LeBron James admitted he and his Akron friends hated Cleveland while growing up: "It's not far, but it is far"

LeBron James admitted he and his Akron friends hated Cleveland while growing up: “It’s not far, but it is far” originally appeared on Basketball Network.

Back in August 2010, LeBron James opened up about his complex relationship with Cleveland — aka “The Land” — during his youth.

In a candid GQ interview, he admitted that he and his Akron friends actually “hated Cleveland” growing up — a revelation that added new context to the backlash over LBJ’s controversial departure weeks earlier.

Akron vs. Cleveland

When James announced his move to the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers fans felt betrayed. The consensus? Their hometown hero had turned his back on the franchise that drafted him — a high schooler at the time — first overall in the iconic 2003 NBA Draft.

At the time, the two-time reigning MVP acknowledged the pain caused by the heavily media-blown “The Decision” but also revealed a deeper story. In a GQ interview, LeBron said that growing up, he and his friends didn’t feel warmly toward Cleveland — they outright despised it.

Though James’s birthplace, Akron — interestingly, the same as Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry — is only 40 miles from Cleveland, he said it sometimes felt like two different worlds.

“It’s close, but it’s far,” LBJ explained, adding that the “bigger-city kids” from Cleveland looked down on Akron’s smaller-town crowd, branding them outsiders.

This tension isn’t unique.

It’s a classic clash between a major market and its satellite towns, and it shaped how the future basketball icon and his peers viewed both their hometown and the nearby city negatively, not just as youths but for years afterward.

“There are still a lot of people in Cleveland we hate to this day,” the then-25-year-old NBA superstar admitted.

Homecoming

Despite an almost indoctrinated dislike for “The Land” in his youth and lingering resentment from Cavs supporters after his controversial departure, King James never closed the door on a possible reunion.

“If there was an opportunity for me to return [to Cleveland] … and those fans welcome me back, that’d be a great story,” he declared ahead of the 2010–11 NBA season.

LBJ did return to Ohio in the years that followed — not to Cleveland, though, but to Akron, staying anchored in the city where he was born in late December 1984.

“I’m going to spend a lot of the summer here. This is my home. Akron, Ohio, is my home. I will always be here. I’m still working out at my old high school,” the St. Vincent–St. Mary alum explained.

In the end, the true homecoming came years later.

After winning two championships with the Heatles, LBJ opted out of his contract and became a free agent following the 2013–14 season.

Then, eleven days into July 2014, in a first-person essay for Sports Illustrated, he announced his decision to return to his first NBA franchise. Unlike the backlash after “The Decision,” this time the news was warmly received.

The very next day, the iconic 6’8″ forward signed a two-year, $42.1 million deal, officially rejoining the Cavs.

It marked the start of another stellar run — this time it lasted just four years instead of seven, but that hardly mattered. After all, King James delivered Cleveland its first-ever championship during his second stint. In spectacular fashion, that was, rallying from a 3–1 series deficit against the star-studded Golden State Warriors during the 2016 NBA Finals.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.

LeBron James admitted he and his Akron friends hated Cleveland while growing up: “It’s not far, but it is far”

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