biography books about lebron james

Like its superstar subject, ‘LeBron’ biography doesn’t miss a shot

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LeBron James’ life and career make for a storyteller’s dream, a series of high-profile triumphs and setbacks, a hard upbringing that gave way to the upper echelons of sports, finance and celebrity.

Raised in Akron, Ohio, by a single mother with little money and plenty of demons, he emerged as the most dominant high school athlete in the country and a one-man industry in the making. Drafted by his hometown NBA team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, right out of high school, he broke the city’s heart when he left, then brought euphoria when he returned. Along the way he turned himself into a billion-dollar corporation with the help of an inner circle composed of three buddies he met as a teenager. He would eventually make friends with the likes of Barack Obama and Warren Buffett.

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In short, there’s no shortage of material for a biographer to chronicle the current Los Angeles Laker, and Jeff Benedict’s comprehensive new “LeBron” does a masterful job of shaping that material into a cohesive and propulsive whole. This is a fast break of a book, slicing into the many mini-narratives that James has lived and artfully tying them together to create a portrait of a man who has, by his own design, remained an enigma except to those he decides to trust. Benedict has constructed a sort of sports opera fueled by the drama and emotion surrounding his subject, but never sensationalistic or unfair. Benedict clearly likes James, but he’s been around long enough — among the subjects of his 17 books are Tiger Woods and the New England Patriots — to steer far clear of hagiography.

Burned by many writers in his career, sometimes in stories shot through with casual, almost subconscious racism, James learned early to carefully curate his public life and image (which didn’t prevent him from committing perhaps the greatest public relations blunder in sports history). He did not talk to Benedict for “LeBron.” But the author’s reporting here is exhaustive; he interviewed almost 250 people for the book. The public record on James is voluminous, and Benedict used it extensively.

However, this is no clip job. Benedict writes scenes that make clear the extent of his primary reporting, putting the reader, to paraphrase a popular Broadway musical, in the room where it happens. You can practically see the goop in Miami Heat president Pat Riley’s hair as he seethes in resentment when James announces his departure from South Beach to return to Cleveland. “LeBron” isn’t just great sportswriting, it’s also vivid narrative journalism.

There have been other LeBron books, some written by the man himself (with collaboration from professional scribes). Indeed, writers walk on and off these pages like players in a layup line. Buzz Bissinger shows up to ghostwrite “LeBron’s Dream Team,” about James’ high school years; the Pulitzer winner found James’ unwillingness to open up (or promote the book) maddening. There’s Grant Wahl, who wrote the story that put James on the cover of Sports Illustrated while he was still in high school, a decision that caused much hand-wringing: What if they mess up this kid’s life? (Spoiler: They didn’t). James soon grew wary of sportswriters, most of them middle-aged white men turning his hardscrabble upbringing into a study in urban pathology.

There were exceptions, most notably Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins, who gained James’ trust and penned the essay announcing James’ return to Cleveland. This was a public relations master stroke, an antidote of sorts to “The Decision,” the ill-advised, nationally televised special in which James announced his decision to leave Cleveland for Miami. The spectacle, and its lack of humility, was a disaster, nearly causing riots back in Ohio and making James, for a time, the most hated person in sports.

But James is nothing if not resilient, and his instincts, on and off the court, tend to be uncanny. There’s an American dream quality to “LeBron,” the story of a kid who came from very little and gradually, meticulously built a hand-picked dream team of advisors and corporate partners that helped make him the most famous athlete in the world. His talent, of course, didn’t hurt; built like a particularly tall linebacker, he ran faster and jumped higher than any of his opponents. Benedict covers all of this thoroughly. But he also makes clear that James just thinks differently. He sees around corners, on and off the court. He didn’t just want to be a star, he wanted to transcend sports. As his friend Jay-Z put it in song, “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.” The same could be said of James.

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Eventually, James incorporated a social consciousness into his public persona. This process too included some stumbles. Early in his career, with the 2008 Summer Olympics approaching in Beijing, James’ Cavaliers teammate Ira Newble collected the team’s signatures to protest China’s complicity in the Darfur genocide. Everyone signed — except James. James is and was Nike’s biggest business investment, and Nike has big business in China. Still in his early 20s at the time, James didn’t want to rock the boat, and at that point in his career, he didn’t even really know how.

In other words, he is mortal, if exceptional. Benedict’s greatest feat here might be the way he cuts through both the public hysteria surrounding James and the superstar’s own protective field to paint a portrait of a man in full. Sports fans should eat “LeBron” up. But even casual observers will learn plenty about one of the most visible personalities of his generation.

By Jeff Benedict Avid Reader: 576 pages, $32 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores.

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Table of Contents

About the book, about the author.

Jeff Benedict is the bestselling author of seventeen nonfiction books. He’s also a film and television producer. He is the coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestseller Tiger Woods. The book was the basis of the Emmy-nominated HBO documentary Tiger , which Benedict executive produced. The Dynasty, the definitive inside story of the New England Patriots under Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, and Tom Brady, was a New York Times bestseller. The book is the basis of a forthcoming ten-part documentary series for Apple TV+, which Benedict is executive producing. His critically acclaimed book Poisoned is the basis of a Netflix documentary, which Benedict executive produced. His legal thriller Little Pink House was adapted into a motion picture starring Catherine Keener and Jeanne Tripplehorn. Benedict wrote Steve Young’s New York Times bestselling autobiography QB , which was the basis of an NFL Films documentary. Benedict’s upcoming biography of LeBron James will be published in 2023. 

Product Details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (April 19, 2023)
• Length: 576 pages
• ISBN13: 9781398517271

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There’s Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib review – hoop dreams and home truths

In this powerful, digressive book, the award-winning writer and poet considers basketball’s greats, the struggles of Black men and the ‘emotional politics of place’

T he literary stamina of Hanif Abdurraqib is impressive. He is the author of two poetry collections and three nonfiction books, plus countless articles, reviews and essays as a music journalist and culture critic for the New York Times, among others.

He is also much lauded. Earlier this month he was announced as one of the recipients of a Windham-Campbell prize, and in 2021 was awarded a MacArthur “genius grant” as well as the Gordon Burn prize for A Little Devil in America : In Praise of Black Performance – a book in which all his talents came together. Structurally inventive, it is a well-balanced mix of memoir and ruminations on Black American music, culture and history. Some of the essays are built on loose poetic forms and the result is audacious, energetic and playful (and sometimes painful), conjuring the feeling of a writer running for his life, running out of time, running circles around his traumas and joys. There’s Always This Year : On Basketball and Ascension is about “the emotional politics of place” and what it means to honour (and sometimes be honoured by) our home towns when we leave, and the demons we may have to reckon with when we return.

His gaze is turned upwards towards the gods and kings who are basketball players at the top of their game – men such as LeBron James and Michael Jordan , who are ordained on the court, their image pasted on the walls of bedrooms and prison cells, their performances defying the laws of what is and isn’t possible for mere mortals.

As they were born and raised in Ohio a year apart, Abdurraqib blends his own biography with that of James, contrasting the star’s rise with his own less obvious ascent. Abdurraqib was at one point “unhoused” and jailed for petty theft, while the teenage James drove to school in expensive cars even before he made it to the NBA. For him, basketball was “his way out the hood”, while Abdurraqib’s writing talent and emotional intelligence allow him to reframe his circumstances and shortcomings, to honour and grieve them in equal measure.

There’s Always This Year stands in opposition to disappearing into depression by revising the rules for Black men, whether they are exceptional or not. Abdurraqib’s approach is at times whimsical and meandering, at others sober and reflective, but almost always self-aware. The American dream promises material rewards for those who strive and hustle hard but, conveniently, doesn’t factor in poverty, race, gender, sexuality, education, disability and neurodiversity, and how they may affect your rise or fall.

I read this book while in ascension myself, on a plane to New Orleans, where I first attended an NBA basketball game. There I sat facing the shiny maple wood floor of the Smoothie King Center, home of the New Orleans Pelicans, struck by the athleticism of a sport I knew little of but had read many poems about – by Terrance Hayes and Inua Ellams , Jim Carroll and Natalie Diaz . Now Abdurraqib, too, captures the experience in the heightened mode of the poet. So much so that by the time my plane descended, I felt invigorated, as if I had been called to reckon with my own gentrified home town and the nostalgia and survivor’s guilt I feel for having left it, despite sometimes longing to return.

There’s Always This Year also contains the stories of basketball’s forgotten players, such as Kenny Gregory and Estaban Weaver, the one-time rising stars who fell by the wayside. I felt their tales as powerfully as those of the anointed kings, because Abdurraqib has found an entertaining way to make the act of watching sport akin to witnessing miracles. If you are looking to read something that “pushes against the door of reality and offers an elsewhere”, I recommend this title.

Signs, Music by Raymond Antrobus (Pan Macmillan, £10.99). To support the Guardian and Observer, pre-order your copy at guardianbookshop.com . Delivery charges may apply.

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There's a new LeBron James biography. We have an excerpt

April 24, 2023 - by Jeff Benedict

By Jeff Benedict | April 24, 2023

Excerpt from LeBron  by Jeff Benedict , Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster (April 11, 2023). You can buy the book HERE

From the start of the 2015–2016 season, LeBron kept a close eye on the Warriors, recording their games and watching them in the middle of the night. He got accustomed to hearing the play-by-play announcer say the same three words: “ Curry . Three. Good.” With Curry knocking down three-point shots at a record clip, the Warriors looked like a team that might never lose. The NBA record for consecutive wins to open a season was fifteen. It had stood since 1949. But the Warriors shattered the mark. By mid-December, Golden State was 24-0. “They have by far the best player in basketball right now in Steph Curry,” NBA analyst David Aldridge  told NPR. “And I say that knowing that LeBron James is incredibly talented and gifted and is a great player, but what Curry’s doing is remarkable.”

The Cavaliers, meanwhile, struggled to play up to LeBron’s standards. They were the top team in the Eastern Conference. Nonetheless, midway through the season, the team fired head coach David Blatt and replaced him with Tyronn Lue , who was more popular among the players. In the second half of the season, the team lost more games under Lue than it had under Blatt. LeBron was at wit’s end.

Although he was living in Los Angeles and had his hands full running SpringHill, Maverick Carter kept close tabs on the situation in Cleveland. He recognized what was happening. Some of the Cavs players weren’t as committed as LeBron felt they should be. But Maverick also knew that LeBron was a perfectionist. Toward the end of the regular season, Maverick called him. “You get paid a lot of money to do something you’re better at than anybody else in the world,” Maverick told him. “So just do that. Don’t worry about this guy or that guy, or what anybody else is. Just play.”

The Cavs finished the regular season with the best record in the Eastern Conference at 57-25. The Warriors, meanwhile, finished with the best record in NBA history at 73-9. Curry led the league in scoring, set the NBA record for three-pointers made in a season, and was voted MVP for the second straight year. The Warriors were the only team with three players – Curry, Thompson , and Green –  named to the All-Star team in 2016. And Steve Kerr was named Coach of the Year. The Warriors were so dominant and so popular that some writers started referring to them as America’s team.

LeBron had heard enough about how great the Warriors were. And it irked him when Curry was characterized as the best player in the world. Curry was a newly minted star who was known for freakishly accurate long-range shooting, handling the ball as if it were a yo-yo, and steals. He was a master showman who’d had two phenomenally entertaining seasons, and he was deserving of the MVP honors. But LeBron had been the most talented basketball player on the planet for thirteen years. For most of that time, he had to carry his team. His ability to play all five positions made him difficult to categorize. And his overall body of work from the NBA to the Olympics was on a different plane from Curry’s. In LeBron’s view, the words most valuable were open to interpretation, and there was a difference between being the most valuable player and being the best player in a particular season.

Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports agreed. He suggested that Curry wasn’t as important to his team’s success as LeBron had been in Miami or Cleveland. “I’m not sure this league has ever had a single player as valuable as LeBron James,” Cowherd said. He added: “Steph Curry should win ‘Best Player of the Year,’ while LeBron is the real MVP.”

The Cavs gelled at the right time and breezed through the playoffs, sweeping two teams and never being challenged. The Warriors, on the other hand, were nearly knocked off by Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. After being down, 3-1, the Warriors came back and won the series.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

A rematch between the Cavaliers and the Warriors was a gold mine for the NBA and its network partners. The 2016 NBA Finals pitted one of the best teams in NBA history against one of the best players in NBA history. The Warriors were trying to repeat as champions. LeBron was on a quest to win a championship for Cleveland. And the debate over who was the superior player – Curry or LeBron – would be settled on the floor. From a rating standpoint, ABC had the best drama on television.

The Warriors trounced the Cavs in Games 1 and 2 in Oakland, winning both games by a combined forty-eight points. In Game 3 in Cleveland, the Cavs responded, pounding the Warriors by thirty. But in the pivotal Game 4 on June 10, Curry erupted, nailing seven three-pointers and scoring thirty-eight points. Thompson added twenty-five, silencing the crowd and giving the Warriors a commanding 3-1 series lead. The Splash Brothers were all smiles when they left the Q.

The Cavs looked doomed. No team had ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals. And the Warriors hadn’t lost three games in a row all season. But an altercation between LeBron and Draymond Green near the end of Game 4 proved to be a turning point in the series. Green had been verbally and physically harassing LeBron throughout the game. With less than three minutes to play and the Warriors up by ten, LeBron had had enough. When Green set a screen, LeBron pushed his way through it. Green went down, and LeBron stepped over him in his pursuit of the play. Attempting to stand up while LeBron was straddling him, Green swiped at LeBron’s groin. LeBron took exception. They went chest-to-chest, exchanged words, and started shoving. Both players were whistled for fouls that had no impact on the game’s outcome.

The altercation between LeBron and Green escalated in the postgame press conferences. When asked about LeBron’s reaction to Draymond Green, Klay Thompson mocked LeBron by saying that the NBA was “a man’s league,” and that trash talk was part of the game. “I don’t know how the man feels,” Thompson said. “But obviously, people have feelings. People’s feelings get hurt. I guess his feelings just got hurt.”

While Thompson was talking to the press, LeBron was in the locker room, assuring his teammates that they had the Warriors right where they wanted them. He told his teammates that they were not going to lose another game. Then, when LeBron entered the media room, a reporter referenced Thompson’s words and asked him if he cared to comment. “What did you say Klay said?” LeBron asked. “Klay said, ‘I guess he just got his feelings hurt,’ ” the reporter repeated. Holding a microphone, LeBron dropped his chin to his chest and laughed. The press chuckled. “My goodness,” he said, grinning. “I’m not gonna comment on what Klay said.” He paused and laughed again. Then he looked the reporters in the eye. “It’s so hard to take the high road,” LeBron said with a smile. “I’ve been doing it for thirteen years. It’s so hard to continue to do it. And I’m gonna do it again.”

LeBron didn’t need additional motivation. But Thompson had manufactured some. Later that night, LeBron wound down with Savannah . Around two thirty in the morning, they watched Eddie Murphy Raw. After laughing hysterically for about ninety minutes, he sent a predawn group text to his teammates. They were due to board a plane for Oakland later that day. But LeBron had a message for them first. “I know we’re down 3-1,” he said. “But if you don’t think we can win this series, then don’t get on the fucking plane.”

LeBron was playing a game within the game. He’d been to the NBA Finals seven times, and he knew how hard it was to win back-to-back titles. He also understood that a seven-game series is a battle of attrition, and mental discipline plays a big part in who prevails. The Warriors were acting like a team that was entitled to the trophy. LeBron thought that was a big mistake.

After the Cavaliers arrived in Oakland, the NBA announced that Draymond Green was suspended for Game 5. He’d been retroactively assessed a flagrant foul for a “retaliatory swipe of his hand to the groin” of LeBron. As a stand-alone incident, Green’s flagrant foul didn’t warrant a suspension. But Green was a provocateur, and earlier in the postseason he’d twice been assessed flagrant fouls, once for throwing a Houston Rockets player to the floor, and once for kicking an Oklahoma City player between the legs. Under the NBA’s rules, Green’s third flagrant foul during the playoffs automatically triggered a one-game suspension.

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

LeBron knew the rules when he had stepped over Green. Longtime New York Times sports columnist Harvey Araton suggested that LeBron was essentially saying to Green: “Care to check out my groin?” By goading Green, LeBron had beaten him at his own game. Basketball writers dubbed Green the “Nutcracker.” But Green’s disqualification was no laughing matter to the Warriors. A tenacious rebounder and shot blocker, Green was the anchor of the defense. He was also the team’s emotional leader who set the tone by doing the dirty work that enabled Curry and Thompson to flourish.

Prior to Game 5, LeBron got himself in the right frame of mind by watching The Godfather Part II. One scene—when crime boss Michael Corleone , bent on revenge, pays a surprise visit to Frankie Pentangeli – captured the way he felt toward Green and the Warriors.

Frankie: I wish you woulda let me know you were coming. I coulda prepared something for you.

Corleone: I didn’t want you to know I was coming.

In Green’s absence, the Cavs manhandled the Warriors. The big men controlled the paint, and LeBron and Kyrie each scored forty-one points. It was the first time in league history that teammates scored forty-plus points in a Finals game. The Cavs won by fifteen. As the final buzzer sounded, Curry attempted a meaningless layup. Even though the game was over, LeBron blocked Curry’s shot, sending a not-so-subtle message to the league’s MVP. Afterward, the New York Times declared that LeBron “remains the best hoop-playing specimen on the planet.”

The Warriors were still up, 3-2. But now they had to go back to Cleveland, where Warriors coach Steve Kerr was worried that LeBron would take control of the series. As a player, Kerr had won five NBA championships, including three straight with the Chicago Bulls in the Michael Jordan era. Kerr knew the amount of mental toughness that was required to win back-to-back titles. “It just doesn’t happen,” he told his players after Game 5. “It’s harder than that.”

For the Cavaliers, Game 6 was the biggest game in franchise history. Feeding off the crowd’s energy, they stormed to a 31–9 lead. Draymond Green was back in the lineup, but he played tentatively. The Cavs were much more physical, and the Warriors never matched their energy level. During one stretch in the second half, LeBron scored eighteen straight points. He wasn’t just dominating the Warriors. He was bullying them. In the fourth quarter, when LeBron should have needed a breather, he told Coach Lue, “I’m not coming out.” Then, with four minutes remaining and his team up by thirteen, Curry drove to the basket and head-faked, hoping to get LeBron up in the air. But LeBron didn’t bite. Instead, he waited for Curry to attempt a layup and swatted his shot out-of-bounds. He glared at Curry and barked a message: Get that weak shit out of my house! The Q erupted. It had never felt so good to be a Cavs fan.

Moments later, on the other end of the court, Curry tried to poke the ball out of LeBron’s hands and got whistled for his sixth foul. Angry over the call, Curry lit into the referee and flung his mouthpiece, hitting a fan who was seated courtside. The referee assessed Curry a technical foul and ejected him. It was the first time in Curry’s career that he’d been thrown out of a game. He got jeered leaving the court.

In contrast, LeBron played forty-three minutes and scored forty-one points for the second consecutive game. The Cavs won by fourteen and evened the series at 3-3. Afterward, Steve Kerr unloaded on the officials for the way they had treated Curry. “He’s the MVP of the league,” Kerr said. “He gets six fouls called on him. Three of them were absolutely ridiculous. LeBron flops on the last one. Jason Phillips falls for that flop. This is the MVP of the league, and we’re talking about these touch fouls in the NBA Finals.” Meanwhile, Curry’s wife tweeted that the game was rigged. “I won’t be silent,” she said.

The NBA fined Kerr for singling out a referee by name. Curry was fined for hurling his mouthpiece and hitting a fan. And his wife took down her tweet.

The Warriors were unraveling.

In the Cavs’ locker room, LeBron smiled. “They fucked up, mentally and physically,” he told his team. “I’m telling you. They. Fucked. Up.”

Game 7, back in Oakland, was the closest contest of the series. There were twenty lead changes and eighteen ties. And with under two minutes remaining, the score was knotted at eighty-nine when Kyrie Irving drove the lane and tossed up a floater. The play that would define LeBron’s legacy and reverse Cleveland’s sports history had begun.

Irving missed his floater. Warriors forward Andre Iguodala grabbed the rebound and took off downcourt, passing the ball ahead to Curry. With a defender in front of him and Iguodala streaking to the basket, Curry bounce-passed the ball back to him. Iguodala was fourteen feet from the hoop when he caught Curry’s pass in stride, took two steps, and elevated for a layup.

Trailing the play, LeBron was on the opposite side of the court and twenty-one feet from the basket when Iguodala caught Curry’s pass. I can get it, he told himself. With a head of steam and a three-foot vertical leap, LeBron took flight. In the air, he had to navigate three obstacles – to stay clear of the rim, avoid fouling Iguodala, and reach the ball before it reached the glass. His chest was level with Iguodala’s head when LeBron pinned the ball against the backboard, next to the square above the rim. The ball then ricocheted into J. R. Smith ’s hands. Golden State’s go-ahead layup had been diverted midflight.

BECK DIEFENBACH/AFP via Getty Images

The play happened so fast – an analysis would later reveal that LeBron had raced sixty feet in 2.67 seconds, topping out at an estimated twenty miles per hour – that the announcers didn’t grasp the significance of the feat until they watched it on slow-motion replay. “Oh . . . my . . . goodness,” ABC’s Jeff Van Gundy said. “Great pass by Curry. Running hard by Iguodala. And superhuman defensive recovery by LeBron James.”

On the other end, with the shot clock winding down and Curry guarding him out beyond the three-point line, Kyrie stepped back and launched, burying a clutch shot and putting his team up, 92–89. Then Curry, unable to shake Kevin Love , forced up a three that caromed off the back of the rim and into the hands of LeBron, who was fouled. LeBron made a free throw to put Cleveland up by four with ten seconds to play, sealing the victory. Moments later the Warriors missed a desperation heave as the buzzer sounded.

“It’s over! It’s over!” shouted ABC’s Mike Breen as Kevin Love hoisted LeBron off his feet. “Cleveland is a city of champions once again. The Cavaliers are NBA champions.”

The Cavs mobbed LeBron. In the chaos, Maverick Carter raced onto the court and hugged his friend.

Overcome, LeBron crumpled to his knees.

When he’d played on the Heat and finally won his first championship, he had not lost his composure. Nor had he cried after winning the second title in Miami. But this was different, more epic than he had dreamed. Digging out of a 3-1 hole to beat a team that had seemed invincible, against the odds he had delivered for the people of northeast Ohio. Cleveland’s fifty-two-year championship drought was over. This was what he’d come home for.

LeBron put his face to the floor and wept.

Excerpt from LeBron by Jeff Benedict , Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster (April 11, 2023). You can buy the book HERE

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‘LeBron’ biography examines the remarkable career of the NBA star

The book serves as both an origin story for the living nba legend and an examination of how james changed the role of superstar athlete in so many ways — from business to entertainment to politics..

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James smiles after scoring during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz on April 9, 2023, in Los Angeles.

“LeBron” by Jeff Benedict (Avid Reader Press)

LeBron James has lived a very public life. Who can forget the 2002 Sports Illustrated cover anointing him “The Chosen One” when he was just 17? Now 38, he’s done thousands of interviews, spoken out on a variety of social justice issues, earned more than a billion dollars as an athlete and businessman, and — oh, yeah — won four NBA championships with three different teams.

But until now, no writer has packaged his life story into one narrative. Jeff Benedict, who co-wrote the bestselling “Tiger Woods” with Armen Keteyian, follows the same playbook here. He spent years combing through the public record, watching hours of video footage, and talking to hundreds of people from different stages of James’ life to craft “LeBron.” The book serves as both an origin story for the living NBA legend and an examination of how James changed the role of superstar athlete in so many ways — from business to entertainment to politics.

This cover image released by Avid Reader Press shows “Lebron” by Jeff Benedict.

Readers who don’t already know the beats of James’ life will find them all here. Even those who already know what “The Decision” refers to (James’ 2010 televised special announcing his signing with the Miami Heat after seven years playing for his home state Cleveland Cavaliers) will appreciate the perspective Benedict provides when it comes to just how much James changed the perception of what it means to be a modern athlete.

Benedict didn’t interview James directly for the book, but that fact drives home one of the book’s main themes — James built his empire by surrounding himself with an inner circle of close friends, all of whom he met before adulthood. His fame now allows him to seek advice from and partner with scores of other influential people, but Team LeBron at its core is still his high school teammate Maverick Carter; fellow Akron, Ohio, native son Randy Mims; and Rich Paul, who James met in 2002 when Paul was a young entrepreneur selling vintage sports jerseys in Atlanta (Paul is now James’ agent and the CEO of Klutch Sports, which reps more than three dozen NBA players).

Given the fact that James didn’t speak to Benedict for the book, some critics may decry the armchair psychology in these pages. But James’ life has certainly not been unexamined. He has spoken at length about growing up fatherless, the fierce loyalty he feels toward his mother, and how grateful he is to coaches and neighbors who helped create an environment where he could focus on school and basketball and avoid any serious missteps.

That’s not to say “LeBron” is a hagiography. It touches on things like the Hummer his unemployed mom gave him when he turned 18 thanks to a bank loan secured by the promise of James’ future earnings, or the jerseys Rich Paul didn’t make him pay for, in violation of Ohio’s rules for high school basketball players. But with the benefit of hindsight, they are just bumps in the road to superstardom.

In fact, “LeBron” makes a more compelling argument about just how remarkable it is that a player of James’ magnitude has lived a scandal-free life, and in fact, has focused his platform and celebrity on meaningful issues like Black Lives Matter or inner city education.

The young boy who wrote “NBA Player/NBA Player/NBA Player” when asked to write down three things he wanted to be when he grew up, is arguably now the most influential NBA player of all time. That’s the story Benedict tells in what — for now — is the definitive biography of LeBron James.

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LeBron James

LeBron James became an immediate star after skipping college to join the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. He led the Miami Heat to NBA titles in 2012 and 2013 and won another championship with Cleveland in 2016, before joining the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018.

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Who Is LeBron James?

LeBron James is an American basketball player with the Los Angeles Lakers. James first garnered national attention as the top high school basketball player in the country. With his unique combination of size, athleticism and court vision, he became a four-time NBA MVP. After leading the Miami Heat to titles in 2012 and 2013, James returned to Cleveland and helped the franchise claim its first championship in 2016.

Early Life and High School Basketball Career

James was born on December 30, 1984, in Akron, Ohio. At an early age, James showed a natural talent for basketball. He was recruited by St. Vincent-St. Mary High School to join their basketball team in 1999. Overall, James scored 2,657 points, 892 rebounds and 523 assists during his four years there.

As a freshman, James averaged 18 points per game. He helped the team to a Division III state title by scoring 25 points in the championship game. Word of his advanced basketball skills spread, and James received several honors for his performance.

As a high school sophomore, James was chosen for the USA Today All-USA First Team. He was the first sophomore ever selected for this award. His team also won the Division III state title for the second year in a row.

The following school year, James was named PARADE magazine's High School Boys Basketball Player of the Year and Gatorade Player of the Year. Following the end of his junior year, James was such a strong player that he contemplated going pro.

Deciding to finish his education, James had a tremendous senior year on the court. He averaged 31.6 points per game, helping his team clinch their third state title. The St. Vincent-St. Mary High School team also earned the top national ranking that year. James would soon emerge as one of the National Basketball Association's leading players.

With his impressive record, it was no surprise that James was the first player picked in the 2003 NBA Draft straight out of high school. The Cleveland Cavaliers signed the powerful young forward, and he proved to be a valuable addition to the then-struggling franchise. The team had ended the previous season in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Cleveland Cavaliers

During the 2003-04 season, James made history when he became the first member of the Cavalier franchise to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He also became the youngest player — at only 20 years old — to receive this honor.

James continued to excel professionally in the NBA the following season, upping his average points per game to 27.2. He made NBA history again in 2005 when he became the youngest player to score more than 50 points in one game.

In 2006, James helped his team defeat the Washington Wizards in the first round of playoff action. From there, the Cavaliers took on the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference semifinals. James scored an average of 26.6 per game in this postseason matchup, but it wasn't enough to secure victory for his team. While his team wasn't at the top of the rankings, James himself continued to receive special recognition for his abilities.

In 2006, James reached a new contract agreement with the Cavaliers. The team proved to be stronger competitors the following season, defeating Detroit to win the Eastern Conference. In the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, however, the Cavaliers lost their championship bid in four consecutive games.

During the 2007-08 season, James continued to help the Cavaliers improve their standing in the Eastern Conference. The team made it to the semifinals, where they were defeated by the Boston Celtics in seven games. In terms of individual performance, James had a stellar year, outperforming such rival players as Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson by scoring an average of 30 points per game, the highest average in the NBA regular season.

Early in the 2008-09 season, sports journalists and fans began talking about James' future in the sport. He had the option to become a free agent in 2010, and there was much discussion as to where James would end up. Some journalists identified the New York Knicks as a potential suitor for the rising player.

James made several references to his impending free-agent status, but he was sure to downplay the matter. "I am focused on the team that I am on right now and winning a championship ... I don't think about making a change at this point," James told reporters.

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Shortly after becoming a free agent, James announced that he would be joining the Miami Heat for the 2010-11 season. His fans in Cleveland were less than pleased, and many considered his departure a betrayal to his hometown.

Soon after James' announcement, Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert wrote an open letter declaring James' decision as "selfish," "heartless" and a "cowardly betrayal." Unfazed, James finished second in the league during his first season with the Heat, scoring 26.7 points per game.

The 2011-12 season saw major success for James and the Miami Heat. With his team's victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, the superstar forward finally earned his first title. In the clinching Game 5, James scored 26 points, and had 11 rebounds and 13 assists. "I made a difficult decision to leave Cleveland, but I understood what my future was about," James told FOX Sports following the game. "I knew we had a bright future [in Miami]."

During the 2012-13 season, James made NBA history yet again: On January 16, 2013, at age 28, he became the youngest player to score 20,000 points, succeeding Bryant of the Lakers — who accomplished this feat when he was 29 — and becoming only the 38th player in NBA history to achieve this distinction. James made a jump shot the final seconds of the game, bringing his scoring total 20,001 and leading the Heat to a 92-75 victory over the Warriors.

Success followed the Heat to the end of the 2012-13 season: Following a hard-fought, six-game series against the Indiana Pacers to win the Eastern Conference, Miami outlasted the San Antonio Spurs in seven games to win its second consecutive NBA championship.

At the culmination of the 2013-14 season, Miami returned to the NBA Finals to face off against the Spurs again, this time losing to San Antonio after five games.

Return to Cleveland Cavaliers

In July of 2014, after opting out of his contract with the Heat and considering other teams, James announced that he would be returning to the Cavaliers.

Hampered by back and knee problems, James missed 13 of 82 regular-season games in 2014-15. However, he was as dominant as ever when healthy, averaging 25.3 points and 7.4 assists per game. James led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals, becoming the first player in nearly 50 years to reach the championship round in five consecutive seasons. However, injuries to star teammates Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving damaged his hopes of claiming a third title, and the Cavaliers lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games.

Over the course of 2015-16, the Cavs overcame the distraction of a mid-season coaching change and breezed through the playoffs to earn a rematch with the Warriors, marking the sixth straight NBA Finals appearance for "King James." In perhaps the crowning achievement of his career, he led his team back from a 3-1 deficit, scoring 41 points in both Games 5 and 6, before recording a triple-double in Game 7 to give the Cavs their first championship in franchise history.

Voted Finals MVP, James said, "I came back to bring a championship to our city. I knew what I was capable of doing. I knew what I learned in the last couple years that I was gone, and I knew if I had to — when I came back — I knew I had the right ingredients and the right blueprint to help this franchise get back to a place that we've never been. That's what it was all about."

The following year, James again paced himself and took charge when necessary, driving the Cavs through the Eastern Conference to make an incredible seventh consecutive appearance in the NBA Finals. This time, with former MVP Kevin Durant added to the mix, the Warriors proved too formidable for James and his teammates, claiming the championship in five games.

For all his accomplishments, James achieved another first early in the 2017-18 NBA season: After yelling at a referee during a late November win over the Heat, he was ejected for the first time in 1,082 career games.

The superstar likely felt like yelling often during the course of a frustrating campaign, as an offseason trade that sent Irving to Boston for Isaiah Thomas failed to bear fruit and forced the Cavs to make another major deal before the All-Star break.

After averaging a career-best 9.1 assists in the regular season, James had to dig deep just to get the team out of the first round of the playoffs, delivering a brilliant 45-point effort to sink the Pacers in Game 7. The Cavs were again pushed to the limit two rounds later by the scrappy Celtics, but James scored 81 points over the last two games to pull out the series win and make his eighth straight NBA Finals appearance.

Game 1 of the rematch against Golden State went down to the wire, thanks to James's 51-point outburst, but Cleveland guard J.R. Smith inexplicably dribbled out the clock with the game tied in regulation, before the Warriors pulled away for the win in overtime. That represented the Cavs' best chance to get a leg up on their opponents, as the Warriors won the next three games handily to claim their third title in four years.

Afterward, with questions swirling about his future with the team, James revealed that he had played out the series with a broken right hand after punching a whiteboard in the aftermath of the Game 1 loss.

Los Angeles Lakers

On July 1, 2018, James announced that he was moving on to the next chapter of his career by signing a 4-year, $153.3 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, a storied franchise that counted Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson among its all-time greats.

The good vibes had worn off by midseason, as the Lakers sputtered through a 17-game stretch without their injured star.

With the team still struggling in late February 2019, James accused his teammates of losing focus over trade rumors, saying, "If you're still allowing distractions to affect the way you play, this is the wrong franchise to be a part of and you should just come in and be like, 'Listen, I can't do this.'"

When the Lakers were officially eliminated from playoff contention in March 2019, it snapped James' personal marks of 13 consecutive postseasons and eight straight NBA Finals appearances. Capping a difficult first season in Los Angeles, the Lakers announced that their star would miss the final six games because of his lingering groin injury.

Things got off to a much better start the following season, thanks in large part to the addition of athletic big man Anthony Davis to the roster. Spearheading the Lakers' rise to the top of the standings was James, who became the first player to record a triple-double against all 30 NBA teams in November 2019.

The following month, James added another accolade to his ever-growing list by earning AP Male Athlete of the Decade honors.

Championships and Rings

James participated in eight straight NBA championships from the 2010-11 season to the 2018-19 season. During that time, he captured three championship rings: twice with the Heat (2011-12 and 2012-13) and once with the Cavaliers (2015-16).

All-Star Games and MVPs

James was selected for the NBA All-Star Game for the first time in 2005 and would go on to earn a spot in the annual showcase in each of the next 15 seasons.

In January 2018, the NBA announced that James and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry had topped the ballots and would serve as captains for that year's All-Star Game.

In 2006, James was named the Most Valuable Player in the NBA All-Star Game, a feat he would repeat in 2008 and 2018. James has also been named NBA MVP four times, in seasons 2008-09, 2009-10, 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Stats and Points

In January 2018, at age 33, James surpassed Bryant as the youngest player to accumulate 30,000 career points and became the seventh player in NBA history to achieve that milestone. The feat put him just more than 8,000 points shy of Abdul-Jabbar's all-time record of 38,387 points.

In 2019, James surpassed Jordan's career tally of 32,292 points to move into fourth place on the all-time list. In January 2020, he eclipsed Bryant's total of 33,643 points to slide into third place, one night before his predecessor's shocking death in a helicopter accident.

After 16 NBA seasons, James' stats included regular season per-game averages of:

• 27.2 points
• 38.6 minutes
• 0.736 free-throw percentage
• 0.343 3-point field-goal percentage
• 0.504 field-goal percentage
• 1.2 offensive rebounds
• 6.2 defensive rebounds
• 7.2 assists
• 3.5 turnovers

Olympic Games

James competed on the U.S. Olympic basketball team during three Summer Olympic Games, in 2004, 2008 and 2012. James made his Olympic debut at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece. He and his teammates won bronze medals after defeating Lithuania. Argentina took home the gold after beating Italy in the finals.

In the summer of 2008, James traveled to Beijing, China, to play with the likes of Bryant, Jason Kidd and Dwyane Wade on the U.S. Olympic basketball team. This time around the U.S. team brought home the gold after defeating Spain in the final round.

James competed at his third Olympic Games in 2012, at the Summer Olympics in London, along with Durant, Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and several other top players. The U.S. basketball team took the gold medal — James' second consecutive Olympic gold.

Contract With Nike

In 2003, James signed several endorsement deals, including a deal with Nike for $90 million that could net him over $1 billion over his lifetime.

Other endorsements include Intel, Verizon, Coca-Cola, Beats by Dre and Kia Motors.

Salary and Earnings

In the 2016-17 season, James collected a $31 million salary, making him the third player to earn that much after Jordan and Bryant. The NBA superstar went on to sign a four-year, $153.3 million contract with the Lakers in July 2018. He’s also a co-owner of the production company SpringHill Entertainment and has invested in Blaze Pizza.

In February 2019, Forbes magazine's estimated James’ yearly earnings at $88.7 million, making him the NBA's highest-earning player for the fifth year in a row.

Wife and Kids

On January 1, 2012, James proposed to his high school sweetheart, Savannah Brinson. The couple married in a private ceremony with about 200 guests in San Diego on September 14, 2013.

James and Brinson have two sons and one daughter together. In October 2004, James welcomed his first son LeBron Jr. On June 14, 2007, Brinson gave birth to their second son, Bryce Maximus James. Their third child, daughter Zhuri James, was born on October 22, 2014.

LeBron James Family Foundation

Outside of the NBA, James has worked to help others. He established the LeBron James Family Foundation in 2004, along his mother Gloria, to help out children and single-parent families in need.

Among its many programs, the organization builds playgrounds in economically disadvantaged areas and hosts an annual bike-a-thon.

Outspoken Posts on Social Media

One of the world's most recognizable athletes, James hasn't been shy about expressing his views on social media. Among other issues, he displayed his support for Trayvon Martin after the teen's death in 2012, and he has clashed with U.S. President Donald Trump .

James waded into delicate territory in October 2019, after Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey posted a tweet in support of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters that ignited a Chinese media boycott of NBA preseason games in the country. James said he believed Morey was "misinformed" about the situation, although he later tweeted that he mainly took issue with the executive posting comments that could have exposed traveling players to danger.

The basketball superstar has also shown a playful side on social media, such as when he posted a picture of cartoon character Arthur clenching his first during the Cavaliers' slow start to the 2017-18 season.

'Space Jam 2'

James starred in Space Jam 2 , the 2021 sequel to the 1996 hit starring Jordan. "The Space Jam collaboration is so much more than just me and the Looney Tunes getting together and doing this movie,” James told The Hollywood Reporter .

“It's so much bigger. I'd just love for kids to understand how empowered they can feel and how empowered they can be if they don't just give up on their dreams."

QUICK FACTS

• Name: James
• Birth Year: 1984
• Birth date: December 30, 1984
• Birth State: Ohio
• Birth City: Akron
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: LeBron James became an immediate star after skipping college to join the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. He led the Miami Heat to NBA titles in 2012 and 2013 and won another championship with Cleveland in 2016, before joining the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018.
• Astrological Sign: Capricorn
• St. Vincent-St. Mary High School
• Interesting Facts
• During the 2003-04 season, LeBron James became the first member of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the youngest NBA player in history to recieve the Rookie of the Year Award.
• LeBron James was one of only three rookies to average 20 points per game during the 2003-04 season. The other rookies to accomplish the feat were Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson.

We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

• I made a difficult decision to leave Cleveland but I understood what my future was about ... I knew we had a bright future [in Miami].
• I'm never in a defer mentality. I'm in attack mode. No matter how many weapons we have on the court, I'm still going to play my game.
• Sports carried me away from being in a gang, or being associated with drugs. Sports was my way out.
• It's not about the money. It's all about winning for me.
• I never feel sad [about not going to college]. But I do wish I could have been part of March Madness.
• Basketball is my life.
• We all prepare differently, but there's just one basketball on that court.
• We knew it wasn't going to be easy. We didn't want it to be easy. A lot of teams have won golds easy. We didn't want it that way.
• I don't judge my career by saying I want to be better than this person or that person at the end of my career because it's not possible. The only person on and off the court to satisfy is me.
• LeBron stays humble just by being LeBron.
• Why would you think he's coming back? People move from Cleveland to Miami every [expletive] day. They don't move from Miami to Cleveland.

The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed and news-hungry editors with decades of collective experience. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. To meet the team, visit our About Us page: https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us

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LeBron James

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Epic Athletes: LeBron James is an inspiring young readers biography of the best basketball player of the modern era from celebrated sports journalist Dan Wetzel! Featuring comic-style illustrations by Setor Fiadzigbey! Whether you call him King James or simply LeBron, one thing is certain: LeBron James is THE face of the NBA. At just eighteen, and facing sky-high expectations, LeBron headed straight from high school to the pros. Cool under pressure, he went on to shatter the record books and become the most popular athlete in America. Yet nothing was ever handed to LeBron. As a kid, he had to move homes constantly, even separating from his mother for a time. But through all the adversity, he took his natural talent and combined it with hard work to set himself on a path to greatness. Filled with sports action and bold illustrations, this exciting biography tells the story of a living NBA legend. Praise for Epic Athletes: “An unusually informative and enjoyable sports biography for young readers.” –Booklist, starred review for Epic Athletes: Stephen Curry

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The Creative Behind the Book

New York Times bestselling author Dan Wetzel has been a Yahoo Sports national columnist since 2003. He’s covered events and stories around the globe, including college football, the NFL, the MLB, the NHL, the NBA, the UFC, the World Cup, and the Olympics. For years, he’s been called America’s best sports columnist, appeared repeatedly in the prestigious Best American Sports Writing, and been honored more than a dozen times by the Associated Press Sports Editors. Dan was recently inducted into the U.S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame.

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Here's why LeBron James, not Michael Jordan, is the GOAT

Beyond the statistics, it's a matter of ideology – one that pits activism and solidarity vs. nostalgia and delusion, by david masciotra.

The effects and limits of time have no meaning to the vampire. In Bram Stoker’s classic novel, Dracula describes how “only a few days” make up a century. 

If he were not such a charitable man, it would seem appropriate to investigate whether LeBron James is a vampire. At 39 years old, in his 21st NBA season, he shows few signs of mortality. This season he averaged 25.7 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game after playing 71 games in the 2024 season. 

The negation of LeBron James is not related to sports, rather it is a cultural stain.

Decades for LeBron, like centuries for Dracula, pass in mere days. It doesn’t feel like too long ago that LeBron James was 18 years old, straight out of high school in his rookie season, and dominating on the court against players 10 to 15 years older. As Edward R. Ward, the author of “Life in the Valley of Death: Some Aspects of Race in Men’s Basketball in the Missouri Valley Conference, 1959-60 – 1963-64,” recently said when assessing James’ unprecedented run of uninterrupted achievement: “He’s been the best the longest.”

Over his 21 years in the NBA, he has become the all-time scoring leader, breaking Kareem Abdul Jabbar ’s record, which NBA analysts long considered unbreakable, has entered the Top 5 in all time assists, is in the Top 30 for all-time rebounds, and has led three different teams to four championship titles, appearing in 10 finals throughout his career. At 6 foot 9, 250 pounds, he is one of the strongest players to hit the hardwood, but also, astonishingly, one of the fastest. In a game-saving block during Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals – one of the most famous and celebrated moments of his basketball life – he ran 20.1 miles per hour to prevent a member of the opposing team from making a layup. 

James is statistically superior to any other player to ever wear an NBA uniform, with unprecedented achievements, and yet most of the sports commentariat, along with millions of fans on social media, are hostile to the notion that he is the greatest of all time (GOAT). 

The most prevalent position against LeBron James as GOAT is that he’s led his teams to only four titles. Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless and other sports pundits trot out this number in the service of the most popular candidate for greatest NBA player of all time: Michael Jordan . According to conventional wisdom, Jordan leading the Chicago Bulls to six finals, and winning all six, closes the case. 

Smith, Bayless and the chorus of Jordan worshipers act as if Jordan played only six seasons as a professional. Never do they mention the nine seasons that Jordan did not lead his respective teams to making the finals. His last two seasons, with the Washington Wizards, ended without even qualifying for the playoffs, and his teammates despised him so much that they refused to buy him a retirement gift.

The illogic of the Jordan partisans acts as a blacklight, making clear that what actually underlies the negation of LeBron James is not related to sports, rather it is a cultural stain. 

Shelby Steele, the preeminent Black conservative intellectual, argues in his book about Barack Obama , "A Bound Man," that for most of American history Black public figures, whether in politics or pop culture, performed one of two roles: bargainer or challenger. Citing Louis Armstrong as an example, Steele defines the bargainer as one who tells white America, “If you allow me to have a career, and amass wealth, I will not remind you of the shame of American racism.” Challengers, such as Miles Davis , proceed according to the presumption that American institutions are racist, and therefore, must meet an obligation to prove that they are acting according to egalitarian principles.

Michael Jordan, at his global peak of popularity in the 1990s, was the ultimate bargainer. No matter how egregious the injustice in the headlines – the acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King , the rise of racial profiling against Black commuters, the increasingly inflammatory rhetoric of key Republicans figures, like Newt Gingrich and Pat Buchanan – “Air” Jordan maintained an air of silence, rejecting the tradition of Black athletes, most notably Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali and Hank Aaron , of parlaying their sports stardom into effective activism. He never lent his instantly recognizable name or likeness to campaigns for social justice, and infamously refused to endorse any candidates for political office. 

Jordan’s self-serving desire to maintain neutrality calls to mind the Howard Zinn quip, “You can’t be neutral on a moving train.”

In 1990, the Democratic Party in Jordan’s home state of North Carolina had an opportunity to defeat one of the most vicious racists of the U.S. Senate, Jesse Helms . Harvey Gannt, Helms’ opponent, was a local civil rights leader and beloved mayor of Charlotte. If he defeated Helms, he would have become the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate in North Carolina. The Gannt campaign, and even Michael Jordan’s mother, begged Jordan to make a public endorsement, believing that any boost to the candidacy could prove crucial in a close race. Jordan refused, uttering to his disappointed teammates what has now become one of sports’ most notorious expressions of greed and narcissism: “Republicans buy sneakers too.”  

Jordan’s self-serving desire to maintain neutrality calls to mind the Howard Zinn quip, “You can’t be neutral on a moving train.” The MVP’s silence offered protection for the delusions of the 1990s, namely that racism was a trauma of the past, and that consumer culture was a ticket to shared prosperity, even a substitute for investment in the public interest. 

The only arena that Jordan dominated with equal force as the basketball court was the world of the television commercial. 

Throughout the 1990s, it was impossible to avoid Jordan’s charismatic smile alongside product placement. As social critic Michael Eric Dyson wrote in a 1993 essay for “Cultura Studies,” “Jordan eats Wheaties, drives Chevrolet, wears Hanes, drinks Coca-Cola, consumes McDonald’s, guzzles Gatorade, and of course, wears Nikes. He successfully produced, packaged, marketed, and distributed his image and commodified his symbolic worth, transforming cultural capital into cash, influence, prestige, status, and wealth.” Dyson correctly observes that for a period of several years, “Jordan was the quintessential pitchman of American society.” 

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By eschewing the sociopolitical advocacy of sports legends like Jim Brown and Kareen Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan followed the map of O.J. Simpson ’s design. Long before Simpson became known as a wifebeater and accused of murder, he became a pioneer at the intersection of athletics and business. He was the first Black athlete to land a gig as corporate spokesperson when he appeared in television ads for Hertz Car Rental. Many additional endorsement opportunities soon followed, and O.J. rose to unprecedented heights by adopting the omerta on any and all issues related to race, politics and inequality.

“Jordan lacks any sense of historical perspective about the struggles that made it possible for him to enjoy his incredible wealth and enormous opportunities,” Michael Eric Dyson concluded. It is unclear whether Jordan lacked perspective or merely feigned ignorance, striking a pose of impartiality that is as easy to sketch as his patented triangular, one-handed dunk – an image that now adorns the Air Jordan basketball shoe.

Just as the Air Jordan still sells out in every shopping center of America, the American public, most especially the captains of corporate culture, has an insatiable appetite for the bargain that trades political passivity for personal glory. The hunger was especially powerful in the 1990s when Americans wanted to believe that racial division, arguments over democracy and questions regarding social justice relics of previous eras. Francis Fukuyama, one of the world’s most influential intellectuals, announced “the end of history” after the fall of the Berlin Wall , and the election of Bill Clinton promised the triumph of “third way” politics that put an end to partisan rancor. 

The crass commercialism of “Republicans buy sneakers too” coupled with Jordan’s squeaky-clean image made him the perfect pitchman for a pre-WTO protest, pre-9/11, pre-Trump age of American optimism – the last days of faith that America could escape the clutches of history. Jordan lacked a historical perspective, just as Americans lacked historical interest. 

LeBron James signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Nike at the age of 18, partially due to Jordan’s company man counsel, and currently endorses Taco Bell , Pepsi and Louis Vuitton. Even if his corporate connections are similar to his adversary in the GOAT debate, his persona is markedly different. 

In his gripping and thoughtful biography, “LeBron,” veteran sports journalist Jeff Benedict chronicles how James ascended to NBA greatness, while also discovering an authentic sense of self, eventually amplifying an individual voice even while under corporate and cultural pressure. It was a transformation that, unlike his instant dominance on the court, took years to transpire. 

During the 2006-07 season, one of James’ teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers wrote a letter for publication in the Cleveland Plain - Dealer condemning the Chinese government for complicity in the genocide of Darfur. Nike has a close relationship with China. Unlike other players on the Cavaliers, LeBron James refused to cosign the letter, claiming that he did not have “enough information” on the subject. 

Benedict writes that James was troubled with regret, and not only because the press, and former NBA legends who became social justice advocates, like former Senator and presidential candidate, Bill Bradley, ridiculed James’ cowardly apathy. James himself knew that his inaction was wrong. 

Since then, LeBron James has acted as a consistent force for racial equality and Democratic politics. He appeared alongside Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and supported Joe Biden in 2020. 

In 2014, he organized the Cavaliers to wear “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirts following the death of Eric Garner , and his repeated calls for police reform, have given him close association with Black Lives Matter . Calling participation in the sociopolitical commitment, “a walk of life,” he explained that “when you wake up, and you’re black . . . it shouldn’t be a movement. It should be a lifestyle.”

James is also one of the principal funders of More Than a Vote , a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting voter suppression laws and registering young Black Americans to cast a ballot. He has referred to Donald Trump as a “bum,” and invited the scorn of Fox News’ Anita Bryant-impersonator, Laura Ingraham, who instructed James to “shut up and dribble.” James replied by remarking how her dismissive attitude, and racial double standard – she often celebrates white athletes who take political positions – is exactly why he feels the need to enter political debate.

Meanwhile, James is the founder of the Lebron James Family Foundation, which pays for four years of tuition at the University of Akron, in James’ hometown, for more than 2,000 students. Although recent test scores are discouraging, the elementary school that the foundation started, the I Promise School, specializes in serving at-risk children. 

Michael Jordan belongs on the Mount Rushmore of NBA legends, but LeBron James has performed at a higher level for a longer period of time.

Contrary to Jordan’s genuine or pretend historical illiteracy, James articulates an ethos of acknowledgement, gratitude and appreciation of lineage. During the first episode of the podcast that he cohosts with JJ Redick, James asserted the following as one of the three criteria for determining who are the greatest players in any sport: “Knowing the history of the game, knowing the ones who paved the way and knowing the reason why you’re actually having the ability to live out your dream – it doesn’t happen without the ones who came before you. It doesn’t happen without Bill Russell going through what he went through during the Civil Rights Movement. It doesn’t happen without Oscar Robertson going through what he had to deal with during those times. It doesn’t happen without them being pure, who they are and working to allow us to do what we do without care.” 

The conflict of ideology between Jordan and James manifests in their divergent of styles of gameplay and leadership. Business and leadership coaches use James as a model of an effective innovator of team-centric success. Because he focuses, first and foremost, on integrating his teammates into each play, he often faces criticism for passing too much. Many of current and former teammates have credited him as a mentor. Michael Jordan, displaying the opposite mentality, told a story during his NBA Hall of Fame induction speech of responding to a coach’s admonishment, “there is no ‘I’ in ‘team,’” by saying, “But there is in ‘win.” It is a challenge to find a teammate of Jordan’s who voluntarily admits to liking him. 

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As the “quintessential pitchman” without “historical perspective,” Jordan exemplified American individualism. LeBron James, while an individual of profound achievement, demonstrates a commitment to communal solidarity, on and off the court, that helps him sharpen an acuity of societal involvement. 

Michael Jordan belongs on the Mount Rushmore of NBA legends, but LeBron James has performed at a higher level for a longer period of time. Every statistical indicator, along with James’ 10 final appearances, confirms that James’ resume of achievement is untouchable, clearly qualifying him as GOAT.

The refusal to fully appreciate James, and the insistence on Jordan as superior, is a choice not of rational calculation, but nostalgia – nostalgia for an America independent of history; an America when the fantasy of political detachment was in full reverie, and an America when individualistic obsession with consumer culture came without consequence.

The reality is that not only is LeBron James a better basketball player than Michael Jordan, but that to “Be Like Mike,” as the Gatorade advertisement slogan of the ‘90s stated, inflicts damage. 

Jordan is fond of saying that he is not a “role model.” LeBron James provides a model for citizenship in an America without illusion. While Jordan lives in the air, head in the clouds of the past, James has his feet on the ground, marching into the future.

about this topic

• LeBron James and the I Promise School: This is why sports stars shouldn't just "shut up and dribble"
• LeBron James to Don Lemon on CNN: Trump "used sports to divide us"
• LeBron James, peacemaker: The evolution of the modern black political athlete

David Masciotra is the author of six books, including " Exurbia Now: The Battleground of American Democracy " and " I Am Somebody: Why Jesse Jackson Matters ." He has written for the New Republic, Washington Monthly, CrimeReads, No Depression and many other publications about politics, music and literature.

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Lebron James Book for Kids: The ultimate biography of King LeBron James for Children (6-12) (Legends for Kids) Hardcover – Large Print, December 12, 2023

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• Print length 74 pages
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• Publisher Verity Books
• Publication date December 12, 2023
• Dimensions 8.5 x 0.31 x 11 inches
• ISBN-10 6045475941
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Verity Books; Large type / Large print edition (December 12, 2023)
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