by Ryan Isley
It was an early Friday morning on the day of October 3rd, 1980; 12:07 a.m. to be exact. The place was Saint Thomas Medical Center in Akron, Ohio. That is when a baby boy was born to Mara and Richard Isley, Sr. and you guessed it – that baby would be me.
Just over four years and two-and-a-half months later, LeBron James was born in this same city.
So when LeBron makes the statement that he is just a kid from Akron, Ohio – something he said after the Miami Heat won their second NBA championship in a row last week and also when he collected his 2010 NBA MVP award – I can relate.
Of course when LeBron held his ESPN special on July 8, 2010 and left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the sun and fun of South Beach and the Miami Heat, I was upset like all Cavaliers fans. I let that bitterness resonate for the 2010-11 season and was thrilled when the Dallas Mavericks came back in the NBA Finals to beat the Heat and deny LeBron his first NBA championship.
But something happened after that season. LeBron held to his commitments in the city of Akron. He showed that despite leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers, he was still a kid from Akron who would take care of his hometown. And mine. I was born and raised in Akron, just like LeBron. My wife and I now live in my childhood home in Akron and if we have children, they will be raised here as well. They will be raised in the city that LeBron continually gives back to, the city he embraces.
As Zac Jackson (@FSOhioZJackson) wrote in his piece on LeBron for Fox Sports Ohio last week, LeBron still has roots in Akron and still takes care of those in the city. Like the $25,000 he donated to Akron Public Schools or the 1,000 computers that the LeBron James Family foundation donated in 2011 that cost nearly $500,000.
Things like that make this more than just about basketball for me. I attended Akron Public Schools from preschool through my high school graduation and I have friends who teach in Akron Public Schools. I also have friends who have children who attend Akron Public Schools. And having worked for a company that managed schools for at-risk dropout high school students in Akron, helping out the educational system in Akron hits home.
Therefore, this is more personal for me. Because I am from Akron.
Besides the work that LeBron does with the LeBron James Family Foundation and the donations he has made to Akron Public Schools and also the huge donation he made to his alma mater St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, LeBron has also stayed loyal to guys like Keith Dambrot. As we all know, Dambrot coached LeBron in his first two seasons at St. Vincent-St. Mary and is now the head coach at the University of Akron. Not to mention that some of LeBron’s high school teammates and friends also went to the University of Akron and played for the Zips and their former head coach.
The Zips are still outfitted with the LeBron James line from Nike, despite LeBron’s move to the Heat a few summers back. When asked about if he had taken any criticism for still wearing LeBron’s line the November following LeBron’s departure, Dambrot stuck with LeBron and said he would back his guy. At first, I was surprised by the comments from Dambrot. But I get it now.
And so do others from Akron. Not all, but some.
The biggest issue of late has been the idea that Akron and Cleveland are somehow not separate cities and therefore those in Akron should not look at LeBron differently than those in Cleveland view him. Sure, they are both cities in northeast Ohio, but they are separate cities at the end of the day. And the nonsense that Akron and Cleveland are not separate cities or that Akron is a suburb of Cleveland is a level of ignorance that cannot be comprehended.
The only time that the Akron and Cleveland divide has become an issue is when it involves LeBron. When the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational comes to Firestone Country Club every August, the city of Cleveland is never mentioned. And Akron has never staked claim to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, Akron and Cleveland ARE different cities. Akron is the city where LeBron is FROM, while Cleveland is the city in which LeBron PLAYED. When LeBron left in 2010, he left Cleveland. He didn’t leave Akron. In fact, when you drive into the city of Akron, there are signs that tell you it is the hometown of LeBron James and outlines some of his career accomplishments – signs that will once again need updated.
If you aren’t from Akron, I can understand your frustration and disdain for the way LeBron left the Cleveland Cavaliers organization. And if you aren’t from Akron, I can understand why you wouldn’t feel the same way I do about LeBron. But at the same time, you need to understand that I view LeBron differently because the contributions he makes to my city makes the situation different for me.
I will not apologize for supporting a guy who is from my hometown and never forgets it.
After all – Like LeBron, I am just a kid from Akron, Ohio.
Comments? Questions? You can leave them here or email Ryan at ryan@morethanafan.net
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