It’s not every day a Brinks truck rolls up to an Akron house to deliver $1.3 million in hundreds neatly stacked in two black bags along with a lone $10 bill.
Then again, with a mega-global brand like LeBron James calling the city home, anything is possible.
After all, this is the same fella who with a little help from some friends like Little Tikes and Santa delivered 5,000 Christmas presents to Akron schoolchildren just a few days earlier.
James played Santa again Friday afternoon and hand delivered the $1.3 million John and Angel Whorton won on the new game show, The Wall, he produces on NBC.
“I feel like I’m the real Brinks truck man for real,” LeBron said as he carried the bags of cash up the sidewalk leading to the couple’s home. “Like I feel like Ted DiBiase right now. Like WWF back in the day.”
Once inside, the same spirited enthusiasm that captured the hearts of TV viewers on Monday night’s airing of the game show unfolded as Angel Whorton, a special education teacher for Akron Public Schools, once again jumped up and down and screamed for joy at the sight of James.
Her husband, John, a former Kent State basketball player who now works for Key Bank, walked in and gave James a giant bear hug.
“Oh my goodness,” he said. “Are you kidding me?”
The sight of $1.3 million and a stray $10 bill brought along to show that the cash was for real was almost too much for the stunned family.
“We are not holding this in the house,” Angel said loudly. “It is going into the bank.”
James laughed and pointed out the window at an awaiting Brinks truck and two armed guards who came inside to take the cash away for safekeeping.
The Cleveland Cavs standout said changing lives is what the game show is about. In it, contestants must work together to correctly answer trivia questions before a giant wall that resembles a Plinko board from The Price Is Right.
On The Wall, for correct answers a green ball is released and bounces its way to the bottom, where there are slots with dollar amounts ranging from a mere $1 to as much as $3 million.
But for each incorrect answer a red ball is dropped, and contestants lose money depending on which slot the ball lands in.
“We want to give it all away,” James joked about the game’s potential $12 million prize pot.
James posed for pictures with the family and gave the couple’s two children John Ramon, 9, and Kara, 7, an autographed picture, the $10 bill for their piggy bank and a memory to last a lifetime.
Joining James was his fellow St. Vincent-St. Mary alumnus Maverick Carter, who helps James run SpringHill Entertainment, which is producing the game show along with some other projects for NBC. The Wall will return to NBC on Jan. 2.
Like on the court, Angel Whorton said, James is now a game changer through the game show in ordinary people’s lives.
“I just want to say, thanks for this opportunity to not only represent our family, but our community,” she said. “This means an opportunity for our kids we could never imagine.”
Craig Webb can reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.