1984-present
LeBron James News: Basketball Legend Leads Team USA at the 2024 Olympics
LeBron James helped the USA Basketball team escape with a pair of closer-than-expected wins leading into the Summer Olympics. Now, it’s time for the real thing in Paris.
The 39-year-old and the United States begin group play on July 28 at 11:15 a.m. ET against Serbia, with the game broadcast on NBC. The NBA all-time leading scorer is seeking his third Olympic gold medal alongside a star-studded cast of teammates including Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.
Watch the 2024 Olympics on Peacock
Team USA relied on James to avoid two potential exhibition losses in the week leading up to the Summer Games. He netted 23 points against South Sudan—including the game-winning layup with 8 seconds remaining—on July 20 and scored the final 11 points in a 92-88 win over Germany two days later.
James earned an additional honor at the Games: leading the U.S. delegation as the male flag bearer in the opening ceremony along the Seine River on July 26. “It’s special to get an opportunity to represent your country in another fashion. I understand how prestigious this moment is,” James said. Joining him as the female flag bearer is tennis player Coco Gauff.
Who Is LeBron James?
Basketball player LeBron James is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer who currently plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. James first garnered national attention as the top high school basketball player in the country before being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003. 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 the Cavaliers and helped the franchise claim its first championship in 2016. Since joining Los Angeles in 2018, he has won an additional NBA championship and became the all-time leading scorer in league history.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: LeBron Raymone James
BORN: December 30, 1984
BIRTHPLACE: Akron, Ohio
SPOUSE: Savannah James (2013-present)
CHILDREN: LeBron Jr., Bryce, and Zhuri
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn
Early Life and High School Basketball Career
LeBron Raymone James was born on December 30, 1984, in Akron, Ohio. At an early age, he showed a natural talent for basketball.
James was recruited by St. Vincent-St. Mary High School to join their basketball team in 1999. 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. Throughout his high school playing career, James totaled 2,657 points, 892 rebounds, and 523 assists. He would soon emerged as one of the NBA’s leading players.
Pro Career: NBA Draft and Teams
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. At only 20 years old, he also became the youngest player to receive this honor. Additionally, James averaged 20 points per game at this time and 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.
Superstar with the Cleveland Cavaliers
In 2006, James helped the Cleveland Cavaliers defeat the Washington Wizards in the first round of playoff action. From there, his team 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. While the Cavaliers weren’t at the top of the rankings, James continued to receive special recognition for his individual abilities.
Also that year, 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.
Joining the 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 Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles 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 Golden State 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 2014, after opting out of his contract with the Heat and considering other teams, James announced that he was 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, who lost 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 Boston 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’ 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.
Fourth Title with Los Angeles Lakers
On July 1, 2018, James announced that he was moving on to the next chapter of his career by signing a four-year, $153.3 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, a storied franchise that counted Kobe 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.
James won his fourth championship in 2020, when the Lakers defeated the Miami Heat in a special playoff tournament held at the Walt Disney World resort following the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All-Star Games and MVPs
James was selected for the NBA All-Star Game for the first time in 2005 and has earned a spot in the annual showcase in each of the next 19 seasons—an NBA record streak. In January 2018, the league announced 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 MVP in the NBA All-Star Game, a feat he repeated in 2008 and 2018. James has also been named NBA MVP in four seasons: 2008-09, 2009-10, 2011-12, and 2012-13.
Stats and Scoring Record
In January 2018, at age 33, James surpassed Kobe 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 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time record of 38,387 points.
James continued to surpass other legends in ensuing seasons, topping Michael Jordan’s career tally of 32,292 points in 2019 to move into fourth place all-time. In January 2020, he eclipsed Bryant’s total of 33,643 points to move into third place, one night before his predecessor’s shocking death in a helicopter accident.
Then, on February 7, 2023, James scored 38 points in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder—setting the all-time mark with Abdul-Jabbar sitting courtside. “I didn’t set this as a goal, so that’s probably why it’s so surreal and so weird to me,” James said. “I never talked about being the all-time scorer in NBA history… until my numbers started getting closer and closer, and I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is crazy. This is weird, but I guess I’m doing it.’”
As of July 2024, James is also fourth in league history in assists (11,009) and eighth in steals (2,275). After 21 NBA seasons, James’ stats include regular season per-game averages of:
- Points: 27.1
- Assists: 7.4
- Rebounds: 2 offensive, 6.3 defensive
- Free-throw percentage: 73.6
- Three-point field-goal percentage: 34.8
- Field-goal percentage: 50.6
- Blocks: 0.7
- Steals: 1.5
- Turnovers: 3.5
Olympic Games
James has competed on the U.S. Olympic basketball team during four Summer Olympic Games: in 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2024. He 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 to play with the likes of Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, and Dwyane Wade on Team USA. This time around the Americans 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 Kevin Durant, Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, and several other top players. The U.S. basketball team took the gold medal again, marking James’ second consecutive Olympic gold.
After sitting out the 2016 and 2020 Games, James is competing for his third gold medal at the Paris Olympics this year. He was also selected to serve as the male flag bearer for the entire U.S. delegation at the opening ceremony.
Net Worth
As of July 2024, Celebrity Net Worth estimates James’ total fortune at around $800 million. According to ESPN, he is currently the sixth-highest paid player in the NBA, earning just under $50 million for the upcoming season.
James’ fortune largely stems from his playing salary and a series of lucrative endorsements. The NBA superstar previously signed a four-year, $153.3 million contract with the Lakers in July 2018.
Off the court, James has inked several partnerships since turning pro, including a deal with Nike for $90 million that could net him over $1 billion over his lifetime. Some of his other endorsements have included Intel, Verizon, Coca-Cola, Beats by Dre, and Kia Motors. James is also an investor in Blaze Pizza.
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.
LeBron and Savannah have two sons and one daughter together. In October 2004, they welcomed their first son, LeBron Jr., nicknamed “Bronny.” On June 14, 2007, Savannah gave birth to their second son, Bryce. Their daughter, Zhuri, was born on October 22, 2014.
Like his father, Bronny became a basketball phenom as a teenager and one of the most sought-after recruits in the country while attending the Sierra Canyon School. He played collegiately at the University of Southern California during the 2023-24 season before entering the NBA draft. The Lakers selected Bronny with the 55th overall pick, pairing him with his father in Los Angeles.
“I’m going to hold him accountable, and he should hold me accountable when I do things not right. I can separate dad from teammate,” LeBron told Today. “And, I think, as he continues to grow, and as he continues to learn, I hope he’s able to separate son from teammate, as well.”
Philanthropy and Life Off the Court
Outside of the NBA, James has worked to help others. He established the LeBron James Family Foundation in 2004, along with 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.
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 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, though 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.
Movies and TV: Space Jam 2 and More
Like many pro athletes before him, James parlayed his popularity into opportunities on the big and small screen. On television, James has had guest roles on the popular cartoons The Simpsons (2005), SpongeBob SquarePants (2009), and The Cleveland Show (2011), and appeared as himself on the HBO drama Entourage in 2009.
James made his major movie with a supporting role in 2015’s Trainwreck, a comedy starring Amy Schumer and Bill Hader. He later starred in Space Jam 2, the 2021 sequel to the hit 1996 live-action and cartoon hybrid starring Michael 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.”
In 2020, the basketball great co-founded a production company called SpringHill Entertainment.
Quotes
- 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.
- 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.
- LeBron stays humble just by being LeBron.
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Tyler Piccotti first joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor in February 2023, and before that worked almost eight years as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. He is a graduate of Syracuse University. When he's not writing and researching his next story, you can find him at the nearest amusement park, catching the latest movie, or cheering on his favorite sports teams.
