Two years ago, Kevin Durant announced he was joining the Warriors in a letter on The Players' Tribune titled 'My Next Chapter.'
On Sunday, in his first public comments about joining the Lakers, LeBron James used those same words and then some to describe his emotions about the move to Los Angeles.
While speaking in a video blog for Uninterrupted, LeBron started off by talking about the school he recently opened in hs hometown of Akron, Ohio. He segued to the topic of the Lakers by saying that it was a bittersweet time in his life considering he's about to move just as the school is opening.
Here are LeBron's full comments:
"It's kind of crazy right now because I've been sitting and thinking the past few weeks, past couple of months on what it means to open up a school and how excited I am for this possiblity for me to be in my hometown and be able to open up a school and to know who's going to benefit from it. I know these kids basically more than they know themselves. I've walked the same streets, I've rode bikes the same streets that they ride on, I went through the same emotions, the good, the bad, the adversity, everything the kids are going through, the drugs, the violence, the guns, everything that they've gone through as kids, I know. And for me to be in a position where I have the resources, I have the finance, I have the people, I have the structure and I have the city around me...why not? You know, why not continue to do great things where you can help the youth, you can help the next Barack Obama or Michelle Obama, you can help the next Sean 'Diddy' Combs or Jay-Z or the next LeBron James or you can help the next whatever the case may be, Serena Williams, it's an endless opportunity. It's kind of bittersweet timing because on this hand, I have a brand new school that's opening and I want to be there on a day-to-day basis, you know, 10 toes down for these kids. And then on the other hand, I'm moving. I'm moving to Los Angeles. This is kind of like a dream come true for me. Growing up, I was a Cowboys fan, a Bulls fan, a Yankees fan and I've always felt that was one of the historic franchises and then you look at the Lakers and being able to play for a historic franchise with so much history. And now being able to partner with Magic Johnson, someone I looked up to when I was younger and wanted to make no-look passes like Magic, wanted to get on the break and be Showtime like Magic and then for it to all come to fruition at this point, I think timing is everything. For me to be in this position now, the excitement I have to be a Laker, I'm happy to be a part of it, because I believe the Lakers are a historical franchise, we all know that, but it's a championship franchise and that's what we're trying to get back to and I'm happy to be a part of the culture and be a part of us getting back to that point. So this is where it is today, man. Like I said, on one hand, I've got my school, which I'm blown away by and then I have my next chapter and my personal life, being part of the Lakers organization and doing what I love to do and that's to play the game of basketball. There it is."
After announcing on July 1 that he would be signing with the Lakers, LeBron signed his contract a week later. There was no glitzy press conference. No big roll out of Los Angeles' new King. Now, he's finally opened up about his move west.
