LeBron James James grew up playing basketball for St. Vincent–St. Mary High School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. He was heavily touted by the national media as a future NBA superstar for his all-around scoring, passing, athleticism and playmaking abilities. A prep-to-pro, he was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first overall pick of the 2003 NBA draft. LeBron James Named the 2004 NBA Rookie of the Year, he soon established himself as one of the league’s premier players, leading the Cavaliers to their first NBA Finals appearance in 2007 and winning the NBA MVP award in 2009 and 2010.After failing to win a championship with Cleveland, James left in 2010 as a free agent to join the Miami Heat; this was announced in a nationally televised special titled The Decision and is among the most controversial free agency moves in sports history.LeBron James
LeBron James James won his first two NBA championships while playing for the Heat in 2012 and 2013; in both of these years, he also earned the league’s MVP and Finals MVP awards. After his fourth season with the Heat in 2014, James opted out of his contract and re-signed with the Cavaliers. In 2016, he led the Cavaliers to victory over the Golden State Warriors in the Finals by coming back from a 3–1 deficit, delivering the team’s first championship and ending the Cleveland sports curse. In 2018, James exercised his contract option to leave the Cavaliers and signed with the Lakers, where he won the 2020 NBA championship and his fourth Finals MVP. James is the first player in NBA history to accumulate $1 billion in earnings as an active player. On February 7, 2023, James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the leading scorer in league history.
LeBron James:Facts
- Born : December 30, 1984 (age 38)Akron, Ohio, U.S.
- Listed height : 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
- Listed weight : 250 lb (113 kg)
- 2003–2010 : Cleveland Cavaliers
- 2010–2014 : Miami Heat
- 2014–2018 : Cleveland Cavaliers
- 2018–: present Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James:Early life
James was born on December 30, 1984, in Akron, Ohio, to Gloria Marie James, who was 16 at the time of his birth. 22 His father, Anthony McClelland, has an extensive criminal record and was not involved in his life. When James was growing up, life was often a struggle for the family, as they moved from apartment to apartment in the seedier neighborhoods of Akron while Gloria struggled to find steady work.[20] Realizing that her son would be better off in a more stable family environment, Gloria allowed him to move in with the family of Frank Walker, a local youth football coach who introduced James to basketball when he was nine years old.
James began playing organized basketball in the fifth grade.He later played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars.The team enjoyed success on a local and national level, led by James and his friends Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, and Willie McGee. The group dubbed themselves the “Fab Four” and promised each other that they would attend high school together.In a move that stirred local controversy, they chose to attend St. Vincent–St. Mary High School, a private Catholic school with predominantly LeBron James white students.
LeBron James:High school career Basketball
LeBron James As a 6-foot-2-inch (1.88 m) tall freshman, James averaged 21 points and 6 rebounds per game for the St. Vincent–St. Mary varsity basketball team. The Fighting Irish went 27–0 en route to the Division III state title, making them the only boys high school team in Ohio to finish the season undefeated. As a sophomore, James averaged 25.2 points and 7.2 rebounds, along with 5.8 assists and 3.8 steals per game.For some home games during the season, St. Vincent–St. Mary played at the University of Akron’s 5,492-seat Rhodes Arena to satisfy ticket demand from alumni, fans, as well as college and NBA scouts who wanted to see James play.[26] The Fighting Irish finished the season 26–1 and repeated as state champions. For his outstanding play, James was named Ohio Mr. Basketball and selected to the USA Today All-USA First Team, becoming the first sophomore to do either.
LeBron James In 2001, during the summer before his junior year, James was the subject of a feature article in Slam magazine in which writer Ryan Jones lauded the 16-year-old James, who had grown to 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m), as “[possibly] the best high school basketball player in America right now”. During the season, James also appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, becoming the first high school basketball underclassman to do so.: 104 With averages of 29 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 3.3 steals per game, he was again named Ohio Mr. Basketball and selected to the USA Today All-USA First Team, and became the first junior to be named male basketball Gatorade National Player of the Year.[16]: 117 St. Vincent–St. Mary finished the year with a 23–4 record,LeBron James ending their season with a loss in the Division II championship game.[16]: 114 Following the loss, James unsuccessfully petitioned for a change to the NBA’s draft eligibility rules in an attempt to enter the 2002 NBA draft. During this time, he used marijuana, which he said was to help cope with the stress that resulted from the constant media attention he was receiving.
Throughout his senior year, James and the Fighting Irish traveled across the country to play a number of nationally ranked teams, including a game on December 12, 2002, against Oak Hill Academy that was nationally televised on ESPN2. 142 Time Warner Cable, looking to capitalize on James’s popularity, offered St. Vincent–St. Mary’s games to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis throughout the season. 143 For the year, James averaged 31.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 3.4 steals per game was named Ohio Mr. Basketball and selected to the USA Today All-USA First Team for an unprecedented third consecutive year,: 178 and was named Gatorade National Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.He participated in three year-end high school basketball all-star games—the EA Sports Roundball Classic, the Jordan Brand Capital Classic, and the McDonald’s All-American Game—losing his National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) eligibility and making itLeBron James official that he would enter the 2003 NBA draft.
LeBron James:Professional career
James was selected by his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the first overall pick of the 2003 NBA draft. In his first regular season game, he scored 25 points in a 106–92 loss to the Sacramento Kings, setting an NBA record for the most points scored by a prep-to-pro player in his debut performance At the conclusion of the 2003–2004 season, he became the first Cavalier to receive the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.[8] With final averages of 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game,he also became the third player in league history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game as a rookie. Cleveland ultimately finished the season 35–47, failing to make the playoffs despite an 18-game improvement over the previous year.
LeBron JamesIn the 2006–2007 season, James’s averages declined to 27.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. Some analysts attributed the fall to a regression in his passing skills and shot selection, which stemmed from a lack of effort and focus.]The Cavaliers finished the season with 50 wins for the second consecutive year and entered the playoffs as the East’s second seed In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, James logged 48 points with 9 rebounds and 7 assists, scoring 29 of Cleveland’s last 30 points, including the game-winning layup with two seconds left, in a 109–107 double-overtime victory against the Pistons.[61] After the game, play-by-play announcer Marv Albert called the performance “one of the greatest moments in postseason history” and color commentator Steve Kerr described it as “Jordan-esque” In 2012, ESPN ranked the performance the fourth greatest in modern NBA playoff history. The Cavaliers went on to win Game 6 and claim their first-ever Eastern Conference championship, earning them a matchup with the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals. During the Finals, James struggled, averaging 22 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per LeBron James game on just 35.6 percent shooting. as Cleveland was eliminated in a sweep.
During the offseason, the Lakers hired Frank Vogel as their new head coach, and traded the majority of their young core to the Pelicans for superstar big man Anthony Davis.] James immediately embraced Los Angeles’s much-improved roster by transforming his playing style, moving to full-time point guard, and competing with a more consistent defensive effort.Behind James’s leadership, the Lakers opened the 2019–20 season with a 17–2 record, matching the best start in franchise history. On January 25, James passed team legend Kobe Bryant for third on the all-time regular season scoring list, the day before Bryant died in a helicopter crash. In early March, before the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, James led the Lakers to a victory over the Bucks in a matchup of conference leaders, followed by a streak-breaking win against the Clippers. Regular season play resumed in July and concluded in August within the confined NBA Bubble, where James ended the regular season as the league leader in assists for the first time in his career, averaging 10.2 assists per game. James earned a record 16th All-NBA Team selection as part of the First Team, extending his record .
LeBron James The Lakers entered the playoffs as the number one seed in the West and advanced to the Finals convincingly, with only three total losses along the way. In Game 5 of the conference finals against the Nuggets, James helped clinch the conference championship by scoring a game-high 38 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter. In the Finals, James and his teammates found themselves matched up with his former team, the Heat, and quickly took control of the series with a 2–0 lead. In Game 5, James had his best statistical performance of the Finals with 40 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists in a memorable duel with Miami’s Jimmy Butler, but Los Angeles was ultimately defeated in a three-point game. The Lakers finally eliminated the Heat in Game 6, which earned James, who averaged 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game during the serieshis fourth NBA championship and fourth Finals MVP award.At 35 years and 287 days old, he became the second-oldest player in league history to win the award,and the only player in NBA history to win the award with three different franchises. James and teammate Danny Green also became the third and fourth players in NBA history to win at least one championship with three different teams each.