LeBron James

LeBron James
NBA
	250px James in 2023
No. 23 – Los Angeles Lakers
	Small forward / Power forward
Personal information
Born	December 30, 1984 (age 39); Akron, Ohio, USA
Nationality	American
High school	St. Vincent–St. Mary; (Akron, Ohio)
Listed height	206 cm
Listed weight	118 kg
Career information
NBA Draft	2003 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall
	Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers
Pro career	2003–present
League	NBA
Career history
2003–2010	Cleveland Cavaliers
2010–2014	Miami Heat
2014–2018	Cleveland Cavaliers
2018–present	Los Angeles Lakers
Career highlights and awards
	4× NBA champion (2012, 2013, 2016 2020); NBA All-Time Leading Scorer; 4× NBA Finals MVP (2012, 2013, 2016, 2020); 4× NBA Most Valuable Player (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013); 18× NBA All-Star (2005–2022); 3× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2006, 2008, 2018); 13× All-NBA First Team (2006, 2008–2018), (2021); 2× All-NBA Second Team (2005, 2007); All-NBA Third Team (2019); 5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2009–2013); NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2014); NBA Rookie of the Year (2004); NBA All-Rookie First Team (2004); NBA scoring champion (2008); J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (2017); 3× AP Athlete of the Year (2013, 2016, 2018); 2× Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year (2012, 2016); USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (2012); 2× Mr. Basketball USA (2002, 2003); Naismith Prep Player of the Year (2003); McDonald's All-American Game MVP (2003); 2× First-team Parade All-American (2002, 2003); 3× Ohio Mr. Basketball (2001–2003);
	Stats at NBA.com
Medals
	Men's basketball
	Representing the United States
	Olympic Games
	FIBA World Championship
	FIBA Americas Championship

LeBron Raymone James Sr. (born December 30, 1984^[1]) 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 Trainwreck featured him as himself. He is the proprietor of the SpringHill Company.

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.

On July 8, 2010, on a show in ESPN called "The Decision" LeBron said that he would next play for the Miami Heat.^[2] 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.^[3]

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 ^[4] This caused celebration in Cleveland because they hated LeBron for what he did to them.^[5]

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).^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10]^[11] The contract extension made James the highest-paid athlete in NBA history at $528.9M, surpassing Kevin Durant in all-time earnings.^[12]

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.^[13]

Awards

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 40,474, which is 2087 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.^[14]

Job as a Business

Since even before he made his NBA debut, James has been associated with Nike. They 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.^[15]

LeBron James Media

James, pictured here in 2007, joined Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only players to average better than 20 points, five rebounds and five assists per game as rookies during his 2003–04 season.
James picks up his dribble against Caron Butler of the Washington Wizards in November 2006.
James engages in his pre-game ritual of tossing crushed chalk into the air in March 2008; the routine was mostly ended after 2011.
James, pictured here in November 2009, won consecutive MVP awards in 2009 and 2010.
James with the Cavaliers in November 2009. He finished his first stint with the Cavaliers averaging 27.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists, and 1.7 steals per game.
James stands at midcourt during a dead ball on January 16, 2013. On that night, he became the youngest player in NBA history to score 20,000 career points.
James takes a shot in November 2014; later that season, James reached several passing milestones, including becoming the Cavaliers' all-time assists leader.
James protects the ball from Kyrie Irving in October 2017. The two were teammates in Cleveland for three seasons.
James backs down Bradley Beal in December 2018.