LeBron James

American basketball player (born 1984)

LeBron Raymone James Sr. (born December 30, 1984[2]) is an American professional basketball player who plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA) on the Los Angeles Lakers. He is married with Savannah Brinson James and has 3 children. They are Bronny James, Bryce James, and Zhuri James. He is also a film producer and a business man. Among the best basketball players of the twenty-first century, he has a lot of experience. Both Space Jam: A New Legacy and Train wreck featured him as himself. He is the proprietor of the SpringHill Company.

LeBron James
NBA
James in 2023
No. 23 – Los Angeles Lakers
PositionSmall forward / Power forward
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1984-12-30) December 30, 1984 (age 39)
Akron, Ohio, USA
NationalityAmerican
Listed height206 cm (6 ft 9 in)
Listed weight118 kg (260 lb)
Career information
High schoolSt. Vincent–St. Mary
(Akron, Ohio)
NBA draft2003 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall
Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers
Playing career2003–present
Career history
20032010Cleveland Cavaliers
20102014Miami Heat
20142018Cleveland Cavaliers
2018–presentLos Angeles Lakers
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

The Cleveland Cavaliers picked him in the 2003 NBA Draft with the first pick in the draft, not only for his athletics ability but for the revenue he could bring to the team and city. James did not play college basketball, and entered the NBA Draft immediately after high school. He went to high school in Akron, Ohio.

James played with the Cavaliers for his first seven seasons. During that time, he was one of the NBA's top scorers. He was selected as an All-Star several times. In 2007, he led Cleveland to the NBA Finals. He was the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the NBA for the 2008-09 NBA season and 2009-10 NBA season. In his MVP years, Cleveland had the best record in the NBA, but did not make it to the NBA Finals.

On July 8, 2010, on a show in ESPN called "The Decision" LeBron said that he would next play for the Miami Heat.[3] On December 2, 2010, James played in Cleveland for the first time since leaving, scoring 38 points for the Heat as they beat the Cavaliers, 118-90. Many fans angry at James for leaving Cleveland booed him throughout the game and held up signs with negative statements against James.[4]

In the 2011 season the Miami Heat came in second place right behind the Chicago Bulls lead by Derrick Rose in the NBA. They made it to the finals of the NBA and lost in six games to the Dallas Mavericks [5] This caused celebration in Cleveland because they hated LeBron for what he did to them.[6]

In the 2012 Finals, LeBron James won his first championship after the Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 4-1 games, after battling with the Boston Celtics 4-3 games the previous round. The next year, LeBron James won his second title when the Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs in seven games. In both years he won the MVP title of finals and of regular season.

In 2014, James competed a good season but he wasn't the MVP. In the 2014 Finals, the Heat's Finals streak ended after being defeated by the San Antonio Spurs in five games (4-1).[7] Shortly after those Finals had ended, LeBron James said he would use an early termination option in his contract, leaving the Miami Heat and becoming a free agent. He said this on June 24, 2014.[8]

Then, on June 25, 2014, in a first-person essay in Sports Illustrated, he said he would return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. On July 12, 2014, James signed a two-year, $42.1 million contract to return to the Cavaliers. The deal also contains an option to become a free agent again after the 2014–15 NBA season.[9] LeBron now plays on the Los Angeles Lakers.

In 2015, he took the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals, without Kevin Love but lost to the Golden State Warriors in 6 games after losing Kyrie Irving after he had an ankle injury. He led the Cleveland Cavaliers to an NBA championship after being down 3-1 games to their first-ever title in 2016 and later played a crucial role in bringing glory to the Los Angeles Lakers.[10] No team had ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals before. He had a historic moment where he blocked Andre Iguodala on possibly the game winning layup. The Cavaliers went on to lose to the Golden State Warriors the following season. Now with the Lakers he passed Kobe Bryant.

On August 18, 2022, James re-signed with the Los Angeles Lakers on a two-year, $97.1M deal.[11][12] The contract extension made James the highest-paid athlete in NBA history at $528.9M, surpassing Kevin Durant in all-time earnings.[13]

In 2021, James starred in Space Jam: A New Legacy where he played a version of himself.

LeBron is widely considered to be the greatest basketball player of all time, as well as one of the most influential athletes and sports players in the world.[14]

Awards change

On February 7, 2023, James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 38,387-point total during a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Currently, LeBron is staying at 39,747, which is 1360 higher than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He was the youngest player to reach this point. He is also well known for his assists, and with 10,759, he is now the player with the fourth-most assistances.

James and Michael Jordan are the only players to win an NBA MVP award, NBA title, NBA Finals MVP, and Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year. The USA would go on to win the Olympics twice.[15]

Job as a Business change

Since even before he made his NBA debut, James has been associated with Nike. In 2003, he agreed to a seven-year contract with the business that was worth little under $90 million. Many people at the time questioned whether Nike put a little too much faith in an 18-year-old who had never played a professional game. LeBron became one of the biggest players in the NBA and a four-time MVP as a result of the risk, which paid off brilliantly.

James has been a success for Nike off the court as well, in addition to on it. Until now the sales of his signature sneaker reached $340 million between February 2014 and January 2015, making him the highest-paid employee at the company.[16]

References change

  1. Forbes https://www.forbes.com/profile/lebron-james/?sh=1d0c59e12398. Retrieved December 13, 2023. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "LeBron James". Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  3. Berman, Marc (9 July 2010). "LeBron James will play for Heat". Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  4. Feed, AP. "LeBron James shines in return to Cleveland as Heat crush Cavaliers". Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  5. "Mavericks vs. Heat - Game Recap - June 12, 2011 - ESPN". Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  6. "Cleveland fans celebrate LeBron losing". 13 June 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  7. "Spurs 104-87 Heat: San Antonio beat Miami to win the NBA title". Daily Mail. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  8. "LeBron James will opt out, become free agent". Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  9. "Cavs Sign Free Agent Forward LeBron James". Cleveland Cavaliers. Retrieved 2014-11-08.
  10. The Impact of Lebron James On NBA
  11. "Lakers Sign LeBron James to Contract Extension". www.nba.com. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  12. "LeBron lands 2-year, $97.1M deal with Lakers". 2022-08-17. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  13. Winters, Mike. "Already a billionaire, LeBron James' 2-year contract extension makes him the NBA's all-time highest-paid player". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  14. Elbaba • •, Julia (2023-04-13). "These Athletes Made TIME 100's Most Influential People 2023 List". NBC New York. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  15. Smith, Meredith; Apter, Kari; Balan, Kiran (2023-06-01). "2023 Optica Awards and Medals". Optics and Photonics News. 34 (6): 44. doi:10.1364/opn.34.6.000044. ISSN 1047-6938.
  16. Zucker, Joseph. "LeBron James, Nike Agree on Lifetime Contract: Details, Comments, Reaction". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2023-09-05.

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