Romeo Travis and LeBron James go back to their days at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. While James went on to dominate the NBA, Travis took his talents overseas.

Many fans are still wondering what convinced James to choose Los Angeles as his next destination. But Travis understands where his good friend is coming from. Travis told Leo Sepkowitz of Bleacher Report:

“Until you’re in that spot to make your wife and kids happy and have a good basketball situation, you’ll never understand.”

Fans tend to look at free agency decisions purely from a basketball standpoint. LeBron’s kids are growing up and his family had to play a huge role in his decision to leave Ohio for sunny California.

And this time around, Cleveland fans are more understanding of James’ decision than when he jumped ship for Miami way back when.

Travis had this to say about how Cavs fans feel:

“Now it’s more of an understanding: You did what you could. We don’t really blame you. I feel that. I talk to people every day. We’re not mad at ‘Bron; he did what he could, got us a ‘ship.”

James helped bring a championship to a city that was starving for one. Although every Cavs fan is sad to see him leave town again, he was able to give them something no one else could.

Cleveland fans don’t have any reason to burn their No. 23 jerseys anymore. They can wear them with pride for the rest of time.