It’s all about growth
No , not about basketball at all. NBA stuff? Brush that aside, too. LeBron James did something else—if not more than hardcourt hangover.
In his first game on Thursday as a Laker on his native Cleveland soil, LeBron James wasn’t really playing basketball.
Sure, he still powered Los Angeles to a 109-105 win past Cleveland with his 32 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists. But if his feet were firmly planted once more on the Quicken Loans floor that had been exclusively his, almost, for the longest time in recent memory, LeBron’s mind was somewhere else this evening. He was respecting the past. He was relishing the present. He was rebooting to the future.
“From the time we landed yesterday (from Los Angeles), it just felt a different way,” he told a hushed crowd before the game. “I’m a different person. We’re all different from eight years ago, both good and bad. But more important, this experience has been great. So it’s all about growth and we all have grown from that moment eight years ago. So I kind of leave the past in the past and always focus on the present and see what happens in the future.”
Remember that eight years ago, LeBron had an unwelcomed return to Cleveland from Miami as Cav fans then felt betrayed by James’ departure for Florida.
But then again, there is no wound that doesn’t get healed in God’s time.
And when LeBron James spearheaded Cleveland’s breakthrough NBA win on June 19, 2016, over Golden State to give Ohio its first major professional basketball crown in 52 years, all the scars of the past were flushed down the drain.
Said LeBron: “Every single night we stepped on the floor, they always showed their appreciation to not only myself but to my teammates over these 11 years, especially the last four years—those championship runs that we were making…that was just my salute to them…”
I have always believed that good players like LeBron James are good persons to the core as well. They know how to act good, think good and project good most of the time, if not at all times.
They are above the game, above sports for that matter.
Our deepest condolences to Alfred Ty and the other loved ones left behind by Dr. George S.K. Ty. Rest in peace, Sir.
Remember that eight years ago, LeBron had an unwelcomed return to Cleveland from Miami as Cav fans then felt betrayed by James’ departure for Florida.