Happy to be home: 'Kid from Akron,' LeBron James, cherishes time back where it all began

CLEVELAND — It's always a big day for the city of Cleveland when "The King" returns. In what has become an annual tradition since joining the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, LeBron James was met with a roaring welcome the moment he stepped on the floor at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Saturday, marking James' first return home since becoming the NBA's all-time scoring leader. The moment is just as special for James, too, who reflected on his time in Cleveland after the Lakers' 121-115 win over the Cavaliers. "It's always special to come back here," he said. "Being able to come back … (after winning) a championship here for this franchise, for the city … that is something I will never forget, so stepping back on the floor is always a pretty cool feeling." James didn't have his best performance of the season Saturday despite having an incredible start to his 21st year in the NBA. He finished with 22 points on 8-of-23 shooting from the field (1-of-9 from 3-point range) — an off night by LeBron James standards. Through 15 games, he's averaging 25.7 points per game, 8.1 rebounds and 6.7 assists, shooting an impressive 57.8 percent from the field, including 41.4 percent from beyond the arc. "It is something over this long period of time that you just have to marvel over," Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of James' play prior to the game. "We haven't seen it done at this level. We've seen guys play for longer careers lately. I think sports medicine and the attention to the bodies and health and nutrition has changed, but to see a guy doing it at this level for this long, I don't think we've seen it." James' return to Cleveland was also marked by the opening of LeBron James' Home Court, a museum in Akron chronicling his life from growing up in Spring Hill Apartment No. 602 to playing at St. Vincent-St. Mary through his career in the NBA. In its first day open to the public, the museum sold out every spot from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. "I used to get on my mom a lot about saving everything since I first started playing sports, and she kind of threw it back to my face when the stuff was being prepared at the museum because a lot of stuff in there is because of the stuff that she saved, and that's pretty cool," James said. "I think it's pretty cool that I've been able to do some things in my life to be able to bring back to my community, continue to highlight my community and make my community a place where people want to visit, want to see and want to be proud of, and I'm definitely proud of the fact that my foundation has been able to do some great things." As James made his way out of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, there were tons of fans — mostly kids — waiting to greet him or, at the very least, get a glimpse of the man who still means so much to the city of Cleveland. "Anytime you walk these hallways, I think a lot about (my) rookie (debut or) the last time that I played and just taking a couple more steps going down to the (Cavs') locker room down the hall, so it was just very special," James said. "I'm a kid from Akron … and to be able to be drafted here and spend my first seven years here, come back for four more years and do some special things like the franchise has never seen. When I was drafted, I said I want to light this place up like Las Vegas, so I feel like I did a decent job while I was here for about 11 years." Contact Marissa McNees at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.