Lebron James’s thank you makes him look more heartless
"Read the name, Cleveland. And, um, oh yeah, screw you!"
Another day, another Lebron James Eff You to the entire city of Cleveland. This time, Lebron took out an ad in the Akron Beacon Journal to thank Akron. Which is nice and all, except, you know, he never mentioned Cleveland once during the thank you. For those that haven’t read the ad, here’s the text: (via Fear the Sword)
To My Family, Friends and Fans in Akron:
“For all my life, I have lived in Akron — and for that, I am truly a lucky man.
“It was here where I first learned how to play basketball, and where I met the people who would become my lifelong friends and mentors. Their guidance, encouragement and support will always be with me.
“Akron is my home, and the central focus of my life. It’s where I started, and it’s where I will always come back to. You can be sure that I will continue to do everything I can for this city, which is so important to my family and me.
Thank you for your love and support. You mean everything to me.”
The weird thing is, Lebron’s thank you could have been a really nice touch. Not that it would have made Cleveland like him at all, but it would have helped ease a little pain (just a tiny bit) from the Decision’s fallout. Plus, it could have started a reversal of Lebron’s public perception, which is currently dwindling a little more every day. It could have, you know, until Lebron decided to mention Cleveland a whopping zero times in his thank you, completely neglecting the city that cheered him on for the past seven years. The nice touch immediately became an enormous middle finger to an entire city.
Maybe he was planning to thank Cleveland too. It’s not out of the question that Lebron had an ad he planned to run in the Cleveland Plain Dealer as well. But if he did, it only accentuates how misguided he is. How could he not have known the public disapproval that would befall him when he came out with a thank you that didn’t mention Cleveland once? Even if he does run an ad in the Plain Dealer now, people will think he only did it as a result of the backlash to his original, Cleveland-less thank you. Even if he meant to do it all along.
Matt Moore of CBS Sports explained the botched thank you as a business decision gone wrong, but this goes well past the realm of business. Those Clevelanders worshipped Lebron for seven years. He was the Chosen One, Cleveland’s next great hope, and he was a local boy destined to turn the entire city’s bleak prospects upside down. Instead he left, tore Cleveland’s heart out in a nationally televised execution, and now completely declined to thank the city and its people. Leaving Cleveland out, if Lebron meant to do it, is beyond classless.
Look Lebron: Yeah, Clevelanders have burned some of (all of?) your jerseys. Yeah, they despise you about as much as they hate cancer. Yeah, they disowned you the second you decided to take your talents to South Beach. But can you blame them for that? Are you really going to hold a grudge? What are you, a hormonal teenager on your period? Those fans loved you, they trusted you, and they had some crazy illusion that you wouldn’t want to rip their hearts out on national television. You should have thanked them, and apologized to them, the day after you left.
Lebron, you could have taken the high road, thanked Cleveland for seven great years and come out looking like you actually had a heart. Instead you took the road less traveled, the road that offers thanks to one city but completely fails to mention the one where you played for seven years. And somehow, even after saying thank you, the legend of Lebron James, First-Class Asshole continues to grow.
P.S. – I shouldn’t be commenting on thank you notes at all. I still haven’t sent out thank yous for my graduation gifts. That’s a long-ass time not to send out thank you notes. But when I do finally get to them, I am definitely thanking my aunts but not my uncles.
P.P.S. – Don’t let Lebron take all the heat. Here’s Dwyane Wade: “I understand people are going to say stuff. And we accept it with open arms,” Wade said. “And even on the road, because every place is going to sell out when we come to town. So [opposing teams] can thank us now.”
“So opposing teams can thank us now,” huh? Here’s hoping the Celtics thank Lebron just like Lebron thanked Cleveland.
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Around the NBA, Celtics Blog, Featured | Jay King | August 3, 2010
Whether it’s intentional, or just really bad advice to an immature kid who doesn’t know any better, every move he makes is cementing his legacy as not one of the greatest players to ever pick up a basketball, but one of the biggest Dbags to ever pick up a basketball.
I’m almost starting to feel bad for him, he can’t possibly realize what he’s doing to himself, and obviously has absolutely 0 idea public perception is. 10 years from now he will look back and wonder “Wtf did I do?”
Poor, mis-guided fool.
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It’s so strange, because before all this he had never really made any huge errors in public perception. Now, he does just about every day.
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This is a nontroversy. He specifically wrote a thank you to akron because that is hwere he lived his whole life.
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But Cleveland is right down the road from where he lived his whole life and is where he was showered with love for seven years. Ignoring that while thanking his home town is where the controversy comes in.
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That’s like if I was somehow an unbelievable talent that grew up to play for the Boston Red Sox and then left without winning a championship 7 years later to go to a talent stacked team like the yankees only to write a thank you letter to Worcester. Sure I love Worcester but to not mention Boston, which in essence encapsulates everyone who rooted for that team or went to a game. I could come up with better analogies but it’s 4:20 AM in Colorado so I’m gonna call it a night.
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Well played sir.
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I don’t agree with what Lebron has done but to be honest I can’t blame him.
The guy spent 7 years in a talentless organization that never once made a good move to solidify him a solid #2 player on the roster.
He accumulated 2 MVP’s, one trip to the finals, 5 straight playoff berths, back to back 60 win seasons and always played like a freak.
What did he get for it?
An owner who wouldn’t part with JJ hickson to get Amare instead of Twan, Mo Williams choking in the playoffs, people saying he coped out the last two seasons, then people burning your crap and an owner going berserk on you publicly.
No offense but if it was me…I’d give CLE the finger too.
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