This is no basketball fairy tale.
LeBron James can’t slip his size 15s into a pair of glass Nikes and magically end Northeast Ohio’s 52-year-old sports curse, no matter how much fans want it, no matter how much he wants it.
And in Akron — where steadfast Cavaliers, Browns and Indians fans pine for a championship every bit as much as their Cleveland brethren 30 miles to the north — that’s OK.
Many believe James will lead the Cavs to an NBA championship this year or next.
But the real fairy tale — the one with a happily-ever-after ending — already happened in Akron long ago when James proudly stood by his hometown.
“Everything he does for Akron and how he represents us gives us great pride,” said Willie McGee, athletic director of James’ alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. “His accomplishments feel like our accomplishments.”
Cleveland doesn’t have that connection, many Akron fans say, and never can.
“I don’t even try to explain what this means. It’s fruitless,” said Tom Keathley, a co-founder of Arras Keathley Advertising, a business that floats off the shore of Cleveland in a barge that was the former Hornblower’s restaurant.
“I was born and raised in Akron and so many people think of [the Cavs] as more than sports. It’s family,” he said. “It’s because LeBron is one of us and that changes everything.”
Hometown hero
At Whitey’s Booze N’ Burgers in Richfield, which is about halfway between Akron and Cleveland, four friends gathered last week under the flat-screen televisions to watch Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
“In Cleveland, they just want to win,” said Audrey Young, 24, who grew up in Columbus and spends time in both Akron and Cleveland. “In Akron, LeBron is a hometown hero. He can do no wrong.”
Her friends considered this for a moment and then Sara Myers, 37, of Akron, agreed, ticking off a few nonbasketball reasons to back it up.
• James’ family foundation, along with the University of Akron, are pledging to make sure up to 2,300 Akron kids get a free ride through college.
• James donated $1 million to St. V-M to overhaul its gym and arena.
• James not only arranged to have a premiere of the movie Trainwreck at a Copley Township theater, he brought his co-stars Amy Schumer and Bill Hader with him, filming an unrelated funny short showing them all at Swensons, a legendary local hamburger drive-in.
“He is a hero,” Myers said. “But something feels different this year, like we’re going to win.”
Her friends, who’ve lived a lifetime of sports disappointments, groaned.
“If the Cavs lose, it probably won’t be LeBron’s fault,” said another friend at the table, Kayla Hunt, 24, of Streetsboro. “Maybe we’re just jinxed.”
Reminders of home
Brian Windhorst, who writes about the NBA for ESPN.com, is another St. V-M alum.
He remembers the first time he ever saw James play as a baby-faced, 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 freshman.
“Many kids that tall are awkward,” said Windhorst, who also has worked for the Beacon Journal and the Plain Dealer. “But he moved like he was an adult. There was nothing awkward about him.”
Akron noticed, but it was only after James went pro, landing with the Cavs in 2003, that all of Akron seemed to support James — particularly after he corrected people, proudly saying he came from Akron, not Cleveland.
Yet his Akron and Cleveland fans remained aligned until the months after “The Decision,” James’ 2010 televised announcement that he was leaving the Cavs for the Miami Heat.
As angry fans burned his jerseys and James disappeared from Cleveland, his bond with Akron — where his charity works aimed at keeping kids in school were well underway — remained strong.
During the NBA season lockout through the fall of 2011, James spent even more time in Akron — hanging out at St. V-M, hosting Thanksgiving for the Miami Heat, watching college football games and organizing a huge indoor flag football game to pass the time.
Windhorst believes that time reminded James of why he loved Akron and may have prompted his plan to return with his wife, Akron native Savannah Brinson, to raise their family in the 30,000-square-foot mansion he built in Bath Township on the edge of Akron.
In 2014, James announced he was coming home to Akron to play for the Cavs.
“That was our moment in the spotlight,” said Amanda Rabinowitz, an Akron resident who hosts Morning Edition on Kent public radio station WKSU.
In Akron, she said, it’s difficult to travel far without seeing a sign with James’ name on it, or hearing his name in conversation or seeing the basketball superstar himself hanging out with his kids at a basketball or football game.
“He’s always made Akron such a focal point,” Rabinowitz said, “his coming home was our victory.”
A kid from Akron
During Wednesday night’s Game 3, when James reached out with one hand, caught a clumsy pass and headed skyward, slamming a monster alley-oop dunk, Kaitlyn Morse and three other St. Vincent-St Mary girls cheered.
They were gathered around a television at a Myrtle Beach vacation home during their post-graduation senior trip.
“Obviously, LeBron is the best basketball player in the world,” Morse, 17, said Thursday. “But I’ve seen him do even better things back here in Akron.”
Morse is not star-struck.
James spends so much time at St. V-M, she said, that he can walk the halls like anyone else. No one asks for autographs or selfies. No one treats him as a celebrity.
Morse served three years with 330 Ambassadors, a mentoring program that’s part of the LeBron James Family Foundation’s multilayered approach to help all Akron children graduate from high school and move on toward college. Morse volunteered to help grade-school children every Wednesday after school.
When James showed up, she said, he always asked the younger children how they planned to better themselves.
“He wanted to know whether they wanted to be a doctor in Akron, or open a business in Akron or raise their own families in Akron,” she said. “The little kids idolize him.”
Morse is headed to Hiram College in the fall to study biomedical humanities and plans to return to Akron, too.
“Honestly, I love Ohio. I love Akron. I want to raise my kids in Akron to have the same experience I did,” she said.
That love of Akron is part of James off-the-court legacy, his Akron fans said.
On the basketball court, James wants to bring home a title to Akron and Northeast Ohio.
“But, frankly, he’s already headed to the hall of fame. He’s going to be a billionaire. He’s going to have statues,” NBA writer Windhorst said. “So if he never plays another game, his legacy is already established.”
Not bad for a kid from Akron.
Amanda Garrett can be reached at 330-996-3725 or agarrett@thebeaconjournal.com.