CLEVELAND, Ohio – LeBron James returned to where the national spotlight first began to shine on him as a high school standout for Akron St. Vincent St. Mary Saturday morning – the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland.
This time as captain of Team LeBron for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game.
James, the twice former Cavalier and current Lakers All-Star, received a roaring welcome back as he took the floor for All-Star practice.
“Cleveland is very deserving of this platform and this moment,” James said. “They got two All-Stars of their own in the game in D.G. (Darius Garland) and the big fella, Jarrett Allen.
“And they got another guy in the All-Star, and that's me.
It's great, man.”
James continues to live his childhood dream as a global icon in Los Angeles, but he hasn’t forgotten where he came from or the two stints in Cleveland that saw him lead the Cavs to five NBA Finals appearances and the 2016 NBA championship.
“I had so many dreams of being an All-Star when I was a kid, growing up in Akron and having a team that was 35 minutes north of us,” James said. “Even though as much as I love MJ, love the Bulls, you know, just having that inspiration, having pro teams right up 77 North, you know, and having the Browns and the Indians at the time, now the Guardians and having the Cavaliers -- I remember when they were playing not even -- a lot closer, Richfield. I remember that.
“To sit here 25 years later doing what I love to do, dreaming about what I love to do, believing in what I wanted to be, it's just unbelievable.”
James lamented that he wasn’t able to experience Cleveland’s All-Star weekend in 1997 that saw the league honor the top 50 players of all time in commemoration of the NBA’s 50th anniversary, but he remembers it well.
“I think I was 12 years old at that point in time,” James said. “Me and my friends wishing we could come up here to Cleveland and to see the likes of Mike and all those guys that were in that All-Star Weekend. I remember seeing Kobe, his rookie year, win the Dunk Contest, doing the East Bay dunk to win it, and just wishing that we could come up here and see any one of those guys as a youngster.”
This time James gets to reprise his role as king of Cleveland and play host – sort of.
James, the only player in NBA history to win the NBA Finals MVP with three different franchises – the Heat, Cavs and Lakers, held a high school reunion on the floor with his teammates.
With James as the centerpiece, they won three Ohio High School Basketball championships in four years together. As his legend grew, St. Vincent St. Mary sought bigger venues to play in and the Wolstein Center was among them to host a nationally televised game.
During and after practice Saturday James posed for pictures with them as well as their friends and family with All-Star weekend in Cleveland serving as the perfect backdrop for a once in a lifetime photo op.
“I speak to them almost every day,” James said. “We have that connection and that friendship that's been going on since we were 9 years old. So, like I said, they're here. Willie, Sian, Dru, Romeo, Frankie, Brandon, all of us are all here this weekend, and this is the first time we've all spent the All-Star Weekend together. So it makes it even more special.”