Ausar and Amen Thompson On How LeBron James Influenced Them To Scribble 69 Across Their Room

Wanting to be like LeBron James as a player requires years of hard work. But to physically match his stature, all one can do is pray, and that is what the Thompson brothers, Ausar and Amen, did rather bizarrely when they were younger.

Ausar and Amen are arguably the most dynamic brother duo in basketball today. Both were drafted in the top five in 2023, with Amen playing for a contending Houston Rockets team and Ausar looking to pull the Detroit Pistons out of irrelevance. But had they not scribbled 69 across their rooms, they might not have been here today.

The Thompson brothers were not from a family known for its height, which is why they resorted to extreme measures. During a recent interview on The Old Man and the Three, they revealed exactly what they did and the role LeBron played in it.

“We wanted to be tall,” said Ausar. “Our parents, my mom is like 5’6″ and my dad is like 5’11”. So we wrote 69 all over the bed because that is how tall we wanted to be. Looking back, it seems kind of weird.”

This, of course, was not recent, but when the siblings were only nine years old. “We didn’t put any, no apostrophe, nothing,” added Amen, who laughed at tradition. When they were asked why 6’9 specifically, it came back to their hero, LeBron.

“Because LeBron is like 6’9. Yeah, we thought LeBron was 6’9,” stated the brothers. It is remarkable that LeBron James has been in the league for 22 years, accomplishing more for the game than one could fathom. Yet perhaps his greatest contribution has been inspiring the future stars of tomorrow. Amen and Ausar are two shining examples of that.

LeBron knows how good the two are. Back in January, he even spoke about their game, highlighting them as bona fide future stars. “They just different. They ain’t like the rest of us. I’ve been able to do some things in my career, and those two guys are just pure athleticism and love the game. You love to see that,” the Los Angeles Lakers legend said.

While Amen (14 points per game) and Ausar (10 points per game) don’t exactly stand out in the stats column, anyone who has watched them knows how dynamic and impactful they have been. As they continue to settle into the league, they will look to improve on that front too, aiming for the All-Star level many predict they will reach.

It is nearly a full-circle moment for the duo. They willed their way into the NBA by bowing down to their one true king in LeBron. They did not quite hit the “6’9” mark they once dreamed of, with Amen at 6’7” and Ausar at 6’6,” but they are more athletic than most in the league, and that is what truly matters.