CLEVELAND — Cleveland hasn’t had this much good news since the first time LeBron James came to town.
First there was the arrival of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel in May’s NFL draft. Then
on Tuesday, the national Republican Party all but handed Cleveland its 2016 national convention and
hundreds of millions of dollars in business.
And on Friday the city landed perhaps the biggest prize of all — the return of its prodigal son. James,
the four-time NBA MVP and Akron native who once spurned gritty Cleveland for glamorous Miami, is coming
home.
Whatever good karma this long-suffering city built on steel mills and blue-collar labor has coming,
formerly downtrodden Clevelanders would surely embrace it. When you’ve had — and still have — as many
problems as Cleveland, you take what you can get.
When word got out that James was bringing his considerable talents back to Cleveland, cheers and beeping
car horns could be heard echoing downtown. People stared at their cellphones with expressions of glee
and, perhaps, slight disbelief that it was true, King James really was headed home.
The ultimate hope among many sports fans is that James can quench the inexhaustible thirst Cleveland fans
have for a championship after a drought of 50 years. It was in 1964 that all-world running back Jim
Brown and quarterback Frank Ryan carried the Browns to the city’s last championship.
“It’s surreal,” said a smiling Larry Boothe, 25, who had just purchased a celebratory six-pack. “I never
thought it would be a reality.”
John Dennison drove in from one of the far eastern suburbs to buy a season-ticket package, ready for the
season to start and see James play side-by-side with Kyrie Irving, the first overall pick in 2011.
“This is great for our area,” Dennison said.
The phone number for the Cavaliers’ ticket office boasted of James’ return in a recorded message but
noted that single-game tickets aren’t yet available. The extension for season ticket inquiries, not
surprisingly, rang busy.
Dave Nelson, 49, had just been wheeled into the recovery room at Fairview General Hospital in Cleveland
after knee surgery on Friday when his surgeon approached. Nelson said he doesn’t remember what the
doctor said about his knee, but recalled: “He said, ‘More importantly, LeBron has come back to the
Cavs.”
“This is where he can come to be great,” Nelson said a few hours later. “You can go anywhere to win
championships. But if he can do something like that in this city, he’ll be remembered forever.”
James’ return had Cleveland Indians’ slugger Nick Swisher fired up.
“I can’t wait to meet him,” Swisher said. “A guy like that, with the talent he has, single-handedly that
guy can win you a championship.”