LeBron's Legacy

James has spent all seven seasons as a pro with the Cavs, who offered him a contract extension last year and can give him $30 million more than any other team in a maximum-length deal. (via)

LeBron James is from Akron, Ohio, 45 minutes from Cleveland, home of the Cavaliers, the NBA team with which he's played for all seven of his professional years. Already he's a superstar and a megamillionaire and one of, if not the, most recognizable names and faces in the world. 

On one hand, I find it remarkable and amazing that he would consider leaving Cleveland. He's still relatively young in this business. He could absolutely win a title there. I believe that 100 percent. Some have decried the idea that he stay there, saying that he should explore his options out in the world, that moving out means growing up, and on and on. I can see clearly from this perspective. But leaving home won't fix all his problems, and it will take him farther from his family, from where his kid has made friends, from everything he knows and loves. 

And, would any of us in any profession other than professional sports, should we know we could make $30 million more should we stay at our current jobs, leave? What sense would that make? If we've worked seven years somewhere, would we not already have put down roots? And should we be able to make $30 million more -- that's 100 $300,000 annual salaries! -- by staying, would it make sense, any sense at all, to go elsewhere? 

Because ultimately, isn't life about our family and those closest to us, and not about what we may or may not be able to accomplish?

But of course, I see the other side, too. From the money angle, LeBron has already made millions upon millions of dollars. To put it in the layman's perspective: earning $1 million is unbelievably remarkable. Last season he made $15,799,912. In one season. Should I make a fifth that much in my lifetime, I'll be ecstatic. 

Thus money is no issue for LeBron. What's $30 million more over the next seven years when he can still make $15 million a year elsewhere? And in all likelihood, probably around $18-$20 million a year? I mean, live within even a mile of reason, and that much money can last you twelve lifetimes. Or twenty. Or however many lifetimes you want it to, really. 

So should LeBron go to New York/Los Angeles/Chicago/Jersey? Or should he stay in Cleveland? Should money matter at all? Should winning? Should his legacy? Should his family? 

Many people make much of his legacy, of "what he could accomplish somewhere else." Cleveland is too little of anything, they say. New York would give him a more cultured background. Los Angeles would be a cooler place to live. Jersey would be....well, OK, I don't know what Jersey would be, but it wouldn't be Cleveland. (Come to think of it, which of those two would be "better"? You've got the beach in Jersey....but then, you also have those clowns from Jersey Shore. And you've got the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, which is pretty cool, but it's....Cleveland. I don't know much about Cleveland either. Is Cleveland a cool place to live?)

The President, Mr. Barack Obama himself, has asked LeBron to play in Chicago. (Which is a gross misuse of his presidential powers, but don't you know Barack is sitting in his Oval Office watching one of the most influential men in sport squirm because of that request, laughing and saying, "Take that!" to those people who surely must have given him crap for being such a nerd in high school and for being so ambitious in college.)

What truly matters? That's the ultimate question, LeBron. Is it money? It shouldn't be, and we've already covered why. Is it winning? You can win in Cleveland. You need more help there, and you need to grow up a little bit, but you can definitely win there. Is it your family? Well then, Cleveland it is--I'm sure everyone loves being able to pop by Quicken Loans Arena to watch you ball.

But is it your legacy? I think this is the ultimate question. And only you, LeBron, can define it. Your legacy is what you make it. If you go elsewhere in search of winning ways, your legacy will be that you left your home for greater things--for greener pastures, so to speak. And in this day and age devoid of loyalty, nobody would think twice about it. 

However, your legacy can become so much more. You can stay in Cleveland. You can win in Cleveland. You can grow in Cleveland. Because I think that one day, if you left, you'd come back anyway. But what if you never left? What if you grew up here? You've experienced the world. Hell, you won a gold medal for the United States, and the world will be waiting when you’re too old to play, or when you retire, which, financially, you could do now. 

I'd go with home. But then, that's just me, a writer tapping away on a laptop.

What's your dream, LeBron? Is it really abandoning home to make a name for yourself? Or is it making a name for yourself by carrying your hometown, your home state, your people, to glorious, great heights the likes of which nobody, not they nor the world nor, perhaps, even yourself, ever imagined? 

But try to imagine it. And see the beauty. And embrace it. Therein lies your legend.