LeBron James never loses at cards. Ever. He drowns his mountain of french toast in syrup and strawberries. And you should hear about his “Romeo and Juliet” project from freshman year English class.
Ahead of LeBron’s 16th NBA All-Star Game this Sunday, The Athletic polled a number of his current and former teammates, coaches, front-office executives, banana boat riders, rivals, school teachers and childhood friends, with this question: What’s your favorite LeBron story?
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Not everyone approached wanted to participate, leery of speaking on The King. Or something like that. But those who did gave us, and you, something to appreciate.
What he’s like
Kendrick Perkins, TV analyst, former Cavs teammate: There’s one thing about LeBron. For some reason, when we play cards, he is really just the Chosen One. I’ve never seen him lose at anything. We will be playing cards and I’d be like, “Who won?’ He’d be like, “Shit, not me. I lost,” and he’d try to put it on somebody else, but he’d have all the cash in his hand. Like he would never lose. I’ve never seen him take an “L.” It was crazy. He’d never lose and I told him, “You’re just the Chosen One. And then like, everything you touch is gold.” I don’t know what it is about him, but he always wins.
Jared Dudley, Los Angeles Lakers, current teammate: You know how big he is over here in the States. In China (last September) we had a players-only dinner at, I think, Morton’s Steakhouse inside the hotel. We go up there and he’s telling stories about last year’s team and this year, and getting us all ready. We leave, and when we leave, we go down the elevator (of the restaurant, inside the Ritz-Carlton in Shanghai). There might have been 4,000 people chanting his name. And they rushed the elevator to get through; security couldn’t hold everyone back. And one of Kyle Kuzma’s managers was trying to hold people back, and the weight of the people pushing was so much, he basically dislocated his shoulder and had to have surgery.
… And they kept chanting his name, “King James, King James.” I even got a video of it early on because I was behind him. And I was like, it was so crazy, they were rushing him. … It was mayhem. That’s when I knew this year would be special. I’ve never played with anyone, even though Jordan drafted me, I’ve never played with anyone else that would have something like that.
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Tristan Thompson, Cleveland Cavaliers, former Cavs teammate: He has the worst fucking diet ever. Ask him what he eats for breakfast. He has like five french toast, drowns it in syrup with strawberries and bananas. Then he has like a four-egg omelette and then he goes and just fucking dunks on somebody. It doesn’t make sense.
He eats desserts with every meal. He’ll come with his one-week diet, vegan crap, but he literally eats like it doesn’t make sense. He’s really a specimen. He eats like shit. I remember one year I tried to eat like he ate and it just didn’t work out. I started gaining weight and said, “Fuck this.” I mean it works for him. He loves sweets. He loves sweets. He eats desserts and French toast. It’s crazy how his body just burns it.
Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers, current teammate: He’s just a big ol’ kid. You wouldn’t know it unless you’re his teammate or you’re around him a lot, but he’s a big kid. He’s high on life, loves life, lives his life to the fullest. I get to see that every day. Win, lose or draw, he’s got a smile on his face — maybe a little bit after the loss — but he’s got a smile on his face. He’s just happy to still be able to do what he’s doing at a high level and be around his team and support his son.
His son is going through a lot, he’s going through a lot, has a lot going on. (LeBron) just enjoys it all. He’s never upset; he’s never angry at anyone. … Obviously, you hear people say, “Oh, it’s tough being his teammate,” or stuff like that. And like I said, I was never his teammate. All-Star games are different. USA teams are different. But to be his teammate for the number of games that we’ve been so far, I haven’t seen any of those things. He’s always setting up team dinners. He’s about the team, and he’s always making us laugh.
Lloyd Pierce, Atlanta Hawks head coach, former Cavs assistant: As a coach, you’re constantly trying to get your guys to lock in. You’re going over the scout in the morning and lock in, meaning we’re walking at 50 percent or 40 percent, but we want your mind. So we want you in position and what you need to do on a screen.
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And LeBron never pays attention. Never pays attention. So as you’re telling him to walk, he’s over here talking and rapping, he’s dancing. And you’re going through the play, and then when someone messes up, all of a sudden, he’s like, “You’ve got to be in position.” And he hits you with, “That needs to be a hedge. And we’re going to rotate over here.” But the whole time, he’s been rapping and talking. But he knows the play and he knows where everyone is supposed to be. And all he has to do is glance and see (someone else) make a false step.
And this is where he’d blow your mind. “We played Indiana three years ago in the playoffs and in that third quarter they came out and ran power zoom and we tried to hedge that and they hurt us with that. We ain’t hedging tonight.” My first year he would do stuff like that. Not only would he say, “I don’t want to hedge. I don’t want to do that coverage.” He’d tell you why and then he’d reference the game when they tried that coverage and how they got beat.
“We tried that hedge with Austin Croshere and Austin Croshere was picking and popping and we were late rotating over. We’re not hedging that tonight.” From two years ago, third-quarter action. That was my first instance of, “This dude’s different.” And that isn’t even the physical stuff. This dude’s different.
Will McGee, athletic director at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, lifelong friend: I’ve been playing basketball with ’Bron since we were 8, and he’s always been good. But some of the things he does now, he did back when he was a kid. If he took a hit or something, he would be down for a while. You don’t know if he’s hurt or if he’s not.
We were in eighth grade, playing in the Indiana Black Expo tournament. Good tournament, we make it to the championship. And we’re getting our doors blown off. We’re losing by 20-plus. So he goes down, hard foul, because when you’re good they’re always trying to foul you hard. We’re pushing, trying to get people away from him, make sure he’s cool, and one of our coaches called us over, one of our assistant coaches, while our head coach was out there tending to him. I remember him distinctly saying, “Now, mind you, we’re still in this game. We gotta stay focused. LeBron may be hurt, or he may not be hurt. We don’t know. We don’t know, but we gotta keep playing.”
And we’re like, “All right, he’s right, we gotta keep playing.” So we come back, tie the game. We end up going to overtime. LeBron missed the rest of the game, in regulation. But then in overtime he’s all right to play. Comes back, scores 20 points, maybe like 12 in a row. We end up winning by 10. And when I tell you we were laughing the rest of the way home after we won that tournament. He was like, “I couldn’t feel my arm or leg for a minute. But I knew I had to get back out there and help. I had to do something.”
We said, “Yeah, after we tied it up, I bet you did want to bring it on home.” That is etched in stone in my head.
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We were in practice one day and he went down and did that, and coach was like, “Get up! I get scared every time you go down. My heart drops every time you start rolling on the ground. Get up if you ain’t injured.”
Man, that’s been him. He takes his time getting up.
George Hill, Milwaukee Bucks, former Cavs teammate: When I think of LeBron, I don’t think of what he does on the court; I think of what he does off the court that makes him special. For me, the things he does as far as endorsement-wise, him having a Beats deal, making sure all of us have Beats, and numerous pairs of them. I think I have so many Beats, shitloads of them in my closet because we got so many. Him having that Thom Browne suit deal, getting all of us three suits and shoes and glasses and headphones to match the suits.
Stuff like that, that you don’t really read about or see about, I think that’s what kind of makes him special. It’s the thought, because he didn’t have to do none of that. He’s his own man and he doesn’t have to include us in anything, but he knows that we’re all a team and we’re all together and he looks out for his teammates a lot.
Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors coach, four-time Finals adversary: I remember his rookie year, when he went to Cleveland, his rookie year was my first year broadcasting. My first year out of the league, and I went to do a game. And I met his mom, and his mom said, “Steve Kerr, you’re a bad man. I was like, “OK, that’s cool. LeBron’s mom just called me a bad man.” That’s a great feeling.
Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers, former Cavs teammate: D-Wade has said it before and I hate that I have to quote him. But when we go international, which is obviously always Toronto, he won’t turn on his phone. It’s only WiFi. He’s the cheapest fucking guy. He’s like, “That’s bullshit. I won’t turn on my phone.” He won’t turn on data roaming. He’ll only go when we’re either at the arena or at the Shangri-La, “Hey, what’s the WiFi?” Internationally and in Toronto, he’ll never pay for it.
From Team Banana Boat …
Chris Paul, All-Star, Oklahoma City Thunder, former Team USA teammate: The night before Game 4 (of the 2007 Finals), that’s when his son was born. Bryce. Yeah, I was there. I was coming to the Finals games, so I was staying with him. It was my first or second year in the league, and we were at the house. And, Vannah (LeBron’s wife, Savannah) had gone to the doctor, and I think called back to the house and said, “I think my water broke,” or something like that. And me and him got in the car to go to the Cleveland Clinic. We were there all night. Me and LeBron, Randy (Mims), Mav (Maverick Carter), Rich (Paul) his mom, all of us.
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We were there all night, and then just waiting for Bryce to be born. He had Game 4 of the Finals the next day. Man, we were playing cards, we were doing all types of stuff. We were waiting, waiting for Vannah to deliver the baby. I remember she had him late, and we went back to the house. It was late, late. Crazy. Obviously, they got swept the next day.
Dwyane Wade, TV analyst, 13-time All-Star, former Heat, Cavs, Team USA teammate: With LeBron, I got a chance to see him at his lowest, after the 2011 Finals. When it came to losing in the Finals with the Heat, and not living up to his own and everyone else’s expectations. I watched him take it all on the chin and pick himself up off the ground and embraced it all. He bet on his work ethic and pure love for the game.
Carmelo Anthony, Portland Trail Blazers, 10-time All-Star, former Team USA teammate: Him being better with his left hand than his right hand. He does everything. He throws with his left, he writes with his left. He does everything with his left. When you see stuff like that, when you see people that can do things the same with both hands, whether it’s sports or regardless of what it is, that’s a special person. I don’t know too many people who can do that. I know one other person, probably Russ (Westbrook). Russ writes with his left and does things with his left, then gets on the court and won’t go left (laughs). These guys are one-of-a-kind when it comes to that.
The Stupid Human Feats of Strength category …
Gregory Shamus/ USA Today
Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors, four-time Finals adversary: A couple years back, when (the Cavs) played Boston and they went to Game 7, that’s the year Kyrie got traded. They went down 3-2 and I was talking to my assistant coach from high school. He was like, “They done! LeBron’s done! They ain’t getting to the Finals!”
I told him, “This is exactly how it’s going to go. LeBron’s going to play 48 minutes, he’s going to walk the ball up the floor, he’s only going to take a fast break if they’ve got a dead layup, and if not, he’ll walk the ball up the floor and control the entire pace of the game and they’ll win in a low-scoring game.” That’s how it was going to go.
He kept saying, “They’re done! I’m telling you.” He called me at halftime of Game 7, “Yo, how’d you know this? This is going exactly how you said it was going to go!”
That story is so interesting to me because I don’t think there’s ever been a player in basketball who can control an entire 48 minutes of a game. It’s unheard of. To be able to see him do that is outrageous.
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Brandon Ingram, New Orleans Pelicans, former Lakers teammate: It was maybe our first workout, we were playing pickup our first training camp practice. I think we were going to 20. If I recall, I think he scored all 20 points. Pulling up from halfcourt, shooting fadeaways behind the glass, attacking the basket, backing up all our bigs. Floaters in the lane, everything. It was crazy.
It was our whole team. I forget who was on his team. I’m not sure if I was on his team. But I remember him scoring all 20 points. And it was like, every shot he took we knew it was going in. From halfcourt. The ball was going out of bounds from the opposite way he shoots. He turned, fades away, the opposite way, knocks it down, and runs down the court like he practiced that shot. That was like his 15th point probably. So I’m sure, after that, his confidence is, not that he needed confidence, but it was sky high at this point and he took advantage of every single opportunity.
Kyle Korver, Milwaukee Bucks, former Cavs teammate: One of the years in the playoffs, we’d always do those things, the Versaclimber, because there would always be seven to 10 days between series. We’d do these team cardio challenges, like relay challenges. That’s kind of my thing. Like, I can go. I can’t go that fast all the time, but I can go for a really long time.
So we do this challenge, and I have never thrown up from doing cardio. And I am just, I feel like I might throw up. There’s those benches on the side of the court, and I’m like keeled over. “Bring the stretcher.” LeBron walked off the Versaclimber, onto the court, gets the ball, looks at the far basket, full sprint goes at it, jumps from outside the charge circle and windmill dunks it. And I’m like keeled over, trying to breathe, doing something that’s like what I do. And this dude windmill dunks it.
That is the most amazing thing I have ever seen anyone do. It was unbelievable. I was like, “This guy is from a different world.” His team might’ve won the relay. He went hard, and he worked before that, too. Everybody was gasping. I looked at Channing (Frye) like, “That was amazing.”
Mike Brown, Golden State Warriors assistant, former Cavs coach: Probably in Detroit, the playoff game where he had like 25 points in a row (Game 5, 2007 Eastern Conference finals). I kind of caught myself watching as a fan as opposed to a coach at that particular time. I remember Detroit took a timeout and we came together in the huddle as coaches, and I remember Mike Malone was like, “You gotta tell…” And I was like, “No, no, no. Mike, we’re not telling LeBron anything. We’re going to leave him alone and let him keep doing his thing.” And so I waited to enter the huddle until basically the timeout was over, and I went in and said, “Keep doing what you’re doing.”
Stan Van Gundy, broadcaster, former playoff rival coach: I wouldn’t call this a “favorite”’ because it seems like he was always kicking our ass! The one I remember most was the 2009 Eastern Conference finals, Game 2, in Cleveland. We were up by two and they had one last play on the side, out of bounds. I don’t remember exactly how much time was left but it was less than two seconds.
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Mike Brown had a play where James would fake coming off a pindown and back cut for a lob. We were ready for it, and Hedo Turkoglu took away the lob. So James came off the pindown and hit a long 3 to beat us. Was that the best game-winner of his career? I should have had our defender on the ball tracking and denying James but I didn’t. That play has haunted me because every year since, it has been shown on TV ads hyping the playoffs.
Drew Gooden, Washington Wizards TV analyst, former Cavs teammate: After shootaround one day during that 2006-07 run to go to the Finals, we were standing about right here (near the sideline, inside Cleveland’s arena). There was a small, half-empty water bottle. One of the small water bottles, not the large one, the small one. LeBron bet everybody he could throw that small water bottle into section 209 over there (about 150 feet away, per arena dimensions and the Cavs PR staff, and into the second deck).
We were like, “There’s no way you can throw this little tiny water bottle that was halfway full to the 200s.” Sure enough, he hit the slot like Joe Montana. He took a couple steps forward and he launched that small water bottle and hit the glass facing of the (upper deck). Just to get that close, of almost getting it there, it was enough said. I said, “You know what? That’s the greatest basketball player who ever lived.” And it had nothing to do with a ball. It wasn’t a money bet, it was more like a gentlemen’s bet. We used to do things like that. Can you throw this or can you hit that object? He likes to have fun with that. When he did that, not only does he have the best arm in the league, he’s the best basketball player in the world being able to throw that water bottle that high.
Mike Miller, University of Memphis assistant coach, former Cavs and Heat teammate: The greatest game I ever witnessed in my life was Game 6 at Boston (with the Heat in the 2012 conference finals). His mentality before the game, that was basically the first time I ever saw him go into a game being as aggressive as possible offensively. That was the best game I’ve ever witnessed with my own two eyes. It was the second year we were there after losing the first year in the Finals. It’s my favorite story because you lose that game (the Heat were facing elimination), you never know. There’s going to be changes. Behind that game was a lot more than just the game. There’s defining moments in everything. If something goes different, what happens with the Heat going forward? Guys like me and Shane (Battier), there’s a lot of different changes that have to be made.
That’s the best individual performance I’ve ever seen ever. Just being there and seeing it. He had that look and he was as loose as I’ve ever seen him. He was locked in, relaxed and free. He basically looked at us like, “We’ve got it.” He said, “We’re going to be fine. I got you all.” I said, “Thank you. I appreciate that.” (LeBron scored 45 points with 15 rebounds at TD Garden and the Heat won, forcing a Game 7 Miami also won en route to another Finals and eventual championship.)
John Lucas, Houston Rockets assistant coach, Cavs coach when LeBron was in high school: I had Kobe when he was young. So everybody kept telling me there was a guy, and this guy is better than Kobe Bryant. So I went to an AAU game at Christmas, and I stayed eight hours. I saw him play the first game, and couldn’t stop watching. And the next time I saw LeBron, I said, “You might be as good as Bimbo Coles.” He couldn’t stop laughing. The other is he came to practice with our team (while still in high school) and I got suspended two games for it, and he won’t give me my money. They charged $50,000 and I still asked for it. I don’t seem to get a response. He was the best player in the gym that day, on my team. Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm, DeSagana Diop, all of our players, he was the best player there.
Hey, he knows our plays …
Doc Rivers, LA Clippers coach, past and current rival coach: I guess my favorite thing that I notice about him is I always thought he was a great player, but I didn’t think he was astute defensively. And then the first (playoff) game we played when he was in Miami, every play I called he was calling out the sets. And I turned to Thibs (Tom Thibodeau) and said, “Uh-oh, LeBron’s been doing his homework.” And he’s never stopped since then. I thought those losses to Boston and him probably listening to KG (Kevin Garnett) every night, hearing him call out every set and Paul (Pierce) call out every set, you give him credit. We beat him twice and he came back and used what we were doing against us, and that became very difficult. I think that changed to the better.
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Dwane Casey, Detroit Pistons coach, lost three times to LeBron in playoffs with Toronto: He knew all our playcalls. He would explain to his teammates exactly what the play was with all the options. So I always had to try to be creative in giving our playcalls. He is one of the smartest competitors ever.
David Griffin, New Orleans Pelicans president, former Cavs GM: My favorite recollection of him is we’re playing Toronto in the playoffs, and it’s late in the game at Toronto, and they call an after-timeout play. And Patrick Patterson walks out onto the court and he’s standing about four feet from where he’s supposed to stand. And LeBron walks out onto the court and says, “Patrick, you’re supposed to be on the elbow, you’re going to pin down on the weak side.” And he told him his own play, and how to run it. So, capturing the basketball savant that he was and is, that’s always been my favorite.
Mike Brown, again: My first year there, I was trying to lay a foundation defensively, because they were really bad defensively. I can’t remember if it was 10 games into the season or 15 games into the season. We were getting beat by somebody in the pick and roll, and we were a “show” team. And so I called a timeout after they scored a basket, and I went in the huddle, and I was like, “Look, we’re getting our ass kicked in the pick and roll. What do you guys want to do? We worked on show defense from training camp until now, tirelessly, and you guys aren’t doing it. It takes effort to do it. What do you want to do? Do you want to switch? You want to drop? Let’s switch.”
LeBron took over, it was the first time he took over the huddle. He goes, “No no no. Goddamnit. We’re a show team, that’s what we do. You go here and you do this and you do that, that’s what we’re going to do Goddamnit.”
I just sat back and sat on my hands. And then I said, “OK, you heard it from him, let’s go.” And they went out and started kicking ass defensively, and from that point on, that’s when we started skyrocketing. For me, that moment of him showing great leadership is probably the proudest, feel-good moment that I had with him.
Words to inspire …
Phil Handy, Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach, former Cavs assistant: We (the Cavs) were down 3-1 to Golden State, the year that we came back and won. Everybody was real quiet in the locker room, and his resolve was at a high level, where he just told the fellas, “If you don’t believe that we can win, don’t get on the plane.” It was as simple as that. That right there, quietly and silently, really gave them dudes the energy and the confidence knowing that their leader and best player felt like, “Whoa, we’re going there to win a game. So if you don’t think we can do it, stay home.” I remember that very vividly, my young career as a coach, the first time I had kind of been in a situation like that, being down 3-1. Everybody is all woe is me. He was very calmly, matter of factly, “If you don’t think we can win, don’t get on the plane.” And the rest is history.
Tyronn Lue, LA Clippers assistant, former Cavs coach: I’ve got a thousand stories, but my favorite LeBron story, after we win Game 5 at Golden State, everybody’s happy and we’re celebrating a little bit, LeBron tells the guys “listen, you guys go home, give me everything you’ve got Game 6, I guarantee you I got y’all Game 7. I guarantee you I got y’all Game 7. I guarantee you we’ll come back to Cleveland with a championship.” And everybody went crazy, was going crazy. So we come back home, we win Game 6, and we bring it in the huddle in the locker room. And LeBron said “I didn’t forget what I promised you guys. I got you all Game 7.” Everybody went crazy, and we got on the plane and we go there and we win a championship. I think he gave the guys something to look forward to. Because you can be kind of nervous in those situations, but I think when LeBron spoke up and said that, it gave us that little extra boost of positivity.
Joe Harris, Brooklyn Nets, former Cavs teammate: There are a lot, but my rookie year was his first year back in Cleveland. He called a players’ only meeting at the beginning of the year and he talked about pursuing a championship. He put his rings out on the table, passed them around and then talked to each person on the roster about their role and how they would help the Cavs win a championship. That’s everyone, including the 15th guy, me.
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Steve Kerr, again: He came over in 2015, I thought he was really classy. We took Game 6 in Cleveland and with about 20 seconds left or so, we were up 7, we had the ball, and he came over and shook my hand, and shook Steph’s hand, and congratulated us before he went to the bench. Really classy gesture. That was really awesome. It’s a hard thing to do in those moments. When you’re that close and you lose, we were in the same boat the next year. I tried to, I was waiting around to shake his hand, but it was bedlam. I ended up shaking Ty’s hand and then went back to our locker room. He knew, he had been to the Finals so many times, he knew you’ve gotta do it before. So he did it during a free throw or an out of bounds, whatever it was. I thought that was a classy gesture.
Daniel “Boobie” Gibson, retired, former Cavs teammate: After Game 5 (of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals), we come into the gym the next day and I was upstairs. I was playing a lot, but I wasn’t playing as much as the starters. So we’d play and practice before (games). After I came down, he must have saw me shooting. He was like, “‘I need you to be ready tonight. Be ready to shoot.” I personally feel like he saw something that was going to happen that night before it happened. He made sure that I was prepared for that moment in Game 6. If you go back to the footage, when he was (pumping his arms and yelling at Boobie), “I told you! I told you!” The night before he had 45,000 points, or like 29 straight. So I think he was kind of like looking to see who could possibly help him. He knew they were going to come out and double him and be all over him. So he told me to be ready. The rest is history. (Gibson scored 31 points in a series-clinching win over Detroit, sending Cleveland to its first Finals.)
Romeo Travis, professional basketball player overseas, lifelong friend: I was walking through the mall (around the holidays last year). A guy kept calling my name. I’m with my kids, I don’t want to stop. A guy just kept calling my name. I stopped and he’s like, “You’re Romeo, you’re LeBron’s friend?”’ And I was like, “Yeah.” He’s like, “Can you do me a favor?” I’m like, “What’s up, man?” He said, “LeBron put me through rehab. I just want you to tell him thank you. He really saved my life.” Those are the type of the stories that he doesn’t publicize. He don’t even, I didn’t even know. This is something I found out just walking through the mall, that he does things like that. People never find out about it. He does favors and stuff for people that he don’t talk about. They know the big stuff. They know the iPromise school and the philanthropy and things of that nature, but they don’t know the small stuff. Those small things are impactful as well. I was just like, wow. I sent a message to LeBron and was like, “I ran into a guy and he said you put him through rehab.” He said, “Yeah I do that from time to time just to help addicts.”
Kendrick Perkins, again: I can tell you one of the best things he’s done for my family. On Mother’s Day when I was with the Cavs the first time, he actually invited my wife to travel with his wife, Savannah, on a private jet to meet us in Chicago. Took us out to dinner and everything, and just reunite. It was Mother’s Day. My wife and Savannah are cool. He invited my wife, paid for a private jet, flew them out to Chicago. And took us out together and everything. And bought the tickets for my wife. RPM Steakhouse.
Adam Silver, NBA commissioner: LeBron speaking about Kobe Bryant during the pregame tribute at Staples Center was a special moment. He not only captured what Kobe meant to the game, Lakers fans everywhere and the next generation of players, but he also provided hope to those in mourning. As we have seen over the course of his career, LeBron showed the heart and courage of a great leader.
And, without further ado, Romeo and Juliet …
Beth Dolan, teacher at St. Vincent-St. Mary, was ‘Miss Harmon’ back then: The LeBron that you see is genuinely the kid he’s been, just even better. To me, he was always extremely courteous and silly and he would know when to turn it on and turn it off. I think some of the earliest things that I remember most about him is when they were freshmen, LeBron specifically would come in my room and study and like leave a study hall so he can get work done. They were going to their first (Ohio basketball state) championship as freshmen, and he was in this room turning in a project early on Romeo and Juliet, and making sure he had it all in and turned into me.
He was like, “We’re going to be there all weekend and I need to get this done.” The thing I still try to tell my kids today is that he wasn’t just showboating and running around the building like he was the greatest thing ever — he was actually doing the work and putting in the same effort in the classroom as we did on the court. It was kind of a scrapbook of “pick current people to be Romeo and Juliet” and I think they (LeBron and his classmates) picked like 50 Cent, and whoever else was cool at the time. I can’t tell you everything that was in it now, but it was a project that wasn’t due ’til after the state championship. But he wanted to make sure.
(Top photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)