lebron james He was almost three years old when his grandmother, Frieda James Howard, died. A period of dangerous uncertainty has begun.
Gloria didn’t even have a high school degree, so she scraped through a variety of low-paying jobs, but couldn’t keep Frida’s old house near downtown Akron. took them. They began flying around town, sleeping on friends’ couches, spare bedrooms, or the occasional cheap sublet for a month or two.
They moved five times in the three months of LeBron’s eight years. When he was in his senior year, he was absent from school for his 83 days because he and his mother were staying on opposite sides of town.
They were virtually homeless. Many years.
LeBron later wrote his autobiography, Shooting Stars.
LeBron was eventually recruited by a series of youth coaches who saw his prodigious football and basketball talents. Bill has moved into room 602 in the Spring Hill Apartments.
Spring Hill was a dream come true in itself. It was small, but it belonged to them. James stayed from 1996-2003 when he entered the NBA. It provided some stability, finally providing him with his own bedroom and pasting posters of Michael Jordan and Deion Sanders.
Still not a destination. There, LeBron still recalls, he sat and thought about what to do with his life.
“All my dreams came from that bedroom,” he said years later.
I’m moving. rise. game he wins. places he visits. business he opens. the car he drives. house he owned. How his childhood turmoil translates into the kind of calm home life you’ve seen in TV sitcoms.
Nothing seemed too big, too bold, or too grand. That said, there may have been something beyond LeBron’s envisioned.
Of course, not the star of the NBA team. That was always the core plan.
Own an NBA team?
Wednesday, los angeles lakers At an exhibition game in Las Vegas, LeBron James, now a 37-year-old billionaire, was asked what it was like to play in the city.
I made a declaration there.
“Great,” James told reporters. “We have the best fanbase in the world here and one day I would love to bring the team here. [NBA Commissioner] Adam [Silver] I think he’s in Abu Dhabi now… but he’s probably seen all the interviews and records from NBA players
“So I want a team here, Adam. Thank you.”
James smiled broadly.
LeBron knows that not only does the NBA distribute expanded franchises, but no one can claim a city as their domain, even if they’re contracting with The Commish on a first-name basis.
We also know that he is as wealthy as he is, with an estimated net worth of $1 billion. After all, professional sports ownership requires swimming in the deepest economic waters.
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The most surprising part of James’ ambitious statement about owning a team is that it made headlines and probably pissed off people who weren’t fans, but no rational person dismissed the notion. That’s it.
LeBron as a team owner? yes of course. Makes sense. It seems that one day it will happen.
A lot of that is because James proved to be more than the sheer athleticism that essentially lifted his family out of extreme poverty before he was a teenager. A two-time champion and a four-time MVP. He’s now a star lined up in the children’s room.
He has also become a businessman — endorsements (Nike, Verizon), investments (Blaze Pizza, Lobos 1707 tequila) and partnerships (including Fenway Sports Group, which became co-owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC). He returned to Akron and opened his school.
He also founded a vast entertainment and production company (mainly music and film) that was valued at over $700 million last year alone. that name? SpringHill Entertainment, after that old apartment complex.
He now often talks about holding on to dreams, even when all the obvious dreams have come true. It’s also more than a business. He is married to his high school girlfriend, is a very active father to his three children, and has kept his vows to father children to whom no one has ever loved him. I am protecting
James lends his time, money and voice to political activism and campaigns. No matter which side of the spectrum someone is fighting for, their actions generate resentment from the other side. That’s the cost of such a business.
But even those who vehemently disagree with his views and politics cannot take away from him the fascinating rise of his life, this incredible American life.
In less than 30 years, LeBron James had nowhere to sleep. On Wednesday, he was another billionaire talking about owning an NBA team.
And no one blinked. Most people nodded.
