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The path to the founding of LeBron James has, in some ways, reflected the path of his career.
Still a potential power because of James' wealth and influence, the operation was somewhat blurred early. For example, for several years, her main annual event – a bike-a-thon for kids in her home town of Akron, Ohio – ended up losing money and weighing on the budget of the city.
Founding as a superstar and leader during her stay in Miami, her foundation did the same in Ohio because she focused specifically on children at risk and their education.
Here is the latest news of a thrilling summer in the NBA:
On several occasions over the last decade, James said, "I am only a child of Akron" and "I am not supposed to be here, I am supposed to be a statistic ". It may sound like a slogan, but for him it is not. As we know, he faced poverty, lack of stability and periods of homelessness when he was a child. His little family was directly affected by drugs and violent crime, and things collapsed to the point where he stopped going to school regularly by the time he was in fourth grade.
Circumstances indicated that James' life did not have a good result, about to be lost before he knew where basketball could take him. These are the statistics that he is trying to fight with his money and his ability to rally big corporations and schools to a cause.
In the past four years, while he was playing again for the Cleveland Cavaliers, James's career has become mature. He culminated in both the 2016 NBA Championship, and last season, when he played every game and had one of the best playoffs in the history of the NBA while he was playing. He reduced his team to another Finals match. said for his foundation, which reaches a milestone of more than a decade in Monday's manufacturing when he launches his own school in coordination with Akron Public Schools. It will eventually attract hundreds of children at risk, children who walk in the same shoes as James at the age of elementary school. The new school has a longer school day and a longer school year, and its educators will be responsible for trying to overcome the historical disadvantages that the participants face.
If children follow the program that the foundation worked to shape, James arranged for them to have free college courses at the University of Toronto. Akron. Along the way, the foundation has put in place a program to help parents get their high school diplomas and other continuing education.
It's a brave experience. Instead of integrating disadvantaged children, James' school will group at-risk students from all over his hometown to try to streamline the support system. If that works, James and his foundation's leaders dream that this could change the way cities and school systems perceive these challenges. It could extend to other cities in Ohio that need help. And then, who knows?
So here is James' legacy in northeastern Ohio, at least as he sees it.
He kept his promise and contributed to the first professional championship in the region in 52 years. There was a reason when James said goodbye to Cleveland after signing with the Los Angeles Lakers from 19459020 earlier this month that he paired it with a photo of the parade that brought more money. one million people in the city center. For many who turned this day into a generational family event, the symbolism of the parade was just as meaningful as the act of winning the championship itself. James standing on a platform truck with people riding street lights and coming out of parking lots is just as iconic in Cleveland as his shot of Andre Iguodala in Game 7.
While that is his lasting mark on Cleveland, the promise school, as LeBron James' family called it, is his legacy to his city native. Ultimately, the goal is for thousands of people to step through and climb the ladder. For a city like Akron, the population of 200,000 is trying to improve the prospects of this segment of children: James decided to try to foster generational change.
What James wants in 20 years is a significant change in adult literacy. rates. And his crime rate. And his median income. These are the statistics James wants to be part of
But that's where things get a little jagged.
When installing in Los Angeles, James now operates through the last act of a single genre. career. He lives in a world where his daily performance is evaluated along with his legacy. It's something he's embraced by wearing the same number as Michael Jordan. Now he has joined the same franchise as Kobe Bryant, knowing that it will probably be difficult, if not impossible, to be held by pbadionate Lakers fans.
James is a student of the history of the game who seeks perspective. He has evolved over the past eight years playing for titles and multiple free agencies, which he has done knowing the long-term context of his performances and decisions. Although he is safe in his achievements, he also knows that he will exist in a gray area for many.
On one side, James does not care much about how his path is perceived. After a difficult first season in Miami, James posted in his locker a quote from Theodore Roosevelt's speech in Paris in 1910. The pbadage "Man in the Arena" refers to the criticism. James will often write "Man in the Arena" on his shoes for games as another reminder to himself.
On the other hand, James is sensitive to how we will remember him. The reason he must constantly remember to ignore criticism is the same reason he looks at the playoffs in silent mode during his free evenings. He does not want to hear what he knows happens: people pick him.
In the end, James played 11 seasons in Cleveland and left with that single title. Jordan has played 13 seasons for the Chicago Bulls and has won six titles. Bryant was with the Lakers for 20 years and won five. Tim Duncan has five rings in 19 seasons with the San Antonio Spurs. Magic Johnson has won five in just 12 years with the Lakers. Larry Bird has won three wins in 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics.
If James offered a title to the Lakers, he could get the status of an elite athlete in LA but it will still be the 17th banner of the franchise. It probably will not be enough to make him a statue outside of Staples. In Ohio, his only title has left several groups organizing attempts to build statues now, while he still plays.
Monday afternoon, James should speak publicly for the first time since signing with the Lakers. It was designed to be a moment of celebration for its foundation. Due to the circumstances, it will also be a moment for the explanation.
Since he groped his lines at the Connecticut Boys and Girls Club in 2010, James became an expert at those times. It has a way of ordering any room, no matter the consequence and has shown an ability to handle delicate issues smoothly.
What he says and how he says that he will probably be replayed for years. That's how these things have always disappeared. But this is not the time to badyze the words. While James leaves behind Akron and Cleveland, his actions are in place.
He is not interested in the debate on the question of whether they are enough.
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