Did you know that LeBron James took his mom’s last name?
Gloria James gave birth to the two-time MVP when she was only 16, and James’ father Anthony McClelland wanted no part of it. So technically “The King†should go by the name LeBron McClelland.
Doesn’t have quite the same ring does it?
LeBron James is one of the most celebrated NBA players of the last 20 years, and he is also one of the most spoiled. He is one of, if not the most polarizing figures in professional sports today and it all can be traced back to his childhood.
Growing Up
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Being a 16-year-old single mom, life was not easy for Gloria. The two would bounce around from apartment to apartment in some of the most dangerous neighborhoods Akron had to offer. The first real male influence in James’ life was a boyfriend of Gloria’s. He looked up to Eddie Jackson, but a cocaine trafficking conviction tossed him in jail (via jockbios.com).
So James, embarrassed by his family life, was quiet in school. He put all of his focus and attention into basketball and football.
Turning Point
An instant star in both sports, he caught the eye of his football coach Frankie Walker to the point where he had LeBron move in with him as his mom straightened out her financial situation.
It’s there where James learned discipline and the finer points of the game (both basketball and football).  Through Walker he met all of his eventual high school teammates, and finally James had friends.
From there basketball began to shape his life. He was 6’0’’ by eighth grade and was playing point guard because he loved to pass the ball. His idol may have been Michael Jordan, but he had a game more similar to Magic Johnson. James preferred to pass the ball â€"he didn’t need to be the main scorer.
As he hit high school, LeBron was already well known around the Akron area. After averaging almost 20 points a game en route to a state title in his freshman year, he was known across all of Ohio.
He was 15 years old.
A Personality Shift
He went on to win two more state titles in a very competitive basketball state. Each year he was getting more and more popular, to the point where SLAM wrote a book on him before he reached his 18th birthday. When you can land a nickname like “The King†in high school…you know you are special.
And that’s the crux of LeBron’s problem.
He was treated like a king. When you are the first player to ever win Mr. Basketball as a sophomore in the state of Ohio, everyone wants a piece. ESPN cameras followed him around during the summer circuit before his junior year, filming a documentary entitled “The Lifeâ€, which basically was a profile of his greatness.
Photo via esquire.com
Without a strong family background, there weren’t adults around him to monitor this properly. That means seedy agents; shoe companies and others looking to profit from this surefire NBA superstar were constantly chirping in his ear. All of them had an agenda and LeBron never realized as much. He was told he was going to be the greatest and didn’t have anybody to keep him grounded.
It’s almost like LeBron’s ego was a balloon that continued to be inflated with every 40-point game and subsequent gush-fest by everyone afterward.
As he continued to destroy the competition, his ego continued to develop. After acing every high school test, James contemplated forging his senior season of high school to enter the NBA draft. It was unprecedented. He thought he could beat the system. It didn’t work out, but it was an example of how confident LeBron was in his abilities.
NBA Sensation
Photo via supermhon.com
By the luck of a ping-pong bounce, James was selected by his home state Cleveland Cavaliers. Already an icon in the area, he entered the Cavs as “the guy†right off the bat.
How often has that happened? How many times has an 18-year-old instantly been in charge of a professional team? It was unheard of, and James exceeded expectations, winning Rookie of the Year and transforming a culture of losing.
Problem is, there wasn’t a veteran to make him carry his bag. There wasn’t any rookie razzing, no opportunity to put “The King†in his place. Say what you will about rookie hazing, but it grounds players that have inflated egos for the first time in their adult lives. LeBron never experienced that. His instant success allowed for more and more “yes men†to enter his life.
First Sign of Failure
The Cavs slowly but surely rose up the Eastern Conference standings to the point where they made the 2007 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Cavs were promptly swept, and the blame was deflected from James and put on his teammates. 'They weren’t good enough,' was the common thought back then.
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Fast forward two years and the Cavs had the best record in the regular season, and were one game away from setting the single-season mark for best home record. LeBron won his first MVP and the team seemed destined to be on a collision course with the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
It didn’t happen.
In the Eastern Conference Finals Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic beat James in six games, and LeBron refused to shake his opponents' hands as he stormed off to the locker room. Â This was his explanation (via New York Times ):
It's hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them, I'm a winner. It's not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you're not going to congratulate them. ... I'm a competitor. That's what I do. It doesn't make sense for me to go over and shake somebody's hand.
This was the first time America really got a sense of how out-of-touch James was with reality.
Quest for Title Continues to Elude Him
With the pressure mounting in the last year of his contract, LeBron won another MVP and led the Cavs to the best record in the Eastern Conference the following season. Yet his no-show in the tail-end of their conference semi’s loss to the Boston Celtics was an all-time head-scratcher. Things weren’t going his way and the criticism clearly affected him to the point where he flat-out quit.
It was something James had never dealt with in life. It was ugly, and for the first time fans questioned James’ toughness, heart and leadership abilities. Then the summer of 2010 arrived…
The Decision
That infamous July day re-shaped the way America thought about him. He was like a WWE character that had turned heel, going from hero to villain.
The problem was that James didn’t intend to do this. He wants to be liked by everyone. He craves compliments; something that had always come in bunches for him. But childhood friend Maverick Carter began to advise him and James couldn’t see the hidden agenda Carter had for him.
So when 20,000 fans were now booing him, he didn’t know how to react. It changed him mentally as a person and the glory days of being “The King†in Ohio were long gone.
So when James shriveled up into a ball and was a big reason the Heat blew the 2011 NBA Finals, the backlash was unprecedented.
LeBron took it extremely hard and had quotes talking about how people can go back to their own miserable lives now that he lost. America had turned on him and he didn’t know how to react. The pressure had gotten to him and it affected his game drastically.
He didn't know how to deal with failing when his team needed him the most. It made him tentative and unable to deal with being the scapegoat for losing close playoff games. Â
Present Day
With a third MVP trophy in four years likely on the way, most fans just roll their eyes.
James has been in the league since 2003 and still doesn’t have a ring. If you are one of the all-time greats…you must win a minimum of one ring.
After being coddled and reminded of his greatness his entire life, now James is fighting the haters, desperate to prove them wrong.
The big issue is his mental state-of-mind. His mom never disciplined him; he was coddled from middle school on and was never forced to make sacrifices to overcome long odds like so many of the other all-time great’s. Like a child movie star, being handed everything from Day 1 can lead to a disastrous future that features bloated egos and a strong sense of entitlement.
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“The Decision†made him a villain, and until he is able to make that fourth quarter jumper with a championship on the line, America will not change their opinion. He unwillingly painted himself in this corner and is stuck.
He never had the father figure to keep him hungry. He never experienced failure growing up and didn’t know how to deal with it when it came. It was never more evident then when he folded like a chair in the biggest moments of the 2011 Finals. He wanted no part of the blame, passing the ball the moment he caught it. Re-watching the video is truly incredible. After playing well for three quarters, it was like he was a completely different player in the biggest situations.
It was all mental. Â
In 2012, nothing short of a championship will suffice for James. If he fails again in the postseason then the MVP means nothing. The stakes are incredibly high and James knows it.
The honeymoon with basketball fans is long gone and nobody is giving him pity points.
So when you watch James wilt on the biggest stage, remember this: if his name would have been LeBron McClelland, everything might have been different. If high school athletes weren’t glorified the way they now are, everything may be different.
LeBron has always been the most physically gifted player on any basketball court and finally after almost a decade in the league, his mental makeup is catching up.
Or is it?
I’ll call you back at the end of June…
.
