LeBron opens school and says book isn’t closed on Cleveland

LeBron James returned to his hometown for the opening of a school for at-risk youth.

AKRON, OHIO— LeBron James stood on a stage near one of the streets he walked as a troubled kid and looked out at thousands of faces. He felt connected to every one of them. While his daughter Zhuri, 3, played at his feet, James watched as his mother, Gloria, raised a flag in front of a school that is perhaps his greatest triumph.

Before leaving for L.A., James gave his hometown quite a gift. On Monday, James, who ended his second stint with Cleveland earlier this month by sign- ing with the Los Angeles Lakers, opened his I Promise School, a year-around learning centre devoted to some of the city’s most challenged youngsters — ones just like him.

For James, who recalled missing 82 days of school as a fourth grader while he and his mom “looked for stability,” the opening culminated years of planning by his family foundation.

“This means everything,” James said before the public event. “I think this is the greatest accomplishment for me because it’s not just me. A championship is for a team, that’s for an organization and a city. But these kids, this is for generation after generation after generation and it’s for these kids, so it means everything.”

It was an emotional day for James, who also made his first comments since signing the $154-million (U.S.) deal with the Lakers — a move still causing tremors across in the NBA.

James recalled beating the odds of his youth when life was a daily struggle for him and his mom. Nothing was easy as the pair constantly moved and it was only with the help of others that James found structure.

Now, he’s giving kids with the same problems a path.

The 33-year-old said the decision to leave Cleveland again was difficult, but he didn’t rule out a second homecoming with the Cavaliers.

“I don’t close the chapter on anything or close the book on anything,” James said when asked if he would return to end his career. “But hopefully I can sit there one day and watch my jersey go up into the rafters, that’s for sure.” When James announced on July 1 that he was leaving the Cavs, Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert, who famously ripped him when he left the first time, said the franchise would retire “the famous #23 Cavs jersey one day down the line.”

James was unaware of Gilbert’s pledge.

“I didn’t hear that,” he said. “I haven’t been in the news. That’s awesome.”