LeBron James

Basketball Player

• Born: December 30, 1984
• Birthplace: Akron, Ohio

Considered by many to be one of the best players in National Basketball Association (NBA) history, LeBron James turned professional after an unparalleled high school career in which he garnered comparisons to Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and other historic greats even before he turned eighteen. His play lived up to and perhaps even surpassed the lofty expectations he shouldered at the outset of his career, winning multiple championships and breaking many records.

Early Life

Born December 30, 1984, LeBron Raymone James persevered through a childhood in which he had very little contact with his biological father, Anthony McClelland, an absentee parent who spent time in prison. James was raised in Akron, Ohio, by his mother, Gloria James, who moved her son twelve times when he was between the ages of five and eight and whose primary goal for her son was to keep him away from negative influences in the neighborhoods they lived in.

As a child, James displayed natural athletic ability, excelling on the football field as well as on the basketball court. He was a dominant presence on his youth football team, scoring nineteen touchdowns as a wide receiver in his first season. Although his mother tried to provide a stable home life for James, her work schedule often left her son alone and idle, which began to lead to a lack of focus at school. He soon was skipping class and falling behind in his studies, so Frankie Walker, James's youth football coach, offered his home as a place for James to live temporarily. This living situation refocused James, who began to improve at school and especially on the basketball court.

During this time, James experienced a growth spurt; he was six feet tall by the time he was in eighth grade. He honed his basketball skills by playing Sunday night games at the Akron Jewish Community Center, which prepared him to make an immediate impression at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron. Despite James’s youth, members of the sports media were quick to declare him the second coming of basketball great Michael Jordan. This burden was a heavy one for any teenager, even one who appeared to be mature beyond his years.

As a freshman at St. Vincent–St. Mary, James led his team in several categories, including rebounds and assists, and averaged 19 points per game. The team went undefeated and won the state championship. The following year, James and his team were again state champions, with James averaging 25 points per game. He was chosen as a first-team USA Today All-American, an honor never before bestowed on a sophomore. In his junior year, James upped his points-per-game average to 30. Gatorade named him the national high school player of the year, and fans across the country began to take notice of this basketball prodigy.

Basketball Career

At the conclusion of James’s junior year in high school, a season in which he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, he petitioned the National Basketball Association (NBA) to amend its eligibility requirements, hoping to forgo his senior season. Although he was denied early entry into the league, he continued to flourish at the high school level, attracting a nationwide following. He was named the most valuable player (MVP) of the McDonald’s All-American Game, an event in which the top high school basketball players in the United States compete against one another.

In what seemed to be a fortuitous circumstance, James’s hometown NBA team, the long-suffering Cleveland Cavaliers, won the first pick in the 2003 draft and selected James. He made an immediate impact, collecting 25 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, and 6 steals in his first professional contest. After averaging 21 points per game for the season, he was named the NBA rookie of the year in 2004. In 2005, James continued to improve, making his first All-Star team and becoming the youngest player in NBA history to score 50 points in a game. The following season, he won the All-Star Game MVP award and led the Cavaliers to the team’s first playoff appearance in eight years.

Although many basketball experts predicted that James would one day lead his team to the NBA Finals, few thought it would occur as rapidly as it did. In only his fourth season with the team, 2006–07, James led the Cavaliers to a fifty-win season and an Eastern Conference championship over the heavily favored Detroit Pistons. In the NBA Finals, the Cavaliers were swept in four games by the more experienced San Antonio Spurs, but many predicted that a championship was just around the corner for the team.

James won another All-Star Game MVP award in 2008 and guided the Cavaliers to another exceptional regular season, but in the playoffs his lack of a strong supporting cast became apparent. The Cavaliers were eliminated by the Boston Celtics, a team that featured three superstars and that eventually won the NBA championship. During the offseason James was part of the US national basketball team that captured a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

In 2008–09, the Cavaliers earned the best record in the league at 66–16, losing only twice at home. After a season in which he averaged more than 35 points per game, James was voted by an overwhelming margin the MVP of the league. The Cavaliers looked poised to storm through the playoffs, and many anticipated a showdown in the NBA Finals between James and the Cavaliers and Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers; Nike began running popular advertisements that featured James and Bryant puppets together. However, the Cavaliers were defeated by a superior Orlando Magic team led by dynamic and effusive center Dwight Howard in the Eastern Conference Finals; the Magic were defeated by the Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Entering the 2009–10 season, the Cavaliers' front office understood that it had to greatly improve the team over the following season or risk losing James to free agency in a year in which numerous prominent players—among them the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade and the Toronto Raptors’s Chris Bosh—also had expiring contracts. The Cavaliers signed veteran center and four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal to help James in his quest to bring a championship to Cleveland. The Cavaliers had another tremendous regular season, finishing first in the Eastern Conference and winning sixty-one games. James averaged nearly 30 points and 8.6 assists per game. Once again, however, Cleveland’s season ended in disappointment when they were defeated by the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

At the conclusion of the 2009–10 season, James exercised his option to become a free agent, and although some believed he intended to return to the Cavaliers, many speculated that his desire to win a championship would compel him to leave the team and join forces with one of the other top free agents. On July 10, 2010, ESPN broadcast a special program titled The Decision, a spectacle—seen by many as ostentatious—in which James announced his intention to join the Miami Heat, which had retained Wade and had signed Bosh. The three players, especially James, were derided by many for their decision to join forces. Former superstars Magic Johnson and Jordan both stated that they never would have teamed up with rival players at the height of their careers, and Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert published a vitriolic open letter in which he called James “cowardly” and “selfish.” In September, before the NBA season started, James claimed that the reaction to his departure from Cleveland was, at least partially, a racial issue; prominent African American leaders such as Jesse Jackson agreed.

Regardless of popular opinion and after starting slowly, the revamped Heat became one of the top teams in the NBA as the 2010–11 NBA season unfolded. They secured the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and made it to the Finals, but ultimately they lost the championship to the Dallas Mavericks in six games. James's play in the Finals was a disappointment, as the difference between his nearly 27 points per game during the regular season and less than 18 points per game in the Finals set an NBA record. During the off-season he worked to change his style of play, a move that immediately benefited the Heat the following year. The team began 16–5 to match its best start ever, with James averaging 30 points per game. The regular season was shortened due to a lockout, but James secured his third MVP award and the Heat entered the 2012 playoffs. After several close series, Miami reached the Finals again, this time against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Heat won in five games, with James's 28.6 points per game helping him secure the Finals MVP award and his first championship.

James then won another Olympic gold medal in 2012 at the games held in London, England. For the 2012–13 season the Heat set a franchise record of 66–16, ensuring another trip to the postseason. Once again, James helped lead his team to the Finals, where they faced the Spurs. Although they initially fell behind, the Heat rallied to win the series in seven games; James scored 37 points in the final game and won the Finals MVP award for the second year in a row. In 2013–14 James scored 61 points in a single game, a career high, as he and the Heat attempted a third consecutive championship. They made it to the Finals for a rematch with the Spurs but lost in five games.

After the 2013–14 season James exercised an option to end his contract with the Heat and became a free agent again. He then authored an essay in Sports Illustrated in which he announced that he would return to the Cavaliers, eventually signing a two-year contract with Cleveland. Despite the fans' negative reaction when he previously left the city, James was generally approved of and welcomed back. Along with young star Kyrie Irving and free agent signing Kevin Love, James helped the Cavaliers reach the Finals in 2014. Although he averaged nearly 36 points per game in the series, Cleveland lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games. After the season James opted out of his contract in favor of a new one keeping him with the Cavaliers for two more years. In 2015 he also branched into acting, playing himself in the film Trainwreck.

In 2016, the Cavaliers were once again in postseason playoffs. They managed to proceed to the Finals, again against the Golden State Warriors (who had set an NBA record with 73 wins in the regular season), and this time won in seven games. James averaged 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 8.9 assists and became the third NBA player to achieve a triple-double (reaching double digits in three of the five main statistical categories: points, assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks) in a Game Seven of the Finals. James was unanimously voted MVP of the NBA Finals that year.

The Cavaliers were expected to dominate the Eastern Conference again in the 2016–17 season; however, various injuries and perceived tension within the team and its front office led to tumultuous play. Cleveland ended up with a 51–31 record, good for the second seed in the East after the Celtics, and James averaged 26.4 points per game. However, their play picked up in the playoffs, with James posting a 41-point game in the first round to lead a postseason record-setting comeback against the Indiana Pacers. The Cavaliers went on to defeat the Celtics for the Eastern Conference championship, during which James surpassed Jordan as the league's top all-time playoff scoring leader. This set up Cleveland's third straight Finals contest against Golden State, and James's seventh straight Finals appearance. Although the Cavaliers lost in five games to the high-scoring Warriors, James set a record as the first player in NBA history to average a triple-double in the Finals, with a statistical line of 33.6 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists across the series.

During the 2017–18 season, James became the first player to reach a lifetime total of 30,000 points, 8,000 rebounds, and 8,000 assists. He also made it to the NBA Finals for the eighth consecutive time, a streak not seen since the early days of the sport. Though the Cavaliers again lost to the Warriors, James did well, averaging 34 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 10 assists, despite sustaining a hand injury after Game 1. At the end of the season, he declined to renew his contract with the Cavaliers, becoming a free agent. He announced in July 2018 that he had signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Although James played well during the 2018–19 season, the Lakers did not make the postseason, ending his streak of Finals appearances. In January 2020, James scored his 33,644th point, passing Kobe Bryant for third place on the NBA all-time scoring list. His success continued throughout the 2019–20 season, despite a suspension of play between March and July due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He ended the regular season leading the league with an average of 10.2 assists per game. During the postseason, the Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, the Houston Rockets, and the Denver Nuggets to earn a spot in the 2020 NBA Finals. Competing against the Miami Heat, LeBron helped lead the Lakers to victory, four games to two. LeBron was named Finals MVP for his contributions in the series, making him the first player ever to win that award with three different teams. He also became the third player in NBA history, along with teammate Danny Green, to win a championship with three different teams.

During the 2020–21 season James again led the Lakers as one of the league's top teams. In February 2021 he reached 35,000 career points, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone as the only players to hit that milestone. His strong play led him to be selected as an All-Star Game captain for the fourth year in a row, and though he appeared only briefly in the game, his team defeated that of fellow superstar Kevin Durant. However, James was sidelined with a sprained ankle for much of the second half of the season, missing twenty-six games. That year, the Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

In February 2022, during the next season, James hit another career milestone when he broke the NBA's combined point-scoring record for playoff and regular season games. James unseated previous record holder Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after reaching a career total of 44,152 combined points. In March of that year, James became only the second player in history to score 37,000 career points in the regular season (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar being the first). An ankle injury later that month prevented James from becoming the oldest player to lead for scoring in a season at age thirty-seven. (Michael Jordan held the record at the time of James's injury at the age of thirty-four.) The Lakers were then eliminated from playoff contention the next month after James's injury prevented him from returning to play. Prior to his injury, James became the first player in NBA history to record 30,000 points, 10,000 assists, and 10,000 rebounds.

In June 2022 Forbes reported that James's net worth passed $1 billion, making James the first active NBA player to become a billionaire. Two months later, after signing a new two-year contract with the Lakers for $97.1 million, James became the highest-paid NBA player in history.

During the 2022–23 season, James became the NBA's all-time leading scorer after scoring his 38,388th career point to break a record previously set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar nearly forty years prior. Abdul-Jabbar, who was in attendance for the milestone, honored James's accomplishment in a postgame ceremony that entailed handing the game ball to James.

Personal Life and Charity Work

James married Savannah Brinson in 2013. They have three children together.

James has been lauded for his charitable efforts as well as his performance on the basketball court. Just prior to entering the NBA draft, he began a charitable organization along with his mother called the LeBron James Family Foundation. Staffed by volunteers, the foundation's self-described mission was to support the community of Akron by aiding children's development via cocurricular and educational initiatives. In addition to supporting the local Boys and Girls Club of America branch and after-school programs, the foundation began a bikeathon in its first year that eventually expanded to become the Wheels for Education mentoring program. In 2015, as a further step in his goal to help kids thrive who share a similar background, James and the foundation announced that they would be giving more than one thousand kids taking part in the "I Promise" initiative the chance to attend the University of Akron without having to pay tuition. He went on to found the I Promise School, an elementary school for at-risk children, which opened in 2018.

As an international superstar, James often attracted attention well beyond the basketball court. Notably, in 2008 he became the first Black man to be featured on the cover of Vogue magazine. However, the cover was contentious and criticized as racist and as perpetuating racial stereotypes of African American men. It featured James holding a White supermodel, Gisele Bündchen, in his left arm while appearing to roar at the camera, a pose that some observers likened to well-known depictions of the character King Kong. Although many dismissed the resemblance as coincidental, others felt it represented a racist stereotype. James himself grew more vocal about racism and other social and political issues as his career progressed. He spoke up publicly on various occasions, including amid widespread protests in 2020 of police violence against Black Americans, even taking part in a brief player boycott of the 2019–20 NBA playoffs over that issue.

Significance

Once beloved as a basketball prodigy, James became a more divisive figure in US sports after deciding to leave Cleveland, which led to some contempt among fans and management alike. However, his desire to win a championship compelled him to join forces with Wade and Bosh, and he delivered on that goal. After returning to the Cavaliers, James once again became one of the most popular athletes in the world, while continuing to earn honors and break longstanding NBA records. Regardless of shifting public opinion of him, he undoubtedly became one of the top NBA players of his era and of all time.

In addition to James’s contributions to the NBA, his high school career was unlike any other, garnering the attention of the American public in a way no high school basketball player had previously. He also became influential as a philanthropist, donating to many causes and establishing his own charity, while using his celebrity status to comment on social issues, politics, and other controversial topics.

Bibliography

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