The Cleveland Cavaliers will replace the banner of LeBron James that hung from the Sherwin-Williams headquarters with a new variant. The Cavs released a photo of the proposed design:
The statue pictured on the banner is one of Cleveland’s “Guardians of Traffic.” Two such statues — designed by sculptor Henry Hering and architect Frank Walker — stand proudly on the Hope Memorial Bridge (formerly the Lorain–Carnegie Bridge), which leads to the city’s West side. The banner also bears the Cleveland Cavaliers and Destination Cleveland logos.
The banner of LeBron James that once hung from the Sherwin-Williams building was taken down in July, shortly after he announced that he would be taking his talents to Hollywood to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The new banner has received quite a bit of criticism on social media, but the team’s goal was to honor one of Cleveland’s iconic landmarks and represent the community in a respectful way. The city of Cleveland Planning Commission approved the proposal right away.
While there is no official date set, a team spokesman said they would like to have the banner up before the start of the 2018-19 season.