LeBron James is one of the greatest players in NBA history. He's also, with all due respect to Drake, one of the greatest frontrunners in the history of sports fandom.
We all know his history of hopping from one NBA team to another, chasing championships and legacies. There's nothing wrong with that. But growing up in Akron, Ohio, he somehow ended up as a fan of the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys.
Ohio has two MLB teams and two NFL teams. You can drive from Akron to Detroit or Pittsburgh in under three hours, putting two more MLB and two more NFL teams within his geographic reach. Heck, even Buffalo and the Bills are driving distance for a day trip. But he ended up a fan of two of the most successful franchises in baseball and football history, each of which playing far from where he grew up.
That's front-runner stuff. It just is. He even admitted as much in a 2016 interview with The New York Post, saying: "I'm a supporter of winners. As a kid growing up, I needed inspiration to get out of the situation I was in. I loved the Bulls, Cowboys and loved the Yankees. Those are winning franchises. I liked them because they gave me hope of being a winner."
But LeBron James is apparently ready to make a change.
LeBron James has abandoned the Cowboys, says 'I'm a Browns fan now'
On Thursday night's episode of NFL on Prime Video, LeBron admitted his allegiances had changed.
This isn't just a change of team, it's a change of philosophy. He acknowledges the hometown connection, acknowledges they've been terrible and pointed out that it was all about hope.
The Browns have just one winning season in the last 16 years, and that includes a winless 2017 campaign and a 1-15 season the year before. Supporting the Browns means LeBron can no longer claim he's a "supporter of winners."
That being said, the Browns are 2-2 this season and have a decent chance of making the playoffs. Maybe what they needed was their regions most famous athlete of all time to actually show a little support.
