Exactly six years ago today, the city of Cleveland, and the state of Ohio, were on the edge of their seats as NBA star LeBron James contemplated leaving for the bright lights of Miami.
The Akron born superstar was tired of losing and felt team owner Dan Gilbert wasn’t taking him too seriously.
Ohioans were also in the middle of a hotly contested race for governor.
On one side, Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland was singing LeBron’s praises, personally asking him to stay. He also appeared in a video which begged the athlete to remain in Ohio.
A parody of the 1985 single “We Are The World,” the video featured Strickland, Senator Sherrod Brown and other local celebrities singing, “Please Stay Lebron. We really need you. No bigger market’s gonna love you half as much as we do.”
The campaign to keep James had urgency for Clevelanders. The shrinking city hadn’t won a major sports championship since the NFL Browns in 1964.
Democrats attacked John Kasich for not showing support for the NBA superstar.
“He’s an Ohio product,” Strickland told me at the time. “He exhibits wonderful values. So we’re proud of him regardless.”
On the other side of the governors race was Republican John Kasich, who refused to jump on the “save LeBron” bandwagon.
“I’m not singing any chorus for LeBron James,” said Kasich. “We’ve lost 400,000 jobs out here and the last guy I worry about is LeBron James.”
That prompted state Democrats to start a website “Ohioans Against LeBron” headed by “founder and president” Kasich.
In the end, LeBron decided to leave Ohio in 2010, and Strickland lost a very close race.
King James eventually returned to Cleveland and in 2016 led his city to its first championship in 52 years. Strickland is also attempting a comeback, running for the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Rob Portman. Kasich lost his bid for the White House, but remains Ohio’s governor and will, no doubt, bask in LeBron’s glory, finally singing his praises.