The LeBron James Celebration Tour through Ohio reached Akron on Thursday. As a reward for winning an NBA title and ending Cleveland’s five-decade title drought (sorry, Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL, you do not count), LeBron’s hometown named a street after him.
Well, sort of. From NBA.com:
“It was 50 years plus that the Cleveland drought was going on,” James said. “The last championship was 50-some years ago. Guess what? It took a kid from Akron to end it.”
With that, James left the stage with fireworks lighting the sky and headed home.
For many, he’s never left.
With more than 25,000 packing a small downtown area, James was celebrated as a hometown hero on Thursday night in Akron, where a section of Main Street has been renamed “LeBron James Way.”
First of all … Way? LeBron James Way? Not Drive? If a basketball player or race car person has a street named after them, it has to be Drive. Even LeBron James Lane would be acceptable.
Second of all, this guy releases Cleveland from its self-made prison of sports shame, and he only gets part of the street named after him? Not the whole thing? Is this an incentive-based plan? If he wins another title for Cleveland, he gets two more blocks added to his street name?
Get it together, Akron.
I look forward to the day Skip Bayless finds himself on this road in Akron.
“This street is wonderful. Main Street. The focus of Akron’s bustling economy. Strong. It gets the job done. Oh, I see we are now on the segment that is named for LeBron James. This part of the road is a choker and wouldn’t beat any of the streets in San Antonio. Look at the mess. Trash on the sidewalk. Not a big time street. I’ll bet anything Johnny Manziel Street is a more famous street in Ohio when it’s all said and done. The only good part of LeBron James Way is when it intersects with Kyrie Irving Avenue.”
(Via NBA.com)
