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LeBron 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
champions
hip
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.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.
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.
Additionally, James, averaging 20 points per game at this time,
became one of only three rookies to accomplish this feat, putting
him in the same company as Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson.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.
Miami Heat
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.
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, Kareen Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson among its all-time
greats.
LeBron James 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 &
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 14 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.
Works Cited
LeBron James.” Biography.com, A&E
Networks Television, 20 Nov. 2019,
https://www.biography.com/athlete/lebron-james.