This week on the Edge of Sports, Dave Zirin spoke with Esquire writer and Cleveland native Scott Raab, who recently published a book entitled The Whore of Akron, discussing LeBron James’ decision to sign with the Miami Heat. Raab spends the novel searching for the soul of James, who left his hometown Cavaliers fans stunned when he announced he would leave the team.
“It is a very funny, very profane, very moving, very maddening, and at time infantile text on LeBron’s move to Miami and the unparalleled heartbeat and heartbreak of being a fan of Cleveland sports,” Zirin says as he describes his take on the book.
Raab is a veteran writer that started that started his career with GQ before making a move to Esquire in 1997. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in both the sports and entertainment industries and was even lucky enough to get a tattoo alongside NBA great Dennis Rodman, a decision he later admitted in a column that he made while intoxicated.
Raab grew up Cleveland and has felt the woes of being a local sports fan his entire life. From the Cleveland Browns, to the Cleveland Indians, to the Cleveland Cavaliers, disappointment is the word that comes to mind. And when the Cavs drafted Lebron James with the first overall selection in 2003, it seemed that there was light at the end of the tunnel.
Instead, there was a brick wall at the end of the tunnel that came in the form of “The Decision”, an ESPN special in which LeBron sat down with Jim Gray and informed him that he will “take his talents to South Beach and play for the Miami Heat”. The entire world was in shock, but nobody felt that shock more than the Cleveland natives that watched their local hero grow up and could all but taste a championship in the near future with him at the helm.
To hear Raab’s thoughts on LeBron James, you can watch the full interview with Zirin above.
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