Cavan Sullivan does a LeBron James tribute with his latest goal, and hopes he’ll come to a Union game

It’s well known that LeBron James is a big-time soccer fan. He attends games in the NBA’s offseason, talks about the sport often on social media, and sat with Cristiano Ronaldo in Nike’s big World Cup ad this summer. He even has an investment stake in one of the world’s biggest clubs, Liverpool of the English Premier League.

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There’s no word yet if the newest Sixers arrival will become a fan of the local team in his new home city. But Cavan Sullivan, the Union’s Bridesburg-bred teen phenom, is not shy about hoping it happens. So when he scored a goal in the Union’s 2-0 win over CF Montréal on Saturday at Subaru Park, he uncorked a celebration he’d been planning ever since James signed in Philadelphia.

Team photographer Kim Ahrens was keeping a bottle of chalk powder on the nearby sideline. Sullivan ran over to her, got the bottle, poured a handful of powder into his hands, and blew it up into the air — a tribute to James’ famed routine that he does before tipoff of all of his games.

Unfortunately for Sullivan, the breeze blowing in off the Delaware River meant there wasn’t as much of a cloud as James often creates in arenas. But the message was sent, and Sullivan talked about it after the game.

“I was waiting to do that for a while,” he said. “I just kept missing out on it, or I was away. Tonight, great crowd, I figured it was the perfect time.”

Indeed, while this was Sullivan’s third straight game with a goal — and seventh goal in all competitions this year — the last two were in road games, at Austin and Red Bull New York. This one was his first at Subaru Park since James picked Philadelphia as his final professional home.

No doubt the invitation has already been extended behind the scenes, since the Union and 76ers front offices know each other well. Sixers players have been regular visitors to Union games over the years, all the way up to another big-time soccer fan in Joel Embiid. Jaylen Brown follows the sport too, so might also come to Chester at some point.

But it would be a huge scene if James decides to attend a game of a team whose ownership group includes one of his longtime friends, Kevin Durant.

“Got to get him to strike the drum, maybe follow me back on Instagram,” Sullivan quipped, his priorities clearly in order. But then again, James knew where to find Folarin Balogun on social media right away when he scored for the U.S. in the World Cup against Bosnia & Herzegovina, then did James’ “Silencer” celebration.

“We saw him shout out Balogun in the World Cup, so that sort of made me think of it,” Sullivan said.

Thankfully, Sullivan did not follow the rest of Balogun’s footsteps on Saturday by committing a red card-worthy foul against Montréal. But perhaps they’ll be able to swap LeBron stories if they’re both called up to the U.S. squad at the end of this month.

And perhaps, once James arrives in town later in the fall, he’ll decide to accept the invitation.

“This place is dope — environment like you’ve never seen before. No arena is like Subaru Park,” Sullivan said with a laugh. “So yeah, pull up if you want to watch good soccer with Philly kids. It’s a nice culture around here.”

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