Lebron James Owes Nothing to Cleveland Area

Four years ago, when superstar National Basketball Association forward Lebron James made his decision to leave his old Cleveland Cavaliers team to join the Miami Heat as a free agent, it seemed that many in the media accused him of deserting his home town and roots.  Now that he has made the decision to return to Cleveland, he is receiving positive press for returning to his "home", as if he were somehow personally responsible for staying there his whole life.  Yet I know of no other professional athlete in any sport who has had this sort of injunction placed on them.  Do top athletes like Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, the Manning brothers in football, or anyone else feel the slightest pang of guilt at choosing to play in a sports city far from their own upbringing?  What about foreign born athletes like the Yankees' Masahiro Tanaka or basketball's Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Manu Ginobli, and Tony Parker...are they being "disloyal" to their homelands by playing in the United States?  Isn't it truly preposterous, then, to confine this "rule" to one and only one individual, namely Lebron James?

When Lebron James played for Cleveland the first time around, I felt that, despite the great talent he brought to the court, he was socially immature and exhibited very poor sportsmanship at dealing with defeat...as exemplified by his behavior following playoff series defeats to the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics.  However, after he  joined up with Miami I began to notice a more mature Lebron James who seemed to care about others and who displayed grace when things didn't always go his way.  Now he is returning to play for the Cavaliers and I wish him all the best there.  But I sincerely hope that Lebron isn't going back because he feels that he owes anything to them just for having grown up there...because he doesn't and never did!