Sunday, August 8th, 2010 at 9:45 am  |  23 responses

LeBron James Thanks Cleveland, Northeast Ohio

A month after leaving Cleveland behind, LeBron James finally thanked the fans who supported him his first seven years in the NBA. NBA.com has the story: “LeBron James finally thanked his fans in Cleveland on Saturday, making his first public appearance since he left the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. At his annual “King for Kids” charity bike-a-thon in downtown Akron, James addressed a friendly crowd of several hundred people who cheered as he took the podium. ‘To the city of Cleveland, my fans in Cleveland, my fans in northeast Ohio,’ said James, ‘I want to say thank you for the last seven years and the years that continue to go in the future.’ Then he repeated the thank you to Cleveland a second time, as if for extra emphasis. ‘So I want to thank the city of Cleveland, also northeast Ohio, for all the great years that I’ve had,’ he said. Last week, James came under fire for taking out a full-page newspaper ad in the Akron Beacon Journal in which he thanked the city of Akron for its support. The ad contained no mention of Cleveland, where James got his start in the NBA. Emotions are still running high among Cleveland fans who felt betrayed by James, who was revered in that city for years.”

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  • Dacre Posted: Aug.8 at 9:51 am
    Thats fine LeBron. Hope you never win a ring though… but thanks.

  • Wat Misaka Posted: Aug.8 at 9:52 am
    “The ad contained no mention of Cleveland, where James got his start in the NBA.” Give me a break! Cleveland lucked up and got the #1 pick. It didn’t mateer who got it LeBron Would’ve been the #1 pick, so stop acting like you did him a favor. Would this receive the same knid of coverage if he was leaving the Clippers after 7 years? Is it because he left the home state?

  • IAMORANGE4EVER Posted: Aug.8 at 10:16 am
    The only thing that will make Cleveland stop crying about LeBron, is the Browns winning a Super Bowl.

  • wallace Posted: Aug.8 at 10:19 am
    His handlers told him to say that just hearing how he said lets you know he didn’t mean it if you don’t mean.it don’t say it

  • Gerard Himself Posted: Aug.8 at 11:12 am
    well, whatever people think of him, I bet 400 kids are still pretty excited to see him.

  • kudos Posted: Aug.8 at 11:13 am
    Or seeing Miami get ousted 1st round in the playoffs. That would be hilarious.

  • Yesse Posted: Aug.8 at 11:38 am
    Kinda said it late, but good that he even said it.

  • Eboy Posted: Aug.8 at 12:06 pm
    All is well….

  • dirty frank Posted: Aug.8 at 12:45 pm
    @Wat Misaka – thank you for that, I totally agree.

  • JD Posted: Aug.8 at 1:21 pm
    for people who hope James never win a ring – well I hope those people never win anything.

  • Mr. Wet Posted: Aug.8 at 1:45 pm
    I am so sick of this. Cleveland didn’t make him a great player. He made Cleveland relevant again. They should be taking out articles thanking him. I was actually a little sad that he went out of his way to thank cleveland this time, knowing he had to because of all the terrible sports media these days. Tiger woods missed a putt hes ruined! Lebron James is the worst person in the world because he chose to play for a different team which he has every right to do in the world! OMG!!!

  • LeBron James Thanks Cleveland, Northeast Ohio | Lebron James Fan Zone Posted: Aug.8 at 2:07 pm
    [...] Read more on Slam [...]

  • Lakers Nation | Former Superstar May Have Found His Home & The Top NBA News Posted: Aug.8 at 3:58 pm
    [...] LeBron James “forgot” to thank the city of Cleveland in his letter that was posted in a newspaper, but James finally thanked the city for their support and love.  He made his speech during his bike-a-thon in front of several hundred fans (The only ones left in Ohio). [Slam Mag] [...]

  • riggs Posted: Aug.8 at 6:26 pm
    @JD: usually those people have never won anything.

  • Eduardo Posted: Aug.8 at 8:56 pm
    The guy had 1hr to say this during the Decision.

  • Dacre Posted: Aug.8 at 9:32 pm
    Eduardo FTW.

  • Dacre Posted: Aug.8 at 9:35 pm
    @riggs & JD: “Usually thos people have never won anything”…? How do you work that out.

  • Cool Dude Posted: Aug.8 at 10:16 pm
    Hater’s hating on haters.

  • FoCo Posted: Aug.8 at 11:30 pm
    Mr. Wet – Dude has every right in the world to sign with someone else but he went about it in the worst way imaginable. The “terrible sports media” is right about this one at least.

  • al Posted: Aug.9 at 12:43 am
    dear lebron, you are now the jesse jackson of basketba!!. infidelity is a bi!ch, tag your it

  • al Posted: Aug.9 at 12:45 am
    opps meant jesse james, sorry you went from savior to , well, a modern male sellout.
    sry got the savior and sellout roles confused, it happens , right?

  • The Nupe Posted: Aug.9 at 12:08 pm
    Better late than never I suppose. I’m glad that Cleveland fans didn’t bum-rush the event and boo/heckle him, that would not have been ‘fair’ to the kids. Most Cleveland people I know are over the LBJ issue and have moved on (as evidenced by their lack of participation at the event). They still disaprove of how he did things and feel betrayed. For them the issue isn’t over him leaving his ‘hometown’, the issue was how he did it and how it flys in the face of everything he has said about staying with the Cavs and his ‘loyalty’ etc. In short I think it’s about perceived or real promises that LeBron made and did not keep. Although the team, city, fans did everything they could.

  • saveahoe11 Posted: Aug.9 at 2:37 pm
    First and foremost Akron is a city of 350,000 and 1,000 people showed up for this charity event. That is such a small population of the community it shows how the area truly feels about him. Hell I have 1,000 facebook friends. The only people who showed up for this were the kids getting a free bike, their parents, and any other lackey Lebron has left in the area. This event drew 10,000 one year. The biggest star in the NBA can only get 1,000 people to show up at his “signature charity event” Thats a sad state of affairs and it shows how people not only in Cleveland feel about him, but also his own community. Maverick D bag and the rest of the PR machine are praying for any kind of good press and if you look past the standard headline you see his brand is in dire straits right now. As far as his idiotic apology, its so late, so past due, and so ignorant it is laughable. The Browns had an intra-squad scrimmage at the same time this was held. 25,000 showed for that. Cleveland fans have more class than to go boo Lebron at a charity event with kids all over the place. If you really look at this with an open set of eyes you see his own image is absolute garbadge even in his beloved hometown….

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