LeBron Raymone James is a famous American basketball player who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). James began his professional career in 2003 and has since won three NBA championships, three NBA Most Valuable Player (Finals) Award and 4 Most Valuable Player Awards. He was also part of the Olympic Gold winning teams at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and London Olympics in 2010.
James has been selected in 13 All-NBA teams, 13 NBA All-Star teams and in six All-Defensive teams. He is also the all-tome leading scorer of the Cavaliers and is the youngest player in basketball history to have scored 29,000 NBA career points. He began serving as a free agent in 2010 and played for Miami Heat before he joined the Cavaliers again in 2014, as a free agent.
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Early Life and Education
James was born on 30 December 1984 in Arkon Ohio as the son of Gloria Marie James, who was 16 at the time she conceived him and raised him all by herself. His mother did odd jobs and changed apartments often living in seedy neighbourhoods. James’ mother desired to give him a stable family life and let him move into football coach Frank Walkers family at age 9, who introduced him to basketball at age 9. James has a half-brother named Aaron McClelland Gamble.
James played basketball for Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars in the Amateur Athletic Union and attended the white private Catholic school, the St. Vincent–St. Mary High School where he played as wide receiver. He was named Ohio Mr. Basketball thrice and Gatorade National Player of the Year twice in his junior and senior years. James received offers of recruitments from several Division I programs, and selected the University of Notre Dame playing for the University’s Fighting Irish football team and lead the team to state semi-finals but stopped playing before his senior year when he injured his wrist.
Career Rise
James got drafted to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Draft of 2003 and was named the Rookie of the Year, finishing the year with an average of 20.9 points with 5.5 rebounds per game and 5.9 assists. At 19, James became the youngest person in the history of basketball to represent his country in the 2004 Olympics at Athens. The following year, he set the record of being the youngest player ever to have scored over 50 points in an NBA game. James also become the youngest player in the history of NBA to be drafted into the All-NBA Team in the season of 2004-05. James and the Caveliers reached the NBA finals in 2007, beating Detroit but lost the finals to the San Antonio Spurs.
James and the Caveliers performed exceedingly well in the 2007-08 NBA season but lost the title to Boston Celtics. James outperformed rivals like Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant in the 2008 season by scoring a 30-point average per game which became the highest average in a regular NBA season. He was part of the gold-winning squad that represented the USA in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 in which the team defeated Spain to clench the Olympic Basketball title. James then became a free agent and joined the Miami Heat in 2010, finishing second with an average of 26.7 points per game. He was also part of the team which won USA a second consecutive gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London while also being part of the winning Miami Heat team in the 2012-2013 NBA season. He returned as a free agent with the Cavaliers in 2014 after facing a few controversies and injuries, and in 2017, lead the Cavaliers to victory against the Washington Wizards. James is the youngest player in basketball history to have scored 29,000 NBA career points.
Wife and Children
James dated his high school sweetheart Savannah Brinnson for several years and got engaged to her on 31 December 2011, after celebrating his 30th birthday. The couple tied the knot in San Diego in September 2013 and are parents to three children, sons LeBron James Jr and Bryce Maximus James and aa daughter named Zhuri James.
James actively supports the Children’s Defense Fund, the Boys & Girls Club of America and the ONEXONE organizations. He also instituted the Akron based LeBron James Family Foundation which does charity work and has been raising funds supporting several causes. James was felicitated with a J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award by the NBA in 2017, for his “outstanding service and dedication to the community”.
Home
James purchased a $9 million three-story mansion in the affluent Coconut Grove neighbourhood of Miami, Florida in 2010 while he was playing for the Miami Hear. the mansion, overlooking the Biscayne Bay featured six bedrooms and a guest room, 8.5 bath-rooms, a chef’s kitchen, a custom theatre, a wine cellar, and roof-top sun deck. It also featured an infinity-edge pool with an outside summer kitchen and a dock for two yachts of 60 feet each. James sold the mansion in 2015.
Brentwood house
Brentwood home
Brentwood house
In 2015, James splurged $21 Million to purchase a 9,350 square-foot mansion in the posh Brentwood neighbourhood in, Los Angeles. The East Coast–style mansion features six-bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a sophisticated, modern kitchen, a formal dining room, a round breakfast room, a lawn, a spa and a swimming pool. It contains French windows, and has a stone and white brick-clad exterior.
LeBron James – Salary and Net Worth
The 2.04 meter tall James has an estimated net worth of approximately $400 Million. His estimated annual salary from the game is $32.28 million. He is the third player in the NBA history for making more than $30 million in one season, after Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Add sponsorship deals and his annual take home earnings come to an estimated $87 million. LeBron James also has a life-time contract with Nike which could earn him a cool $1 billion.
