Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has been the biggest name in the basketball world for well over two decades now. He rose to prominence all the way back in high school, being dubbed “The Chosen One” while still under the age of 18 in Akron, Ohio.
Since then, he has surpassed nearly every lofty expectation places on him to become arguably the greatest player in the history of the sport. And all of it was motivated by his mother, who raised him as a young single mom in Ohio. LeBron has been very open about his upbringing and all the work that his mom put in to provide for him.
On the latest episode of “Mind The Game” with Steve Nash and guest Timothee Chalamet, James spoke about his childhood once again and what it was like being raised by a just-out-of-high-school single parent. He also told a funny story from high school and what led to one of his most important motivations in basketball:
“I don’t come from shit. Where I grew up, a single-parent household, only child, my mother was 16 years old. She was a high school sophomore when she had me. She didn’t work, but she grinded every day. And my only mindset as I was growing up as a young man at 5, 6, 7 years old was not to put any more extra pressure on a black woman in the ghetto. Like I couldn’t do it. The climb for me was more motivating, because I wanted to do everything in my power to get out of this situation, the hand that was dealt to me and my mom. Me and my boys talk about this a lot, I didn’t know what a pantry was until my freshman year of high school. I went to my high school coach’s house, his name was Coach Dambrot. I went to his house, and I asked him if I could get a snack. He was like yeah just go in the pantry. And I was like what the f— is a pantry? Where I grew up, everything is on top of the refrigerator. The bread, the chips, the cereal, everything. I don’t know what the hell a pantry is. So like, that was my motivation right there, I gotta get my mama a pantry.”
One of the most impressive thing about LeBron is that, despite the incredible amount of fame and success he’s had, he’s been relatively kept out of drama. There haven’t been many rumors of him doing anything unlikable off the court, as he is truly just focused on basketball and being a father, husband and son.
LeBron James believes Lakers have made defensive strides
In Year 23, LeBron James is still focused on trying to win games, now as a member of the Lakers. He recently praised the team for the strides they’ve made on the defensive end, improving from a bottom seven defense to a top 15 one over the last six weeks.
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