Did an Akron journalist find the LeBron leak?

Amy Sancetta, Associated Press | The courtship of LeBron James is nearing the end and has been relatively quiet on the rumor end. Did an Akron journalist find a chink in the armor though?

Tomorrow night ends what has been a year of speculation surrounding LeBron James’s new home for basketball. So far the courtship has been relatively quiet and subdued when compared to the documentary cameras following Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

With that said the bloggers, Tweeters, journalists and seemingly everyone but grandma have had their “sources” and thoughts about where James is definitely going. My bet is 99.9 percent of those are false rumors and faulty sources.

The most interesting piece of evidence for LBJ’s destination came out today from Eric Mansfield, a news anchor for WKYC-TV in Cleveland. Mansfield did some good digging for a scoop and may have struck gold while digging through the Summit County tax records.

What he found, doesn’t necessarily point to LeBron’s new basketball destination, but at least his new CPA’s (Certified Public Accountant) destination—which is Chicago.

LeBron’s Akron home at 4157 Idlebrook has been under his name since 2003 according to documents and tax paperwork, for 2003 and 2004, had been sent directly to the superstar.  The 2003 tax document via http://co.summit.oh.us/ can be seen below.

Public record from 2003 shows that James owned the 4157 Idlebrook home and received the tax records personally that year, and also in 2004.

According to documents, in 2005, James turned over taxes to McCormack Advisors International, IMG Center at 1360 E 9th St. Suite 100 in Cleveland who handled James’s taxes for 2005, 2006 and 2007. The photo below shows the 2005 records with the new CPA company.

Public record from 2005 shows a change in CPA businesses for James's taxes. Instead of handling taxes himself, James hired an agency through 2007.

In 2008 LeBron’s information was transferred to c/o Kurt Schoeppler at the same building as the previous CPA. Schoeppler is listed 1360 E 9th St. Suite 860 and is currently LBJ’s financial adviser. Schoeppler personally handled James’s account in 2008 before the switch over to Chicago. Below is the 2008 document with Schoeppler listed.

Public records from 2008 show James's financial adviser as the one handling his taxes for that year. It is unclear if Schoeppler handled them perviously, from 2005-2007.

In the final photo I have, from the 2009 documents you can see LeBron has moved his taxes to a CPA firm in Chicago, Weinberg Solheim Howell & Shain at 180 N. LaSalle Street. Changes were made to Chicago today (July 7) according to Mansfield’s Twitter.

Change of taxing address to Chicago? Yes. Change of basketball address to Chicago? To be determined.

So what does this all mean in the grand scheme of things?

Well, it could mean nothing. First off, the legal documents show the LBJ has at least changed where his taxes will be going. For what reason I don’t know. WSHS, according to The Atlantic, also does taxes for the Obamas.

So this could be sound financial advise from the President Obama, or just a simple move to a better CPA from his current financial adviser. It’s not like WSHS is an off-the-cuff firm that James’s financial people wouldn’t know about. If they’re good enough for the First Family, they’re good enough for King James.

As far as his basketball intentions the speculation that he is Chicago-bound has to be running rampant right now. I’ve never switched CPA firms, but it does seem like a hassle to do so, especially if you live and work in a different state.

Based off the legal documents, it would appear LeBron will proclaim Chicago as his new stomping ground. After all, wouldn’t New York, New Jersey/Brooklyn, and Miami have a similar firm (prestige-wise) that he could go to if he were in fact going to one of those three teams?

This is all coincidental for now, of course. The rumors continue to fly around about Cleveland, Miami and New York and this information hasn’t hit the real mainstream media yet (at least none that I have seen).

Fact is, only LeBron James knows where LeBron James will play basketball next year and we’ll know tomorrow at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN. The other fact we know is that James is moving taxes to a Chicago CPA.

So until further notice, hang tight Chicago and Cleveland. My bet is on one of you two.