'You're Welcome, LeBron' Billboard Surprises Drivers in NBA Star's Hometown

Two-time NBA champ may not have expressed enough gratitude to Miami.

ByABC News
August 6, 2014, 4:53 PM
This billboard is seen in Akron, Ohio, the hometown of NBA player LeBron James.
This billboard is seen in Akron, Ohio, the hometown of NBA player LeBron James.
@JeremyinAkron

— -- "You're welcome, LeBron. Love, Miami."

That's what a billboard in Akron, Ohio, states in large letters next to images of two NBA championship rings.

It's a not-so-subtle message to Cleveland Cavaliers basketball star LeBron James from determined Miami sports personalities.

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Dan Le Batard, an ESPN Radio host, said he received rejections from two Ohio newspapers last week to run the sarcastic message aimed at the former Miami Heat player. The Cleveland Plain Dealer and Akron Beacon-Journal had declined to place a full-page ad, he said.

The radio show host and thousands of other Miami fans have shared about their "hurt" since LeBron announced last month that he was leaving Miami. Le Batard had written for the Miami Herald last month, "South Florida lost him the same way South Florida got him. There is some justice in that."

The "Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz" features co-host John Weiner (a.k.a., Stutgotz).

The last line of the billboard states, "This ad is paid for by Gonzalo 'Papi' Le Batard and Stugotz."

Gonzalo Le Batard is the father of Dan Le Batard and a Cuban immigrant who has appeared with his son on the ESPN2 show "Dan Le Batard is Highly Questionable."

Gonzalo and Dan Le Batard and Weiner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.