There has never been an NBA player who’s outperformed childhood expectations more than LeBron James. Many people tipped the guy to be the next Michael Jordan when he was 16, but with little conviction. James has proved them all to be right.
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Over the past 20 years, James has been met with a bevy of supporters and fans everywhere he’s gone. It’s gotten to the point where he’s perhaps the most recognizable active American sportsperson over the past 10+ years.
Fame is truly the name of the game, and James has mastered it with his success on the court. Not just that – LeBron also has the off-court expertise and appetite to get his share of fame.
However, all of this attention, adulation and decoration has come at a price every celebrity pays. And LeBron has had to pay it more than practically every American sportsperson this century.
LeBron James has harnessed the power of modern celebrity for his personal, professional and charitable goals. “Hopefully I made an impact enough so people appreciate what I did,” he told me. “But I don’t live for that.”
I wrote about his legacy:https://t.co/jYwXe2pdPe— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) February 4, 2023
James has been on the radar for over 21 years now. He made the cover of Sports Illustrated as a High School junior. All of his senior year HS games were nationally televised – for contrast, the vast majority of NBA games aren’t.
LeBron James wishes he could go out like a regular person
James sat down with an NY Times writer after the Lakers lost to the Pelicans last weekend. In an interview in which he reflected about much of his playing career, James says he sometimes finds the aura of his own celebrity exhausting:
“I don’t want to say it ever becomes too much, but there are times when I wish I could do normal things. I wish I could just walk outside. I wish I could just, like, walk into a movie theater and sit down and go to the concession stand and get popcorn.”
“I wish I could just go to an amusement park just like regular people. I wish I could go to Target sometimes and walk into Starbucks and have my name on the cup just like regular people.”
“I’m not sitting here complaining about it, of course not. But it can be challenging at times.”
When will LeBron surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?
King James has been widely tipped to overtake Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the highest scorer in NBA history for years now. The seriousness of his pursuit became apparent over 3 years back, when he overtook Kobe Bryant’s tally.
Currently 36 points shy of Kareem, James next plays the OKC Thunder at the Crypto.com Arena. Lakers Nation would be hoping and praying for a big explosive night of scoring for their superstar in a win.
James has scored over 36 points in 197 regular season games through 1409 appearances. On his day, James remains perhaps the most unstoppable scorer in basketball even today, judging from his 3 40-point outings since his 38th birthday.
It wouldn’t be surprising at all if it’s the Thunder game when he overtakes Kareem. But the odds-on likelihood is that he passes 38,387 points in the first quarter against Kareem’s first team – the Milwaukee Bucks – on February 9th.
