LeBron James, a star athlete of NBA, hosted a children’s bike-a-thon in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
Although most of the money raised will go to charities, James believes the kids’ participation and having fun is just as essential.
“When I can see the kids have a smile on their face it means more to me than anything, and that’s why I continue to do this,” he said.
According to the Associated Press, James danced with the local kids and his two sons, LeBron Jr. and Bryce, joined in the fun.
The Cavaliers’ coach, MIke Brown, New Orleans guard Chris Paul and TV host, Nick Cannon joined the NBA maverick in his cause.
“Its all about health and wellness and having an awareness of all of that we got to encourage the next generation to take care of themselves and step away from the TV step away from the video games and have fun like we use to,” Cannon said.
While the children’s trail was one-mile long, the adult’s ride was a challenging 8-mile ride through Akron.
A local participant, Randy Mims, said he took his children on the trail for some rigorous exercise.
“It’s definitely a good workout,” he said. “You have to be in shape and be prepared. This is a real ride.”
The bike-a-thon was one of many free event James hosted over the weekend. During his eventful weekend at Summit Lake Community Park he recognized and rewarded the young people who are making positives strides in their communities – the “Game Changers.”
While James took the time thank the city of Akron, he saved his heartfelt accolades for his mother, Gloria James.
“She means everything,” James said of his mom. “She is the reason why I am here and able to stand in front of you guys because she raised me by herself and I’ve seen how strong she was to do it by herself. So it’s automatically made me become stronger and made me grow up faster than kids want to, but it set me up in life to become who I am today.”
