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How long has lebron james been playing basketball

How Many Years Has Lebron Been In the NBA?

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LeBron James is a professional basketball player of the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. His nickname is “King James” which makes him broadly recognized as one of the best players in NBA history. LeBron James is regularly in comparison with Michael Jordan to pick up the best basketball player ever.

How many years has Lebron been in the NBA? LeBron has played 19 years in his career. As an NBA Finals MVP, he is the only one who has obtained NBA championships with three NBA teams (the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat, and the Los Angeles Lakers). James has played in up to 10 NBA Finals.

Scott Fujita will offer a list of his achievements in his NBA 19-year career:

4 NBA championships.
4 NBA MVP awards.
4 NBA Finals MVP awards.
2 Olympic gold medals.

Contents

How Many Years Has Lebron Been In The NBA?

He has played 19 years in his career. LeBron James achieved the most First Team selections with 13 times. He even won 11 constant First Team selections. James also did make the five-time NBA All-Defensive First Team and became a 17-time All-Star.

Early Life

LeBron James did play basketball for St. Mary High School in his birthplace of Akron, Ohio, where the national media described him as a potential NBA superstar.

High School Career

As a novice, King James had averages of 21 PTS and 6 REB per game for the St. Mary High School basketball team. This boy’s high school team had won the Division III state title and then became undefeated.

Later, LeBron James had averages of 25.2 PTS and 7.2 REB with 5.8 AST and 3. 8 STL per game. For this distinguished performance, James was honored by the USA Today All-USA First Team.

Before starting junior year, King James had appeared in Slam. The writer Ryan Jones praised him as probably the greatest high school basketball player in the US at that time. While participating in the season, James also became the model for the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Having averaged 29 PTS, 8.3 REB, 5.7 AST, and 3.3 STL per game, he again achieved the USA Today All-USA First Team.

Professional Career

Cleveland Cavaliers (2003–2010)

LeBron James in the Cleveland Cavaliers

2003–04: Rookie season

LeBron James became a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers as the first team of the 2003 NBA draft. In the first NBA regular season, James scored 25 PTS against the Sacramento Kings. He then set an NBA record for most PTS that a prep-to-pro basketball player could score in the debut performance.

The Cleveland Cavaliers eventually finished the NBA season 35–47. The team failed to enter the playoffs despite improvements over the last year.

View more: How many rings does Lebron have

2004–08: Gain superstardom

LeBron James won the first NBA All-Star Game selection in 2004 – 2005. He contributed 13 PTS, 8 REB, and 6 AST in winning efforts for the Eastern Conference.

At the 2006 NBA All-Star Game, King James led the Eastern Conference to victory with 29 PTS. In the final season, he averaged 31.4 PTS, 7 REB, and 6.6 AST per game.

In the postseason debut, King James earned a triple-double in the match with the Washington Wizards. The Cleveland Cavaliers could defeat the Washington Wizards before the team left the NBA season in the second round.

How many years straight has Lebron been in the NBA finals? In the 2006-07 season, the Cleveland Cavaliers continued to win Game 6 and gained the first Eastern Conference championship. It helped them have a matchup with the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.

In the championship round, King James had averages of 22 PTS, 7.0 REB, and 6.8 AST per game. Unfortunately, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers.

During the NBA playoffs of the 2007–08 season, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Washington Wizards in the first round. But this team got ousted in seven games by the eventual champion Boston Celtics in the second round.

2008–10: NBA MVP seasons

At the end of the NBA 2008–09 season, James scored 28.4 PTS, 7.6 REB, 7.2 AST, 1.7 STL, and 1.2 BLK per game. James received the MVP Award as the Cavaliers won.

In Game 1 of the NBA playoffs, James scored 49 PTS on 66 shooting percentage. In Game 2, the Cavaliers lost the series in six games. During the NBA series, James scored 38.5 PTS, 8.3 REB, and 8 AST per game. He finished the NBA postseason with a playoff-high 35.3 points per game.

In the 2009–10 NBA season, the team underwent the greatest loss in franchise history. James scored 27 PTS, 19 REB, 10 AST, and 9 turnovers in losing efforts.

Miami Heat (2010–2014)

Lebron James in the Miami Heat

The Decision

Lebron James turned into a free agent on July 1, 2010. At that time, plenty of NBA teams contacted King James, such as the Los Angeles Clippers and the Miami Heat. On July 8, James announced on The Decision that he would play for the Miami Heat.

Fellow free agents including Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade claimed that they would play for Miami too. James believed that his great teammates would provide him with a better chance of earning an NBA championship than in the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Lebron James, then, could escape from the responsibility of scoring. There may be a chance for him to become the first basketball player since Oscar Robertson averaged a triple-double in an NBA season.

However, former players like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson were critical of Lebron James. They condemned him for playing with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in Miami Heat and not trying to achieve an NBA championship as “the man”.

As a consequence of his decisions in 2010 free agency time, King James suddenly had a reputation as one of the US’s most disliked players.

2010–11: Fan scrutiny

The Miami Heat finally went to the NBA Finals, where they lost in six games. Lebron James suffered from the tension of the criticism for the failure. James scored an average of 17.8 PTS per game that illustrated an 8.9-point decrease from the NBA regular season. It is the biggest point drop in NBA history.

2011–13: Consecutive NBA championships

James revealed that in the 2011-12 NBA season, he got a contract to join professional football from the Dallas Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks to refresh his mind and body.

In Game 5 of the 2011-12 NBA playoffs, Lebron James gained a triple-double as Miami Heat did defeat Oklahoma City for their second NBA championship.

Lebron James then became the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player as he averaged 28.6 PTS, 10.2 REB, and 7. 4 AST per game. His whole postseason run, where he had averages of 30.3 PTS, 9.7 REB, and 5.6 AST per game, ranked the second greatest performance in NBA history.

In the 2012–2013 season, James scored 29.7 PTS and 7.8 AST per game. During that time, the Miami Heat also built up a 27-game streak that is the 3rd longest in modern NBA history.

Following these achievements, Sports Illustrated illustrated Lebron James’s performance as a “month for the ages”. In the NBA Finals, he averaged 26.8 PTS, 8 REB, 7.3 AST, and 1.7 STL per game on 56.5 shooting percent.

Particularly, in Game 7, Lebron James led the Miami Heat over San Antonio with 37 PTS. He then became Finals MVP for the second NBA season with averages of 25.3 PTS, 10.9 REB, 7 AST, and 2.3 STL per game for the NBA championship round.

2013–2014: Final season in Miami

In the 2013–14 NBA season, James scored the highest 61 PTS in one game during his NBA career. In Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Lebron James led the Miami Heat to a victory with 35 PTS on a 64 shooting percent.

San Antonio finally defeated the Miami Heat in five games. For the NBA Finals, Lebron James had averages of 28.2 PTS, 7.8 REB, and 2.0 STL per game.

Return to the Cleveland Cavaliers (2014–2018)

On June 25, 2014, Lebron James opted out of the contract with the Miami Heat. On July 1, he then again became a free agent. On July 11, Lebron James revealed through an essay in Sports Illustrated that he aimed at returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Los Angeles Lakers (2018–present)

Lebron James in the Los Angeles Lakers

2018–19: Injuries and NBA playoff miss

On June 29, 2018, Lebron James opted out of the contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers and then again became a free agent. On July 1, 2018, James announced that he would play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

To start the 2018–19 NBA season, the team had difficulties finding efficient lineups and achieved only two wins during the first seven games.

After the team blew out the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day, Los Angeles made some improvements yet Lebron James got the first injury during his basketball career. The Los Angeles Lakers lost in the NBA playoff contention without King James.

On March 7, 2019, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that he would start a minute restriction. On March 30, 2019, Lebron James could not join the remainder of the NBA season. It is the first time in his 12-year career that James did not get on the All-NBA First Team.

2019–20: Fourth NBA championship

In the 2019-20 NBA playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers eventually eliminated the Miami Heat in Game 6. It helped Lebron James earn his fourth NBA championship as well as the fourth Finals MVP Award.

At 35 years old, Lebron James became the only basketball player in NBA history to achieve the MVP award with three different NBA teams.

2020–2021: Back-to-back chase

During the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers had a matchup with the Phoenix Suns. It is the first time that Lebron James did not possess home-court advantages in the NBA opening series.

The Los Angeles Lakers gained 2–1 before Davis got an injury in Game 4 when Lebron James finished with averages of 25 PTS, 12 REB, and 6 AST. The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns in six games.

James finished the NBA series with an average of 23.3 PTS. It is the fourth-lowest score in his basketball career and the lowest mark since the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals.

Lebron James has gotten more involved in philanthropy and activism later in his basketball career. His charitable organization – the LeBron James Family Foundation – gave support for opening elementary schools, housing complexes, and community centers/retail plazas in his hometown of Akron.

Final Words

Lebron James is a basketball superstar in the NBA. He is one of the best players in NBA history who can win the most NBA championships with three different teams.

Despite a few difficulties of point drops and failures in the NBA playoffs in his career, Lebron James still gets over it and comes back with more effort in winning the NBA championships with his teammates.

LeBron James | Biography, Championships, Stats, & Facts

LeBron James

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Born:: December 30, 1984 (age 37) Akron Ohio

Awards And Honors:: Olympic Games Most Valuable Player (2013) Most Valuable Player (2012) Most Valuable Player (2010)

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Read a brief summary of this topic

LeBron James, in full LeBron Raymone James, byname King James, (born December 30, 1984, Akron, Ohio, U.S.), American professional basketball player who is widely considered one of the greatest all-around players of all time and who won National Basketball Association (NBA) championships with the Miami Heat (2012 and 2013), the Cleveland Cavaliers (2016), and the Los Angeles Lakers (2020).

A locally known basketball prodigy since elementary school, James was named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball (high-school player of the year) three times while leading Akron’s St. Vincent–St. Mary High School to three Ohio state championships in his four years on the team. He became a national media sensation in his junior year after appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated, where he was billed by the magazine as “The Chosen One. ” James was the consensus national high-school player of the year in his senior season, and he was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first overall selection of the 2003 NBA draft. Additionally, he signed an unprecedented $90 million endorsement contract with the Nike shoe company before he ever played a professional game.

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Despite the pressures brought on by these singular circumstances, James led the Cavaliers in scoring, steals, and minutes played over the course of the 2003–04 season, winning the league’s Rookie of the Year award in the process. A 6-foot 8-inch (2.03-metre) “point forward” who was as adept at bringing the ball down the court as at playing near the basket, James presented a unique challenge for opposing teams; his unmatched athleticism and well-muscled body would not have been out of place in the National Football League.

His game progressed over the following years. He was voted one of the starting forwards on the Eastern Conference All-Star team during his second season, and in his third season he led the Cavaliers to their first playoff berth in nine years. These accomplishments were exceeded during the 2006–07 season, when James guided Cleveland to the franchise’s first berth in the NBA finals. After the Cavaliers upset the favoured Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals, the Cavaliers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA finals, but James’s impressive postseason play led many observers to place him among the very best players in the league. He led the NBA in scoring during the 2007–08 season and earned first team All-NBA honours, but the Cavaliers lost to the eventual champion Boston Celtics in a dramatic seven-game series in the Eastern Conference semifinals. James piloted the Cavaliers to a team-record 66 wins during the 2008–09 season, which helped to earn him the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. The following season James averaged nearly 30 points per game as he was again named MVP.

At the end of the 2009–10 season, James became arguably the most sought-after free agent in NBA history when his contract with the Cavaliers expired, and he began a prolonged courtship process with a number of teams that had in some cases been planning for his free agency for over two years. In an unprecedented hour-long television special, criticized by many for its undue grandiosity, James announced that he was signing with the Heat. He helped Miami reach the NBA finals in his first year with the team, but the Heat lost the championship to the Dallas Mavericks. In the 2011–12 season James averaged 27.1 points per game and won his third MVP award while helping Miami advance to its second consecutive NBA finals appearance. Backed by his stellar play—James was named the finals MVP—the Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the championship.

He had arguably his greatest individual season in 2012–13, as he averaged 26. 8 points, 7.3 assists, and a career-high 8.0 rebounds per game while posting a .565 field-goal percentage, a remarkable rate of made shots for someone who so frequently played away from the basket. James also helped Miami win 27 consecutive games that season (the second longest such streak in NBA history), and he was rewarded with his fourth league MVP award. In the following postseason, the Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs in a seven-game series to win the NBA championship, and James was again named the finals MVP. He continued his stellar play in the following season, even increasing his shooting percentage by .002, and he again led the Heat to an appearance in the NBA finals. However, Miami lost that rematch with the Spurs in a five-game series.

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After that finals loss, James opted out of his contract with the Heat, leaving an aging Miami roster, and—after a week of frenzied speculation among fans and media—he decided to return to Cleveland. Although his 25.3 points per game was James’s lowest scoring average since his rookie season, he nevertheless guided a young and inexperienced Cavaliers roster to the second best record in the Eastern Conference in 2014–15. In the following postseason he led an injury-laden Cleveland team to just two playoff losses en route to a berth in the NBA finals. There James had one of the greatest individual performances in finals history, averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per game while leading the undermanned Cavaliers to the franchise’s first two finals victories before ultimately losing a six-game series to the Golden State Warriors.

James had another strong regular season in 2015–16 but, once again, truly shined in the playoffs. He led the Cavaliers to a rematch against the Warriors, who had set a league record with 73 wins during the regular season, in the NBA finals. There the Cavaliers became the first team to come back from a 3–1 finals deficit to capture the first title in franchise history and end a 52-year title drought for Cleveland professional sports teams. James averaged 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.6 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game in the finals—becoming the first person to lead all five statistical categories for players on both teams in the finals—and was unanimously named finals MVP.

In 2016–17 James had arguably his best regular season by setting career highs with averages of 8.7 assists and 8.6 rebounds per game while still scoring 26.4 points per game. He sustained his excellence in the Eastern Conference playoffs, scoring 32.5 points per game (which included his 5,988th career postseason point, breaking Michael Jordan’s all-time NBA playoff scoring record) while leading the Cavaliers to a third consecutive match-up against the Warriors in the NBA finals. There Cleveland could not overcome the team James referred to as a “juggernaut,” losing to the Warriors in five games despite James becoming the first player in NBA history to average a triple-double over the course of the finals (with 33.6 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists per game).

In 2017–18 he played a full 82-game regular season for the first time in his career and led the NBA in minutes played per game (36.9) while averaging 27.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, and a new career-high 9.1 assists per game. James again excelled in the following playoffs, scoring more than 40 points seven times in the team’s 18 Eastern Conference postseason games (which included two seven-game series) to lead the Cavaliers to their fourth straight NBA finals series against the Warriors. He continued his strong individual play in the finals, but it was not enough to overcome Golden State’s overwhelming talent advantage, and the Warriors swept the series.

In the following off-season, James, a free agent, joined the Los Angeles Lakers. He continued to play at a high level, averaging 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game, but he missed significant playing time because of an injury (a strained groin) for the first time in his career. The Lakers struggled in his absence and ultimately finished the 2018–19 season with a 37–45 record, ending James’s personal playoff streak at 13 seasons. The following season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a four-month suspension. Play resumed in July 2020 with a shortened schedule, and the Lakers ultimately defeated the Miami Heat to claim the franchise’s 17th NBA title. James’s dominating performance—he averaged 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game—earned him his fourth finals MVP award.

In addition to his achievements in the NBA, James was a member of the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball teams that won the bronze medal at the 2004 Games, the gold medal at the 2008 Games, and the gold at the 2012 Games. He also published a memoir, Shooting Stars (2009; cowritten with Buzz Bissinger), that chronicles his years as a high-school standout.

Adam Augustyn

It turns out that once LeBron was also a schoolboy. But even then he was already considered great and cursed with the haters He was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, featured in major publications, and nearly all of his high school team matches were broadcast on ESPN2.

He participated in training matches with Michael Jordan, was friends with NBA stars and Jay-Z, tried to get into the NBA even before graduation.

Below:

• how James carried the burden of fame as a teenager;

• what shortcomings were found in it;

• where did the haters come from and why LeBron fell in love with them for life;

• the main defeat of school life;

• what is the fundamental difference between LeBron and the stars of the past.

***

This was the very first podzhopnik.

In 2002, LeBron James' school, St. Vincent and Mary's School, entered the finals of the state championship as the obvious favorite. Their leader has already received an invitation to the David Letterman show, made friends with Shaquille, McGrady, Iverson and other NBA stars, received the label "athletic Magic Johnson", went backstage to Jay-Z. Their team took the previous two tournaments. Watch this was a record number of spectators - more than 18 thousand.

James confirmed all expectations: he took the shots to the last and eventually scored 32 points (out of 63 team).

Everything ended soberingly.

After 17 seconds at -3, St. Vincent and Mary's school asked for a timeout. The decisive shot was entrusted to miniature point guard Drew Joyce, the head coach's son.

LeBron pulled several defensemen onto himself and threw the ball to Drew's eternal rival, defenseman Chad Mraz.

He missed from the corner.

LeBron's partners managed to break the rules. But immediately, an upset Joyce loaded the ball into the shield.

The technical one put an end to it. And little Drew's T-shirt went up a few sizes - James was trying too hard to figure out what it all meant.

There were more emotions after the siren than in adult basketball: Sean Cotton flushed a silver medal down the toilet, Romeo Travis tried to fight at least with someone, the rest sobbed in different voices.

Ten years later, James will analyze the failure and take responsibility. Well, sort of.

« We deserved that defeat not even by the game itself, but by the way we behaved throughout the season. We hung out too much. Too often fought with coach Drew . We ignored all his warnings that our actions both on and off the court could end up like this.

At the same time, we were only teenagers and did not know what to do with the glory that fell on us. Journalists, and especially Sports Illustrated, put us on the fire and watched us burn. The magazine seemed to carefully weigh the decision to put a teenager on the cover, but I think they should have known that this would lead to an explosion. No student deserves to be compared to Michael Jordan. And no schoolboy can bear the pressure of such a comparison. We turned into narcissistic goats, me in particular, and we have to admit it, but it was the adults who made us feel like , and then watched our self-destruction with smirks.

LeBron James became a superstar at a specific moment - February 18, 2002. It was on that day that the issue of Sports Illustrated came out, where the schoolboy was side by side on the cover with the heading "chosen one." A little later, the game at the high school level - between LeBron's school and Oak Hill, where Carmelo Anthony studied - was broadcast on national television.

He has been a celebrity in the basketball world since the end of the previous season. He was first noticed by people from the NBA - it was Jerry Krause and his assistant BJ Armstrong from Chicago. He had already crossed paths with Michael Jordan several times and received an invitation to closed training (Jordan was still the owner of Washington at that moment, but was already planning to return). And the head coach of the University of California, Ben Brown, issued an expert opinion: "This boy will never play college basketball. "

Dambroth was remembered by James for constant swearing and critical remarks. He was replaced by Drew Joyce, one of the closest people in LeBron's life, his coach still on the AAU youth team and a man who did not allow himself or others any abuse. Well, and also someone who has never been shy to admit that he grew up on American football and has an exclusively theoretical idea about managing a basketball team.

This is important.

Already in that period of relative obscurity, James was constantly reproached for apathy: it was difficult for him to give 100 percent against opponents who were clearly inferior to him physically, he was two heads taller than the rest, and at school he seemed huge, as if an adult went out against a kid.

The best image of LeBron as a schoolboy is the one drawn by Leon Pou. They crossed paths at Adidas camp in 2001: “James has always loved to have fun. During the warm-up before the match, he held an ice cream in one hand, and with the other he dribbled the ball and threw” .

And so Dambroth had to try.

The most famous episode of their relationship is a mini-tournament in Oakland, where Adidas basketball cardinal Sonny Vacaro came to see James for the first time.

In the first match, LeBron paid more attention to uncomfortable shorts and clearly disappointed the main spectator.

Before the second, Dambroth took him aside and gave him a good massage.

“He kept procrastinating in shorts, didn't give his best and generally looked bad,” the coach recalled. “I remember taking him out into the tunnel and saying, ‘Listen here, LeBron, I won’t tell you what to do. A very powerful person is looking at you, and you are doing bullshit. Need to tighten up.

He answers me: "Coach, I'm uncomfortable in these shorts." I tell him: "Stop messing around with fucking shorts and try." He came back and played the best he could… I told him that the financial support would depend on what Vaccaro thought of him.”

A recurring theme in the Akron press at the time - James would switch off intermittently and choose to ignore the defense.

“ Sometimes he doesn't defend himself,” Dumbroth explained. But he can defend himself. He is just resting. And sometimes he does not pick up, but he can pick up. This guy can do anything if he wants to . And he has all the knowledge to do it. Sometimes he doesn't move without the ball. But he can. He knows how. He is very smart.

For example, he shoots well, although he is unstable. But it seems to me that if he works on it, he will become a great shooter. He is capable of everything, his skills just need to be polished. And that's the difficulty - I have to push it every day. In training, he runs against good players, but not against professionals, but he should play with professionals. He needs to work on shooting, on attacking in the paint, in the gym, work on dribbling. Everyone just tells him how cool he is, and only the coaches try to make him understand: all you have is this moment, use it.

LeBron himself remembered it this way.

“Even if you did something right, you did it wrong. If you went to the left side and scored with your right hand, then he wrapped around you from head to toe. “It’s terrifying ######,” he said every time he didn’t like something. "What the hell is this?" Or "You screwed up." Or "That's crap." His height was 172 centimeters, so he looked up to tall players. Only this never stopped him: he was so charged that he often gave the impression of a lunatic.

The cover of Sports Illustrated has become the boundary beyond which the swearers are no longer helpful.

At one point, schoolchildren turned into rock stars.

They began to be shown regularly on television. Representatives of Adidas and Nike openly fought for them. They were not allowed to pass even at school, where LeBron was always surrounded by a crowd.

And the side effects showed up right away.

James declared himself King James. And then he told reporters that his entire room was hung with posters of Jordan, Kobe, Iverson and LeBron James. The Chosen One tattoo appeared on his back. “These people respect my image, they respect LeBron James and our team to the point that we don’t need to act complacent,” he responded to accusations of arrogance.

His friends showed themselves to be worthy retinue both at school and on the floor.

At school they were habitually late for classes, stopped doing their homework and copied, so lazily that they were often caught.

Training turned into endless clashes - either with each other over shots, or with a coach who waited in vain for defensive efforts.

They felt they were being paid. At some point, James realized that the parents of schoolchildren sent them to him for endless autographs, so that later they could sell magazines with paintings on eBay.

And they thought they should enjoy the fruits of their "work". Everyone got cars. Everyone has more important things to do than basketball. Life has become an endless party. “ We were 16-17 years old, but we hung out like adults, had fun until 4-5 in the morning, although we were supposed to go to the site in the afternoon at 3,” said the “king of the parties” Romeo Travis, who dragged the rest to the clubs using fake documents . – We did things that we should never have done . Because it seemed to us that we would still go out and win.”

Their defiant behavior provoked a response.

And rivals. For example, a team from Archbishop Hoban's school was warming up in T-shirts with the word "Chosen One" on them. After such actions, several times the games turned into battles.

And fans. Even those who crowded into the huge hall of the University of Akron supported their rivals.

“It's a very strange feeling,” James himself said at the time. - Every match we play as if on the road. I would say that three-quarters of those present cheer against us. Everyone wants to see the giants collapse. But I like it when people root against me. I want to see more of this .”

Before that final in 2002, everything came together: both the team and the support group were placed on the same floor of the hotel.

When the noise became unbearable, Coach Drew personally dispersed the feasters and frightened the girls with his yelling. He looked the team in the eyes and appealed to common sense, but only achieved that the party became a little less loud. The most persistent held out until 4 am, the most modest dragged their girlfriends into their rooms, the most persistent continued outside the hotel. Everyone felt empty.

James himself fell asleep for several hours and woke up with back spasms. Until that day, he hadn't missed a game, could barely walk before the state finals, and gained only limited mobility after visiting a local hospital.

“After that defeat, I felt peaceful. Karma in the morning showed me everything I was so afraid to see. I didn't worry at all about what happened in the last seconds, because then I did what I did throughout the season and will do throughout my career - I was looking for an open player - Mraz was open, he threw beautifully from behind the arc. If little Drew is upset, well, what can you do. I did not cry, did not blame anyone but ourselves. All I knew was that everything had to change, everything had to change in my last season. "

After the final, James is already the epicenter of that eternal melodrama that will always surround him now.

In the summer, no one thinks about the next season in St. Vincent St. Mary: the only rumor is that the best student in the country will not return to school anymore.

The fight for the golden calf is going on at all levels at once.

James himself is trying to get into the NBA. He sends a petition to the league's commissioner asking him to enter the 2002 draft.

They are looking for a new school for him. First up is Oak Hill. Then the mother goes to inspect the best educational institutions in New York.

There is an option that James will go to Italy, where he will immediately earn money.

His new advisors - former high school partner Maverick Carter and Gloria's then-husband James Eddie Jackson - have endless discussions with Nike and Adidas.

The first numbers of potential contracts are already starting to emerge. They start at 5 million a year. James is permanently refusing to play for the football team due to the risk of injury, there is already too much at stake.

The school imposes a ban on journalists on the territory of the educational institution.

Finally, LeBron is training at the Cleveland training camp. NBA clubs are banned from contacting underage prospects, but the Caves are deliberately in violation. Head coach John Lucas is suspended for two matches, the team is fined 150 thousand, but only the phrase "We must get him" remains in history.

LeBron James enters the new school year differently.

“Those who have seen me know that I am the best in the country. But I won't do too much. I have already proved everything, and at the moment I can only fall.”

Consciously or subconsciously, he constructs a paradigm that will later dominate his entire career.

The world is very clearly divided into "us" and "they".

"We" is a mother running from the stands to get even with those who foul badly.

Close circle of advisers, even the most dubious ones. His stepfather Eddie Jackson gets three years in prison for securities fraud exactly during the last season, but even then he does not lose confidence.

Antoine Walker's friend who calls on a pager and occasionally sells NBA tickets.

Teammates.

Nearly native coach Drew, who was let down so badly by the team in his first season.

"They" - everyone else.

Journalists who do not allow passage and fix any embarrassment. TV companies that now broadcast all school matches on a pay-per-view basis. A school that moves the games into the spacious hall of the University of Akron (this allowed them to earn half a million per season). Parents who reacted with hostility to the appointment of black Drew Joyce as a coach at a Catholic school. Akron's black townspeople had a lot to say directly to the coach when it became known that the best amateur team in the city in its entirety would go to a predominantly white (and rich) school. School association management, increasingly interested in the income of the James family.

"They" symbolize the new form of the hostile world.

Maverick Carter warns that James should beware of people who will try to profit from him.

Gloria in an interview with the New York Times admits that she protects him from "girls who will gladly have a child from him."

Journalists embody evil.

James is no longer just being hounded and trying to find out important details of his life. His sincere answers are used against him. Before the start of the season, LeBron shows off new items - a headband, a T-shirt and a cap with the inscriptions "King James" - and admits that he is flattered that huge corporations are fighting for him.

“It's not fair that I can't get into the NBA. I will spend another season here because my friends study here. I just don't understand. A 17-year-old can play professional golf tours, tennis players start making money when they are 14… why not basketball players?”

The press writes about his narcissism, which is not enough for one crown, that "the boy has changed and he himself believed that he is the new Jordan", that Akron is already too bad for him.

"They" become sources of conflict that James needs almost more than the support of family and friends.

The St. Vincent St. Mary school team is one of the most sought after teams in the country. They travel all over America and go far beyond Ohio: Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Trenton, Chapel Hill. Rare defeats are savored in the Los Angeles Times, every little thing is noticed in the New York Times.

“At that moment, I thought it was great - we went to places that I, as a lonely, frightened child, could not even think of. It all seems overkill to me now, and I'm glad that the school association finally stopped traveling more than three hundred miles. Wherever we went, the promoters made good money on us schoolchildren. More autographs. More and more fans. More reporters. More and more girls who tried to find out where we were staying - Sean happily shouted the name of our hotel from the bus ... Apparently, I should have been flattered by this. But I thought that all these people would do well to live their own lives, and not turn me into one.

Later, James confesses that he used marijuana to relieve stress during moments of meticulous attention.

At some point, Coach Joyce learned that his team often held important events in an Akron hotel room. The constant companions of his wards are alcohol, grass and young maidens.

He himself received an athletic scholarship from the University of Akron, but quickly withdrew from any sport and immersed himself in his studies. He started with big parties, moved on to studying the properties of marijuana, and from there moved on to hard drugs. After several years of persistent research, it turned out that he had reached a dead end.

The coach never hid his story from the players and his son. But when I started to analyze the situation together with the team, I quickly realized that I could hardly be an authority for them.

- I told you what the drugs did to my life, they destroyed everything.

- I will continue to smoke.

You are making a huge mistake.

“ Drugs have always been around my family, so I couldn't help but try ,” LeBron would say later. “But when you go out on the court and you don’t have enough drive, you understand that you need to tie it up with it.”

The final season of school is one of the most important in James' life. It was then that he learned to simultaneously abstract from external pressure and at the same time use external stimuli as an additional motivation. Not only to be aware of oneself in the center of a raging hurricane, but even to provoke it with inappropriate blunders, phrases, and actions. And at the same time defiantly destroy any hint that any scandal, incident or trial may affect him on the floor.

“The pressure is when you grow up without a father, with a mother who gave birth to you at 16. The pressure is to see when the city demolishes the house that belonged to your family and you have nowhere to live after that. The pressure is to wait until midnight not knowing if your mother is okay. The pressure is to move from place to place, from school to school.”

The highlight of the year was not the final, but two non-basketball events.

First, for his 18th birthday, his mother and stepfather gave him a fancy Hummer. The purchase was made on credit, which was given to an unemployed woman against her son's future contracts.

The school association investigated, but found no reason for punishment: after all, the gift came from a family member, not an outsider.

Four days later, LeBron was given $845 worth of collectible T-shirts at the store as a thank you for posing for the posters.

The already raised ax fell instantly this time: James lost the opportunity to play for the school team - in the States, amateur athletes are prohibited from receiving rewards of more than $ 100.

“When I found out about this, I couldn't think of anything – I had the feeling that I had betrayed my friends. I went to practice and sat there on the side, non-stop crying . ”

The situation was so serious that the school authorities automatically admitted that the best player was wrong and refused to fight for him. James simply moved them to the category of "they" and went to court: there he made sure that the suspension was reduced to two matches.

And for the first time in his life he fully felt how important it is for him to get a surge of motivation from a collision with a hostile world.

James scored 50 points in his first game after the Hammer affair.

In the first match after the story with the jerseys - 52 points.

And added:

" If something like this happens again, I'll dial 52 again."

As if it was not the existing rules that he had broken himself that were to blame, but those very fictitious “they” who are constantly plotting something.

St. Vincent St. Mary's will take another state title in a month, the third in four years. During this period, LeBron's team won 101 matches with 6 defeats.

In a few months, LeBron James will be the second high school student to be selected first overall in the NBA draft.

His first season in the NBA will turn out to be quite solid, although not the most pleasant to remember. LeBron will take the best rookie award, score the first 1,000 points, come up with all-around numbers, but still appear raw and limited in skill. Cleveland will not make the playoffs, and the first year will have to overcome the rejection of older comrades who perceived him solely as an assistant. “We have better players in his position,” says Carlos Boozer.

And yet the main feature of James as a basketball player will be embodied already then, in his late teens. He still did not know how to throw, he lacked sharpness and strength, he was still developing physically and could not fight on equal terms with mature men. He often made losses, fell into chaotic shooting, only got used to the new rhythm of life and basketball.

At the same time, the head already then worked in a strictly defined and inaccessible way for others: LeBron incomprehensibly learned to separate the craft part of the sport as a means available to him and global goals (to become a billionaire, politician, influencer).

They still saw him as a bunch of muscles and just a gifted dude who did not study at the university. But something else was also visible: cold prudence and a frighteningly rational approach to the game. Cutting off any emotions, any spontaneity, LeBron already at an early stage remarkably reflected all the components of his basketball - and hence the vision of himself as creating Magic for the rest, and not deciding Jordan on his own. Then this same reflection moved to everything else: to scrupulously improve individual elements, to invest in the body, to build special relationships with clubs, to pull influence over themselves and free the players from public pressure, to break the league through the knee. That is why even those who are now trying to defend LeBron's position on China simultaneously note that nothing real, sincere in him has long been visible. It's not about sincerity: James always calculated everything a few steps ahead, not only in basketball, his whole image is a pragmatism thought out to the smallest detail, and it is logical that it is devoid of any emotionality. LeBron is sincere, but sincere in his absolute pragmatism. The special charm here is determined by the frankness that often provokes conflict: LeBron often does not try to camouflage revealingly cynical answers. And the same thing manifests itself on the court: for Jordan and Kobe it seemed like a battlefield, for James it was more of a stage where he shows himself and increases his value .

Then, in 2003, Reebok tried to take out the competition in one clever move.

In May, LeBron was flown to Massachusetts on a corporate jet right after school. At the meeting, which was attended by James, his mother, his agent, CEO Paul Fireman simply wrote a check for $10 million. It was a signing bonus: the contract provided for the payment of 100 million over the next ten years. There is only one condition: the player must accept the offer right now and cancel the rest of the meetings.

This tactic had an unfailing effect on young people from the black ghetto.

Until recently, James lived with his mother in an apartment that she rented for $17 a month, and bypassed the neighboring block, where shots were regularly heard. He always says that he was never supposed to become what he became - grew up on the site between the area where drugs were sold and the bridge next to the mental hospital, from which patients regularly jumped.

The check fell on the mother's hand (this is part of the cunning plan).

She burst into tears.

The agent was silent.

Everyone was looking at LeBron.

...

An 18-year-old student said: "No" .

"You don't think about the first check, you think about everything that comes next. "

The next day he sat at his desk again. And a little later, he made “the best business decision of his life” - he signed a 7-year contract for 90 million with Nike.

His NBA career started with a crazy question on the Bob Costas show.

- Could your relationship with Nike outweigh your relationship with your future club?

Nike is like family to me. I feel indebted to the company that pays me this kind of money.

Photo: globallookpress.com/Javier Rojas/Pi, Stephen Dunn, Vince Bucci; East News/AFP/LUCY NICHOLSON; Gettyimages.ru/Ronald Martinez; REUTERS/Jason Cohn, Ron Kuntz, Gary Hershorn

LeBron is the first NBA player to become a billionaire in the course of his career. How did it happen? - Bank shot - Blogs

At least count other people's money.

LeBron has earned $342.5 million in his career, he is guaranteed another $44.5 million next year

James has already earned $342.5 million in his career. His deal with the Lakers ($153.3 million over 4 years) expires next year - he is owed another $44.5 million and will be the fourth or fifth highest paid person in the league (in the strange company of Stephen Curry, John Wall , Russell Westbrook and possibly James Harden).

James is already in first place net in NBA career earnings (ahead of Garnett (334.4 million), Kobe (323.3 million), Chris Paul (300 million) and Shaq (286.3 million) And while he is clearly not going to stop: the Lakers can already offer him to continue for another two seasons – and this will bring James another 97 million. will enter the free agent market, but in any case, hardly anyone doubts that he will still carry his 100+ million from basketball.0003

The most unusual nuance here is that James never made contract sums his top priority. He donated a small sum when he moved to the Heat so that Miami could sign three superstars and still find worthy role players to help them. He always signed one-year agreements in Cleveland so that the local leadership would not relax too much. And he stepped down from a potential five-year, $205 million contract with the Caves to pursue a career in Los Angeles. It’s not that LeBron was anything but ascetic, but it’s just interesting that all of his formal competitors invariably got into trouble due to bloated contracts: Kobe stalled the Lakers rebuild with Operation 48 for two years, Garnett didn’t get help in Minnesota, Chris Paul was declared the "worst NBA contract" by the Rockets, and Shaq was fired by the Lakers due, among other things, to demands to give him more money.

At the same time, LeBron is one of those who advocate the abolition of the NBA maximum contracts for superstars. In his case, this is most illustrative. Not only does James add value to his partners and clubs, but he also impacts the economies of the cities he plays in: according to a study, he brought in almost $400 million to the economy of Los Angeles alone, all without impacting TV ratings, ticket prices, or merchandise sales. . So, after his return to Cleveland from Miami, the cost of the franchise doubled, and the city received almost 300 million more due to the popularity of the club.

Largely thanks to LeBron, the NBA economy also took off: James took the well-deserved first line, but not the fact that for a long time, the new generation with 50 million a year is advancing no worse than the army of the King of the Night.

LeBron made $60 million by investing in Beats by Dre & Blaze Pizza

James himself explains the new investment approach better than anyone else.

“Social media has completely changed the way athletes should look at the companies and products they advertise. It happened in the course of my career. Previously, athletes simply took on any projects and received money for advertising. A contract with a beverage manufacturer, a fast food chain, a shoe manufacturer, and so on. Now you need to think carefully and learn everything about the company. What are they? What is their marketing strategy? If I become a partner with someone, then I should not worry about promoting them to my fans through my social networks. It's a completely different look."

The new approach was best seen in his relationship with Blaze Pizza. LeBron invested in the pizza chain in 2012 (he owns 10% and paid less than $1 million for them), and in 2015 turned down a $15 million contract with McDonald's to become the official spokesman for Blaze Pizza. During this time, his company skyrocketed - by 50% in 2018 - and it turned out that James became richer by $ 30 million .

The ad integration is also different: the pizzeria doesn't use James's image in its ads, but he constantly promotes it as an integral part of his image (don't ask how this has to do with the fanaticism about the whole grain bagel).

For example, after moving to Los Angeles, James invited everyone to a pizza party and gathered thousands of people, but he never showed up.

A similar story happened to Beats by Dre. James not only advertised headphones, but also became the owner of 1% of the company's shares. For the cooperation itself, he received $ 1 million, but when Beats by Dre was sold to Apple for 3 billion, LeBron had an extra 30 million .

In 2018, LeBron co-founded sports nutrition company Ladder with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who left in 2020 for $28 million.

This is not all of his investment. It is known that James now owns a stake in Tonal, which produces “smart exercise equipment” for the home, and Lyft, which rents bicycles.

James' property is valued at $80 million

Forbes found at least three of James' homes worth about $80 million.

LeBron owns a mansion in his native Akron, it is estimated at 10 million dollars.

In 2017, he purchased an eight-room house in Los Angeles' exclusive Brentwood neighborhood for $23 million.

In 2020, James became the owner of a 1,200-square-foot Beverly Hills estate that was listed for $39 million, but the frugal basketball player got it for $36. 75 million. It is known that he demolished a house built in the 1930s and built a new one for himself on this site.

LeBron became 90 million richer thanks to investments in Liverpool

And it turned out to be a very profitable investment: Fenway Sports Partners of Red Sox owner John Henry bought the club for $ 477 million in 2010, and now its value is estimated at $ 4.5 billion.

Last year, James traded his stake in Liverpool for shares in Fenway Sports Group (approximately 1%). The company now owns the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool, Fenway Park, NASCAR Roush Fenway Racing, and 80% of the New England Sports Network cable network. In 2021, Fenway Sports Group paid $900 million to get the Pittsburgh Penguins as well.

“It's amazing to have a historic club back on top and we're part of it,” said business partner and childhood friend of James Maverick Carter. "LeBron loves the fact that he's connected to another global sport."

James is not only an active supporter of Liverpool from a distance and often visits his team's matches. His arrival at the main match of the Champions League made a well-known sensation (especially considering that LeBron's club habitually lost in the final).

Share allows James to explore the process of managing sports teams from a different perspective and gain experience for the future. Maverick Carter has said more than once that if the Caves are available, then LeBron will definitely qualify for them after the end of his career.

James' stake in the production company SpringHill is valued at $300 million

James has been dreaming of producing video content for a long time.

At first, the ideas were so-so: in 2007 he appeared on Saturday Night Live, and in 2010 he produced his own show called The Decision and made him the most hated person in the world.

Despite the setbacks, the interest didn't go anywhere: in 2015, LeBron founded the production company SpringHill Entertainment (named after the area where James grew up), which immediately received financial support from Warner Bros.

SpringHill Entertainment created The Wall for NBC, a game show that combines elements of quiz, pinball and wild binge.

SpringHill Entertainment produced documentaries More Than a Game (about LeBron's school days), I Am a Giant (about the life of football player Victor Cruz), What's My Name (about Muhammad Ali), Perfect Chaos ( about Neymar), The Carter Effect (about the influence of Vince Carter), a picture about Naomi Osaka and a dozen more documentary projects and television shows.

SpringHill Entertainment also produces sports videos, which are promoted by James himself. In parallel, an affiliated platform called Uninterrupted appeared: the show focuses on LeBron's personal life and his opinions on a variety of topics.

The most striking example is the series from the barbershop, in which James and Green appeared, as well as all of LeBron's friends.

Then More Than an Athlete comes to ESPN+. A show where LeBron and his childhood friends (they are also business partners) discuss a variety of topics and moments from life.

“The number of platforms and distribution channels is increasing now: social networks, Amazon, Netflix,” explained Maverick Carter. “People want unique content and the ability to tell quality stories, something that gets noticed. We saw it as an opportunity to tell stories about people who are like us and who think the same way we do.”

James, of course, showed himself on the screen. First, he appeared in the comedy "Girl without complexes" and collected a lot of positive reviews. And then he released the second version of "Space Jam", which was not entirely successful, but became a bright part of the universal image of James.

A biography on LeBron's early life and a remake of the comedy The House Party are scheduled for July.

In 2020, all three of LeBron James' companies - the marketing agency Robot Company, Uninterrupted and SpringHill Entertainment - merged into a single entity called SpringHill. Last year, it was valued at $725 million, and just then James sold about half of the stake to a wide variety of investors (from Fenway Sports Group to Nike) .

LeBron received 500 million from various advertisers; his lifetime contract with Nike is allegedly worth $1 billion0333

When James entered the league, Reebok, Adidas and Nike competed for him. It was in this sequence that the meetings with their representatives were scheduled.

It is clear that James idolized Michael Jordan and often performed in Tracy McGrady sneakers, but everything was not so simple: for example, at the game of the best students of the country in 2003, he scored 27 points in red and white Reebok “L23J” sneakers.

Meeting with Reebok ended in drama. The company was on the rise (Iverson was their main client at the time) and promised James absolute attention due to their unwillingness to scatter on other athletes. But boss Paul Fireman wanted to settle the matter with one blow—he invited James, his mother, Maverick Carter, and an agent into his office and handed them a check for $10 million. They could have taken him right then with the condition that they would cancel meetings with competitors. James' mother burst into tears and wanted to accept the offer, but LeBron himself did not flinch.

Adidas have confused themselves. The company picked up the perfect approach - they positioned Muhammad Ali as an ideal and promised LeBron that he could push the boundaries of an ordinary athlete and not only dribble, but also discuss important social issues. But at the last moment, they panicked: Adidas wanted to offer the newcomer a contract for 100 million, but at the last moment they began to doubt that it was worth it, and eventually called the amount of 75 million.

Nike outperformed the competition in both presentation quality (which included references to past greats and a bunch of small details like LeBron's favorite cereal) and total ( 90 for seven years, plus a 10 million bonus for signing ). The collaboration, of course, turned out to be fruitful: LeBron's sneakers are the most popular among current NBA basketball players, although they are inferior in sales to Jordan's.

In 2015, James signed a lifetime contract with Nike for an undisclosed sum. Maverick Carter claims it is over $ billion.

Already in the original agreement there was a clause according to which James received a bonus if he played for a big market team. So Nike didn't hesitate when LeBron announced that he had signed a deal with the Lakers - the company hung a huge image of a player scoring from above next to the Staples Center.

Naturally, it is because of his relationship with Nike that LeBron has to put up with relentless criticism from the camp of hypocritical Republicans: they do not like that he interferes in the affairs of his own country, and therefore they reproach him for not resisting what is happening in China.

LeBron's agency represents players with billion dollar contracts

LeBron first met Rich Paul when he was still in high school. A significant meeting took place at the Akron airport - Paul was selling sports jerseys from the trunk and attracted the attention of James in the Warren Moon uniform that he was wearing at that moment. LeBron's team was flying to Atlanta and Paul gave him his supplier's contact and promised to give him a discount.

Since then, they have become inseparable.

As a schoolboy, Paul raised about 15,000 a month trading T-shirts. He planned to develop the business further, but received an offer from LeBron - 50 thousand just for being around.

In 2006, LeBron broke up with Aaron Goodwin and made Leon Rose an agent, and Paul became his assistant and comprehended all the intricacies of this role - in 2012 he created his own company and became the official representative of James.

Despite all the controversy, after the "Decision" Paul maintained a good relationship with Dan Gilbert and did everything to organize LeBron's solemn return to Cleveland.

Using LeBron as a rooftop, Rich Paul is trying to build the most powerful agency in the league and succeeds. He not only regularly twists the arms of the owners (see: Tristan Thompson, J. R. Smith, Kentavius Caldwell-Pope, Nerlens Noel), but from almost nothing he has assembled an impressive clip of Ben Simmons, John Wall and Anthony Davis.

After Rich Paul changed the rules of the game in the NBA, or rather, showed that he did not care about any rules (arranged a series with Simmons forever not playing, moved Anthony Davis to Los Angeles, who had two years left in the contract, knocked out a bunch of money for Horton-Tucker, is now launching ducks so that Chicago will give the maximum to Zach Lavin), LeBron and his friends have already been called crime bosses. And for a businessman, this is probably the highest rating.

LeBron has earned about $1.2 billion in his career, he has more than 100 million followers on social networks The NBA, which managed to do this before leaving the sport of

For example, in 2021, he became 122.1 million richer in a year (in addition to Nike and Blaze Pizza, he advertises Coca-Cola, Kia, Intel), and almost three times more off-site than on it.

James has repeatedly said that becoming a billionaire is the most important goal in his life. In many ways, this was why he moved to the Lakers: for the first time in his career, he found himself in a big market club, got even more opportunities for self-promotion, stepped up projects related to Hollywood, and starred as the main star in a big movie.

Billionaire Warren Buffett, who knows LeBron personally, noted that he has a mindset focused on making money.

LeBron himself admitted that he is the most stingy player in the NBA and, for example, used the Pandora streaming service with advertising for a long time (although you can remove it for only $ 5 a month). Which, however, did not stop him from laying out 40 million to finance a school in Akron.

Naturally, James' main asset at the moment is his popularity.