LeBron James Heats Up the Boys & Girls Club

You already know LeBron James will be a member of the Miami Heat next season. You might not know just how much cash Thursday's very public decision will pour into one of America's most trusted nonprofits.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of America will earn more than $2.5 million (with another up-to-$1 million matched by James' sponsor Nike) from ten minutes of advertising time slipped into the telecast of the biggest free agent announcement in NBA history. Frank Sanchez, vice president of the century old organization, tells The New York Times that the money will likely go into repairing basketball courts and funding fitness programs at the nonprofit's 4,000 Clubs.

"He didn't have to do this," Sanchez tells The Times. "He could have just said it and walked away."

James could have done a lot of things differently during his drawn-out and highly publicized courtship by teams that tossed away talent for nothing to win a chance at adding him to their roster. He could have signed with the New York Knicks, where he would instantly become the king of the greatest city in the world. He could have signed with Chicago, where he had, by most experts' opinions, the greatest chance at winning multiple championships and establishing himself in the pantheon of the greatest players ever. He could have signed with the New Jersey Nets, a team that will soon play in Brooklyn, and one that is partially owned by James' good friend Jay-Z, and mostly owned by glamorous Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. He could have re-signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he was promised hometown love and $30 million more than anywhere else.

Instead, he chose to play in Miami, where he'll share the limelight with a pair of All-NBA talents and very close friends in Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Instead of cash and status, LeBron chose friends and the chance to win now. OK, and maybe a half-decade of 365-day summer.

Tonight it's not just Floridians celebrating. Workers and members at Boys & Girls Clubs across the nation are being asked for sound bites in the wake of James' big give. There's not much to say except thanks, and relay just what the money means.

Pandit Wright, president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington tells WUSA9 "any Boys & Girls Club is deserving."

Lynchburg, Va. Boys & Girls Club executive director Mark Sheehan elaborates. "We can keep a youth out of trouble for a year for about $1,500 a year," he tells ABC 13.

Do the math however you want. LeBron's decision pays off, and not just for him.

Photo by Keith Allison via Wikimedia Commons.