Who says you can’t go home?
To the place you grew up, the place you built your career, your dynasty, your life?
LeBron James is going home. He’s going back to Cleveland to be a Cavalier. It’s a poetic twist in the plot of a real-life Greek tragedy even Homer himself couldn’t write.
LeBron ruled Cleveland. He was the pride of the city. The sports town nobody wanted to be part of had its leader who was one of its own. ?LeBron was as close to a king as an athlete or anyone else could get.
Then “The Decision” happened.
Children, teenagers and grown men alike cried with public outrage as the King left Cleveland for Miami to chase championships.
Jerseys were burned. Posters torn down. An angry letter filled with Comic Sans was written. A legacy crushed like glass shattered on the floor.
As the King left for Miami, he left behind a team and a city confused, angry and seeking vengeance.
The Roman philosopher Seneca wrote, “The foremost art of kings is the ability to endure hatred.”
LeBron knows. He lived it.
In the aftermath of the pomp and circumstance surrounding LeBron’s exit from Cleveland, the Cavs’ former king became one of the most hated athletes in all of sports.
In cities such as Chicago, Indianapolis and — most ironically of all — Cleveland, LeBron was public enemy number one.
Remember the first time LeBron returned home as the enemy? It was a war zone. Fans bought tickets just to express disgust. LeBron couldn’t touch the ball without the entire stadium erupting in boos, spewing hatred and profanity at the man they had at once idolized.
Four years later, the King has his spoils. LeBron went to The Finals four times, bringing two championships to glamorous Miami with the help of an All-Star cast of teammates as the city of Cleveland could only watch, searching for a new king.
“I always believed that I’d return to Cleveland and finish my career there,” LeBron wrote in his announcement for Sports Illustrated.
I believe him. I really do. I think he wanted to come home and win for his city and his friends. I think he always planned to come home.
It was just a matter of when.
I don’t think it’s realistic to believe the Cavs will win next season. The team is far too young and history has shown that old teams — think current Spurs, late ’60s Celtics or late ’90s Bulls — still rule the NBA.
Youth and inexperience are the toughest things to overcome because the only cure ?is time.
Cleveland’s core of first-round picks Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson, Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins still haven’t played in the postseason where the lights shine brightest.
Cleveland’s youth surrounding LeBron will make for some bumps along the way. The kids will need to grow up quickly. And even if they do and manage to avoid injury and flukes, it’s still going to require some luck, because in the NBA there are no guarantees when it comes to rings.
But LeBron doesn’t have to win five, six or seven championships.
Just one.
Bring one championship to Cleveland. Bring it to Akron, Ohio. To your kingdom, your home. The way it was supposed to be.
Like all great ancient tales of kings and heroes, LeBron’s journey back to the place where he began has had its ups and its downs. But that’s what makes it intriguing.
Would anyone have cared about the “Odyssey” if Odysseus had simply sailed back to Penelope? Of course not.
Like Odysseus — spoiler alert, sorry — LeBron made it home. The unquestionably greatest player in the NBA returns to where it all began, stronger, smarter and hell-bent to win again.
But it isn’t done yet. No, that would be far too easy. One looming question remains.
Will the King live happily ever after?
