{"id":21402,"date":"2014-08-10T03:51:51","date_gmt":"2014-08-09T19:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=21402"},"modified":"2014-08-09T17:55:07","modified_gmt":"2014-08-09T09:55:07","slug":"kings-return-lebron-ends-emotional-homecoming-by-telling-crowd-i-love-you-im-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/08\/10\/kings-return-lebron-ends-emotional-homecoming-by-telling-crowd-i-love-you-im-back\/","title":{"rendered":"King\u2019s Return: LeBron ends emotional homecoming by telling crowd: \u201cI love you. I\u2019m back.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"LeBron<\/a>
LeBron James. Photo by Keith Allison \/ Flickr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

AKRON, Ohio\u2014On a night packed with emotion and inspiration, LeBron James saved the biggest moment for last.<\/p>\n

Surrounded by family, friends and fans in a city welcoming him home, James delivered a line he\u2019s been waiting to say for four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love you,\u201d he told the crowd of nearly 25,000. \u201cI\u2019m back.\u201d<\/p>\n

James then dropped the microphone and left the stage as fireworks exploded about InfoCision Stadium, illuminating the Akron sky.<\/p>\n

James is home, and he\u2019s not leaving again.<\/p>\n

The NBA superstar, who re-signed with Cleveland last month, said Friday night he intends to play the rest of his career with the Cavaliers, the team he returned to after winning two NBA titles in Miami.<\/p>\n

When he signed a two-year, $41 million contract that included an option after one year, there was speculation he would one day test free agency again. The contract made Cleveland fans nervous, but they can now relax.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t plan on going nowhere,\u201d James said. \u201cI don\u2019t have the energy to do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

James, who returned to Northeast Ohio after four seasons with the Heat, was welcomed back with a homecoming event fit for a King.<\/p>\n

Fans waited in line for six hours for a prime seat for the event on the University of Akron campus, not far from where the 29-year-old James bounced his first basketball.<\/p>\n

There were tributes during the two-hour ceremony, highlighted by recording artist Skylar Grey signing her hit \u201cI\u2019m Coming Home,\u201d a song that became the unofficial theme of his return to Cleveland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like she knew I was coming home before I knew I was coming home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

James was back and the city that helped raise him welcomed him with open arms. The welcome-home party coincided with James\u2019 annual \u201cI Promise\u201d campaign for area children sponsored by his family foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty amazing,\u201d said James, joined at his news conference by several kids. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna sit up here and say it\u2019s not. To know you can do things for people, give them hope, give them inspiration. It means a lot to me. I understand I\u2019m a role model. I understand to these kids I\u2019m more than a role model. I\u2019m a superhero to them. I\u2019m a father to them. I\u2019m a brother to them, whatever the case they want me to be on that particular day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he was playing for the Heat, James said his heart was always home and he realized it was time to return.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just hit me,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes you just have a feeling. You realize what\u2019s going on and what\u2019s happening. It just hit me.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a 15-minute interview session\u2014his first since announcing his return to Ohio\u2014James touched on a number of subjects, including new Cleveland coach David Blatt, the possible addition of All-Star forward Kevin Love, who is expected to join the Cavs in a trade from Minnesota later this month, and winning Cleveland\u2019s first championship since 1964 .<\/p>\n

James won an Olympic gold medal with Love at the London Games in 2012 and he\u2019s eager to be his teammate again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be very excited to have him,\u201d James said. \u201cI don\u2019t really care about the 26 (points) and 12 (rebounds). I care about the basketball IQ. His basketball IQ is very, very high. I had an opportunity to spend 32 days with him on the 2012 Olympic team. It\u2019s funny. I always told Kevin Love, \u2018You\u2019re very good, man.\u2019 He always thought I was blowing smoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always told him he was going to be a reason why we won the gold medal, and he played a huge role for us. So I\u2019m looking forward to it. He\u2019s a great piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Blatt, the former Maccabi Tel Aviv coach hired by Cleveland in June, James did some research on his offence and likes what he\u2019s seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched all his clips form him coaching Maccabi and I kind of broke them down to see how I fit and obviously I can fit in every position on the floor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

James is looking forward to playing with Love and All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, neither of whom have played in an NBA playoff game. James knows what it takes to win a title, and he\u2019s going to have to lead the way for a team lacking post-season experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to have to teach, lead and inspire those guys,\u201d he said. \u201cBut my No. 1 goal is to win the championship here. I think it would be the greatest achievement in my life as far as on the court. Hopefully it will happen. I\u2019m looking forward to the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans arrived before 11 a.m. to get a prime seat to see James.<\/p>\n

\u201cI might cry when I see him,\u201d said Rodneka Price, who drove seven hours from Muncie, Indiana.<\/p>\n

Melissa Rumner and her son, Nick, were first in a long line which wrapped around the stadium on the University of Akron\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to be here to welcome him back,\u201d Rumner said as 10-year-old Nick stood by wearing one of the white No. 23 jerseys James popularized during his seven seasons with the Cavs. \u201cWe\u2019re so happy to have him back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick was confident James would return to Cleveland.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew he was coming back,\u201d said the red-head, who was counting down the minutes before the gates opened.<\/p>\n

Price packed up a car of six people and drove to Ohio for the first time so she could help welcome back the four-time league MVP. She said James\u2019 poignant essay that he was returning home to try and end Cleveland\u2019s 50-year championship drought touched her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all makes sense,\u201d she said, wearing a \u201cReturn Of The King\u201d T-shirt. \u201cHe made a promise and he\u2019s going to stick to it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AKRON, Ohio\u2014On a night packed with emotion and inspiration, LeBron James saved the biggest moment for last. Surrounded by family, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":21403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-sports","mauthors-tom-withers","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}