and below the scoreboard. At the Summit Lake Community Center, his photos, sneakers and wristbands are inside a glass case.
Forgetting for a moment James' other Akron initiatives — his I Promise School, House Three Thirty community center and I Promise Housing — his basketball legacy in his hometown has as large of an impact as ever — a new era of players ready to add to
