Lebron James is considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. James is from Akron, Ohio and was born on December 30, 1984 to his mother Gloria James. As James was growing up, he saw how bad his community was, and he wanted to fix it by giving the children of his community opportunities that he did not have.
All throughout James’ high school career, he was a star football player and star basketball player. While in high school, he led his basketball team to three state championships and one national championship. He was also named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball three times.
Once it came for James to decide if he wanted to go to college or the NBA, he chose to become a professional basketball player in the NBA. James was picked by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft.
Right from the start of his career, the spotlight never left James, and he proved in every single game why he was talented enough to skip college and become a professional basketball player at the age of 18 years old. In James’ first professional basketball game, he scored 25 points while being in the starting lineup. At the end of his first season in the NBA, James won the Rookie of the Year award and also got his first all-star selection.
In 2010, James made the decision to leave Cleveland and take his talents to the Miami Heat, creating the first super team with all-stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. While in Miami, James managed to make it to two back-to-back NBA Finals and win both. During his time in Miami, he was able to get a taste of what it felt like to play with players that were on the same skill set as him. Being in Miami helped James to become the leader that he is today, and that is why he also won two MVP awards while being on the team.
After his last season in Miami, James decided it was time for him to go back to Cleveland because he wanted to bring an NBA Championship to his home state. During 2016, James would finally get the opportunity to take the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals and get a chance to win the championship. James did win the championship with Cleveland that year, and it was the first championship the city of Cleveland had won since 1964.
While in Cleveland, James delved into his promise to give back to his city of Cleveland by opening his “ I Promise” school, which is a public elementary school for the children of Akron, Ohio. Through his James Foundation, the school also helps support the parents of the children that attend the school by offering G.E.D. preparation, work advice, health and legal services, and even a quarterly barbershop. James’ foundation still funds the school today with support from the public school district of Akron.
After his time in Cleveland, James went to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. James brought back winning to the Lakers and was able to build a team that would win one NBA Championship in 2020. James is still in Los Angeles playing for the Lakers and has decided to keep playing in the NBA until his oldest son Lebron James Jr gets drafted into the NBA. James has stated that he wants to be able to play on the same team as his son, and that means that whatever team his son gets drafted to will also get James on the team as well as his son.
Throughout James’ whole career up until this point, he has won 4 MVPs, 4 Finals MVPs, 3 All-Star MVPs, 4 Finals Championships, Rookie of the Year, 5 All-Defensive first-team selections, and 19 All-Star appearances. Lebron James is considered to be one of the best basketball players to play in the NBA since Michael Jordan.
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