LeBron James’ journey through the NBA to becoming one of the greatest athletes of all time can truly inspire anyone, whether they are a basketball fan or not.

LeBron Raymone James Sr was born on December 30, 1984 in Akron, Ohio (USA). His mother, Gloria Marie James, gave birth to him when he was only 16 years old, and he never saw his biological father.

In his early years, LeBron constantly had to move houses because his mother did not have a stable job. He also had difficulty making friends at school and found it difficult to concentrate on his studies due to his situation. He was fortunate to find a way out by playing sports, mainly basketball and soccer.

He then moved in with the family of Frank Walker – a local youth soccer coach – who introduced James to basketball when he was 9 years old.

James began playing on the basketball team in 5th grade. He later played for the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) amateur basketball league.

 

Photo 1LeBron James experienced an extremely harsh childhood

In 1999, LeBron attended high school in St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, he immediately made an impact on the school’s basketball team. LeBron James’ team, nicknamed “The Fighting Irish,” was destructive with 26/27 wins at the state championship.

With excellent performances, Lebron James was nicknamed “Mr. Basketball of Ohio” and was selected as one of the outstanding teams of USA Today.

At the age of 17, he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine and was also the first high school student to do so.

After graduating, James was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball club with the first pick in the 2003 NBA Draft and was selected as the rookie of the year.

James participated in the NBA All-Star Game tournament for the first time in the 2004/05 season, alongside famous players such as Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki.

 


Photo 1LeBron James at Cleveland Cavaliers
In 2006, James and the Cavaliers entered the play-offs and won the Eastern Conference championship for the first time.

In 2007, he successfully brought the Cavs to the NBA finals. Even though they lost to the San Antonio Spurs, it was also considered a success for James and the Cavs.

Lebron owned the MVP title for two consecutive NBA seasons in the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Then, through a live TV show called “The Decision” , Lebron James left the Cavs and announced that he would sign with the Miami Heat. James’ move to Miami led to much criticism, and he was considered a villain of the NBA at the time. 

At Heat, LeBron James reached the finals 4 consecutive years and won two consecutive championships in 2012 and 2013. In 2013, he helped Heat win 27 consecutive matches, ranking 2nd in tournament history (behind Lakers/33 consecutive games in the 1971-1972 season).

 
Photo 1LeBron James decided to leave the Cavs to join the Miami Heat
On March 3 of the 2013/14 season, James recorded a new career record with a score of 61 points in a match against the Charlotte Bobcats.

After his final season with the Heat, James chose not to renew his contract and rejoined the Cavaliers.

In his first year back with the Cavaliers, James led Cleveland back to the 2015 NBA Finals, becoming the first player since the 1960s to play in five Finals games. Even though he lost the game to the Golden State Warriors, he still averaged 35.8 points.

In a rematch between the Warriors and Cavaliers from the 2015/16 season, James led the Cavs in perhaps the most epic comeback in sports history. Cleveland won the championship and James became the season’s Finals MVP.

In the 2017-2018 season, James set an NBA record with 867 consecutive matches scoring 57 points, the most in the NBA since the beginning of the season.

During the 2018 season, LeBron did not renew his contract with Cleveland but decided to join the Los Angeles Lakers.

 
Photo 1LeBron currently plays for the Los Angeles Lakers
After a groin injury at the beginning of the season, James could not return to play sooner to lead Los Angeles through the playoffs.

The following season, Los Angeles launched a duo combining LeBron with big superstar Anthony Davis. Although the dramatic 2019/20 season was interrupted by the pandemic, LeBron still made history.

On January 25, 2020, LeBron surpassed Kobe Bryant to take third place on the list of the NBA’s all-time best scorers.

Los Angeles qualified for the playoffs and won the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. LeBron also took home his fourth Finals MVP title, making him the first player in league history to win the Finals MVP title with three different teams.