LeBron James Surprises ‘I Promise School’ Students With Check For $1 Million To Build New Gym....But He Didn't Pay For It?

First of all let me say that I’m surprised that Mr. Zero Dark Thirty: 23 took time out of his busy playoff schedule to travel to Akron, Ohio. Oh wait…nevermind. Anyways, yeah I know LeBron is some sort philanthropic Mother Teresa when it comes to helping the youth of his hometown. And for that, I can commend him. So for one quick second, let’s all forget the fact that the self-proclaimed King has turned his entire legacy from potentially the greatest of all time to single handedly ruining the most storied franchise in the NBA. This isn’t about how he’s turned the once proud Laker organization into the Barnum and Bailey Circus. This isn’t about how he can’t recruit players to his team or to Space Jam 2, or even the fact that the people that recruited him to LA have now quit because they can’t deal with him. This is about LeBron James the person. And I would like to shout out this modern day Robinhood for redistributing his own wealth from the rich to the poor to the tune of a personal $1 million dollar check for a new gymnasium at his school.

He brought with him a check for $1 million to build a new gym at the school for 240 3rd and 4th graders. It was funded by a grant from the Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation.

Wait, what? Please tell me I’m reading this wrong. Does that say that this money didn’t even come from LeBron James? It came from a grant from Dick’s Sporting Goods. I’ve have officially seen it all folks. Once again, this is not even LeBron James money that he is parading around to the photographers and media. But he spared no expenses in the classic “everyone look at me” ceremony that he loves to put on. We’ve had the “Not 5, Not 6, Not 7″ night. Then we had the “I’m Coming Home” night. And now we have this: the night where he stood behind fireworks and smoke guns to announce a new gym purchased by someone else.

This is the same old song and dance for King James. Just like when the school was built, which he tricked the world into thinking he funded, LeBron is just the face of this money. For the school, it was the taxpayers of Akron. For this gym, it is Dick’s Sporting Goods. The real hero here is Edward W. Stack, CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Stack. The kids of Akron thank you today, and they will continue to thank you for many years to come. When the next great one makes it out of this city (which is a pretty average city, regardless of how poor and bad LeBron makes it seem), it will be because you provided them with a gym. Maybe this time, since he’ll be able to grow up practicing inside without the wind, the player will be able to make free throws.