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Cleveland's giant LeBron James banner isn't coming down, after all

Fans celebrate in front of a LeBron James mural after the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors to win the 2016 NBA Championship. (Angelo Merendino/Getty Images)
Fans celebrate in front of a LeBron James mural after the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors to win the 2016 NBA Championship. (Angelo Merendino/Getty Images)

The lesson of this spring and early summer: no force can take down LeBron James. Not any Eastern Conference opposition, not the 73-win Golden State Warriors … and, in the end, not even a Fortune 500 paint company.

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One week ago, Sherwin-Williams Co. announced that the massive Nike mural hanging from the side of its headquarters across the street from Quicken Loans Arena — the one depicting LeBron with his arms outstretched after his famed pre-game chalk toss ritual and “CLEVELAND” across the back of his jersey, all 10 stories, 25,000 square feet and 1.3 tons of it — would come down on July 5. It would make way for a red, white and blue “This Land is Our Land” banner to welcome attendees at next month’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

That announcement, coming on the heels of James keeping his word and earning NBA Finals MVP honors after leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first-ever NBA championship and the city’s first pro sports title since 1964, immediately rankled many Ohioans who — after watching the banner get spruced up with a sharp “CHAMPIONS” update — had very little interest in seeing their conquering hero replaced, even briefly, by three paint-swatch rectangles that come together to look kind of like the French flag. One Ohio resident launched a Change.org petition aimed at persuading Sherwin-Williams to leave the banner up. In less than a week, it has drawn nearly 24,000 signatures of support.

“The banner is a symbol of persistence, promise, and pride in the Cleveland Cavaliers and Northeastern Ohio,” wrote Kathy Springer of Macedonia, Ohio, who started the petition. “Removing this banner will be a travesty to what we call Cleveland.”

After a week of bad publicity, Sherwin-Williams did what many opponents over the years have done in the face of LeBron James. It relented.

From the company’s Tuesday press release:

In recognition of fan interest, the company will keep the now-famous LeBron James banner hanging from its global headquarters building. The banner was set to come down for the summer in order to display a Sherwin-Williams banner celebrating 150 years.

“For 150 years, Sherwin-Williams has been proud to call Cleveland our home, and we’re committed to doing the right thing for the people of this great city,” said John Morikis, President and CEO, The Sherwin-Williams Company. “For the last year, we’ve been planning to hang a celebratory banner outside our building during the summer months. But what better way to celebrate our 150th year than with a NBA championship. As a long-time supporter of the Cavs, and the entire community, we want the energy and excitement in this city to continue.”

And just to make sure there aren’t any hard feelings from Northeast Ohio’s favorite son and those who love him, the company also announced it would donate $150,000 to the LeBron James Family Foundation, the charitable organization through which, among other things, James is helping Akron children get free college educations.

And there it’ll stay.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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