Thanks for coming here, today. I really appreciate it. Just doing my part, you know. I mean, frankly, I haven't been this anxious about something in a long time.
You and I are not so dissimilar. I'm only a few years older than you and we're both from Akron. I mean, who knows, maybe we passed each other in the mall one day. Or perhaps we were on the same car of the Magnun at Cedar Point. Remember 1997? What a horrible year. I had just become a baseball fan. For some reason the strike prompted me to start liking baseball. I had gone to a few games that year. I've never witnessed an Indians defeat in person... but I sure have over the TV. I don't need to remind you of what happened that year... and even though you grew up liking teams that actually WON, too (like the Yankees), I'm sure you were indescribably disappointed.
Because you're from Ohio. And we don't have much.
And the worst thing is that lately, the only thing we HAVE had is you.
That's a lot to put on one person's shoulders, I know. But look at you! You're the biggest star in the world right now. No one cares about anyone else in basketball besides you. Some might say no one cares about anyone else in sports. And to some, they might not care about anyone else in the entire world. When you think about it that way, being the only thing holding the city of Cleveland together is hardly a hindrance at all.
You've been discouraged the last couple of seasons. I can see that. You tried really hard while the rest of the team apparently forgot how to play basketball. You had all the pieces together and for whatever reason, it just didn't work. Surely a situation like that couldn't happen in Miami. Take a look at the film America's Sweethearts. It was a all-star, totally lovable cast. And it sucked. Sometimes there can be too much of a good thing.
Chicago? Please. No matter what, you'd always be in Michael Jordan's shadow because he has the biggest ego EVER. Even if you won every single game for 5 years, you'd still be compared to him. You don't want comparisons.... you want to be the top.
I can tell you from experience that New York isn't all it's cracked up to be. People smoke pot in the middle of the sidewalk. It's hot as BALLS here (not basketballs). There are so many tourists all over the place. Plus, they're acting as if you don't already have major deals with Nike and any other company in the world that you make millions from. You'd make billions of dollars no matter where you are. You're just that good and just that marketable. But in New York, you're one of MANY "just THAT good" players... whether it be baseball, basketball or football. You'd get lost in the crowd.... literally and figuratively.
I don't even feel like New Jersey needs to be talked about. You're a man, you can pump your own gas if you want to, right?? Not in New Jersey. They don't give you a CHOICE.
And a choice is exactly what you're making. You can choose to be compared to Jordan or the myriad of great sports players in NYC. You can choose to form a Super Team in Miami where everyone is so high on coke that they can't POSSIBLY succeed. You can choose to destroy your home town. To say to the unemployed fans who have followed you since you were in high school, "thanks, but even though I'd make more money here and bring in about $20 million annually to Cleveland, and if I leave, the massive unemployment will become even worse and you'll literally have no economy left in the state, I'm gonna bounce. (Get it?)"
Here's the thing, LeBron. If you stay in Cleveland, you're a hero. We don't have ANYONE to compare you to. We have literally nothing else going for us except you. You are everything to Cleveland. There is NOWHERE ELSE YOU CAN GO where that is true.
And you're having an hour-long tv special to tell us your news. Don't even try to tell me that you don't want to be the god of sports.
If you want to win, you can win. We've seen it happen. You just have to want it bad enough. Cleveland isn't cursed unless we lose you. No one will ever love you more than Cleveland.
But remember: Hell hath no fury like a Clevelander scorned.
See ya at Swensons,
Alisa
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