Fundraiser looking to erect LeBron James statue in Akron
The city of Akron, Ohio, is known for two things: abandoned car tire factories and LeBron James.
At St. Vincent/St. Mary High School, where LeBron burst onto the national scene before he ever played an NBA game thanks to ESPN televising his high school games in 2003, a fundraiser is underway to erect a statue of the school’s most famous alumnus in his hometown, the Akron Beacon Journal reports.
Aaron Carey, who went to St. Vincent six years after James took his talents to the big city in Cleveland to begin his Hall of Fame career with the Cavaliers, is trying to raise a million dollars to get a life-size statue of LeBron built.
Carey has set up a GoFundMe page for the effort to “pay homage to the one and only King James.” As of early Monday afternoon it had raised only $333.
LeBron, for his part, was impressed when he heard the news at the Cavs’ shoot-around Monday morning ahead of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics.
“First of all, thank you,” James told reporters. “It would be cool, not only for myself, but for my family and all the people that had anything to do with this journey thus far. I’m appreciative even of the thought.”
On some level, this also shows the devotion Akron has to its native son; Carey, if he went to high school six years after LeBron graduated, would’ve been there from fall 2009 to spring 2013.
That means “The Decision,” when LeBron left for Miami, was right at the end of Carey’s freshman year.
So if LeBron leaves Cleveland again for Houston or Philadelphia or the Los Angeles Lakers, as rumors raging all around the NBA media landscape have it, his hometown clearly still sees him as a native son.
Speaking of the Lakers, the artist Carey has reached out to, Omri Amrany, has plenty of experience building statues of NBA players, having designed and built several statues of former Lakers outside Staples Center.
I don’t think there’s ever been a more perfect statue for a player than the one Shaq has at the Staples Center pic.twitter.com/wKUoVW0tSd
— Wayne McGahee III (@WayneMcGaheeIII) March 24, 2018
What pose the statue will be in is also a question. Unlike, say, Michael Jordan’s iconic “Jumpman” pose that is so familiar that people not even born when Jordan struck the pose for Life magazine ahead of the 1984 Olympics know it, LeBron has no signature silhouette to work from.
Asked about that subject, James said, “I mean, I don’t know. I don’t have a particular pose in mind. Like I said, I think it’s the thought that counts. It’s pretty cool.”
Amrany’s design calls back to LeBron’s high school days and features the King in his headband and No. 23 high school jersey on his way up for a hammer dunk.
Cavaliers’ star LeBron James appreciative of proposed statue of him in Akron https://t.co/UACYh5s5UA via @MRidenourABJ pic.twitter.com/ZXNwCqr4Tt
— Akron Beacon Journal (@beaconjournal) May 21, 2018
The only difference between that version of LeBron and reality is that he’s wearing his first signature shoe, the Nike Air Zoom Generation, which wasn’t released until James was a member of the Cavaliers.
The location of the statue in Akron is also still an open question.
It could go on campus at St. Vincent/St. Mary. The high school gym might not be United Center, where Jordan’s statue is, or Staples Center, where Amrany does the bulk of his work, but a statue would certainly spiff up the place.
It also could go in front of LeBron’s I Promise School, funded by James to serve Akron’s underprivileged population.
Carey said he has reached out to Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, but he should hope Gilbert acts fast; if LeBron leaves for greener pastures to try to win another title after this season, Gilbert’s mood whiplash might just rear its head again.
No matter what happens, if anyone’s deserving of tangible enshrinement as a hometown hero, it’s LeBron James.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
