Labron Raymone James

LeBron Raymone James, nicknamed "King James", is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) small forward who has also played as a power forward, he has been an NBA champion, the NBA Finals MVP, a three-time NBA MVP, and the NBA Rookie of the Year. James is an eight-time NBA All-Star, and has been named to eight All-NBA teams and four All-Defensive teams. He is also the Cleveland Cavaliers' all-time leading scorer, and holds other franchise records for both the Cavaliers and the Heat.

James played high school basketball at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. A three-time "Mr. Basketball of Ohio", he was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar. After graduating, he was selected with the first overall pick of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 2010, he left the Cavaliers for the Heat in a highly publicized free agency period. In 2012, he led Miami to their second NBA title in franchise history, winning his first overall. His career achievements and leadership role during the Heat's 2012 championship run have led a majority of basketball analysts, experts, and writers to consider him the best player in the NBA today.

Off the court, James has accumulated considerable wealth and fame as a result of numerous endorsement contracts. His public life has been the subject of much scrutiny, and he has been ranked as one of America's most disliked and influential athletes. He has also been featured in books, documentaries, and television commercials, and has hosted the ESPY Awards and Saturday Night Live

 His early life and youth
James was born on December 30, 1984 in Akron, Ohio, to a 16-year-old mother, Gloria Marie James. Growing up, life was often a struggle for James and his mother, who raised her son by herself. The two moved around frequently as Gloria was never able to land steady work, and her taste in men was often questionable, with one of them, Eddie Jackson, going to prison in 1990 for aggravated cocaine trafficking. Embarrassed by his home life, James didn't make friends easily at school and had all but dropped out by the fourth grade.
James used sports as an outlet to take out his frustrations, favoring basketball and football. In his first year of Pee-Wee Football, he formed a bond with his coach Frankie Walker, who arranged with Gloria for James to live with the Walkers to stabilize James' living environment. The structure of the Walker household worked wonders for James, who began attending school regularly again. After 18 months of living with the Walkers, Gloria took James back before financial problems arose and she returned him back to the Walkers. For the remainder of James' high school career, he could always call the Walkers' house home no matter where he lived. While James was with the Walkers, he became close friends with three boys: Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, and Willie McGee. Inseparable, they played AAU basketball together, reaching the 1999 AAU National Championship Tournament and dubbing themselves the "Fab Four" The group stirred local controversy when they chose to attend high school at St. Vincent-St. Mary, a largely white school, instead of their local public school. During their sophomore year, they added a final member to their group named Romeo Travis. Nicknamed the "Akron Fab Five", their friendship later became the subject of a documentary titled More Than a Game.
 NBA Career

James was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the number one overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. In his first professional game he recorded 25 points, setting an NBA record for most points scored by a prep-to-pro player in his debut outing. He also added 9 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals on 60 percent shooting. Originally, he was scheduled to compete in the 2004 Slam Dunk Contest but was forced to withdraw because of an ankle injury. In a late season match-up with the New Jersey Nets, he scored a season-high 41 points, becoming the youngest player in league history at 19 years old to score at least 40 points in a game. James was eventually named the 2003–04 NBA Rookie of the Year, finishing with averages of 20.9 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game. He also became the first Cavalier to receive the honor and joined Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in their rookie season (Tyreke Evans has since joined this group). Despite James' award-worthy play and an 18-game improvement over the previous season, Cleveland failed to make the playoffs.

In 2004, James was selected to the United States national team for the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The team finished the competition with a bronze medal, becoming the first USA squad to return home without a gold medal since NBA professionals became eligible. Limited to 14.6 minutes per game, James averaged just 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.

Next, James set his sights on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. At the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, he took on a greater role for Team USA, averaging 13.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game as co-captain. The squad finished the competition with an 8–1 record, again failing to win a gold medal and leaving with a bronze. Having failed to win the World Championship, Team USA were forced to compete at Americas Championships 2007 to qualify for the Olympics. During the tournament's championship game against Argentina, James recorded 31 points, the most ever by an American in an Olympic qualifier, as Team USA finally captured gold medal honors, officially qualifying for the 2008 Olympics. For the tournament, he averaged 18.1 points, 4.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals on a tournament-high 76 percent shooting and 62.2 percent three-point shooting percentage. At the Olympics, Team USA reclaimed the gold medal, defeating Spain 118–107 in the final game. James turned in 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists as the team went unbeaten, winning their first gold medal since 2000. It was later reported that he was originally at risk for not being included on the national team's roster due to his immaturity and "downright disrespectfulness".

James did not play at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, citing his busy schedule during the summer.^[ He was selected for the 2012 United States Olympic team to compete in London, where he recorded the first triple double (11 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists)  in Olympic basketball history against the Australia men's national basketball team. He also helped the team to their second straight gold medal in a 107–100 victory against Spain, in which he had 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. In the fourth quarter, LeBron made a dunk that tied him with David Robinson for the USA's all-time scoring lead, but a three with under two minutes left gave him the top spot with 273 points all-time. With the U.S. winning the gold medal, James joined Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen as the only players to have won NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year (a feat Pippen achieved twice). James also became the only player other than Jordan to have won an NBA championship and an NBA MVP award in the same year as winning an Olympic gold medal.

By: Kazim Agha