LeBron James: 5 Interesting things about the Cleveland Cavaliers man you probably didn't know
Monster dunks, majestic drive-ins, inch-perfect passes, authoritative rejections are adjectives we hear on a daily basis when one man takes to the basketball court and he goes by the name of LeBron Raymone James.
When we speak of basketball greats over the years the names that often pop up are Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant among others. Since his debut in 2003 LeBron he has gone on to become the face of the NBA and staked his claim to join this elite group of players.
Over the last 13 years “King James”, as he is popularly known, has dominated the court against oppositions from the likes of the legendary Jordan to the current MVP Stephen Curry. His abilities on the court reflect in the countless records he holds. LeBron is practically unstoppable in the open court.
It should not come as too much of a surprise, though, as LeBron was the youngest to reach every thousand-point milestone, from 1,000 through to his current record of 20,000 in addition to his two rings with the Miami Heat and his 4 MVP awards. But these are things which we have heard of or read. In light of his recent achievement of winning the NBA Finals with Cleveland Cavaliers and thus realizing a lifelong dream, we look at some of the lesser known facts about this great man.
#1 High school superstar
It’s often been discussed by pundits how LeBron was good enough to enter the NBA draft after his first year of high school. But the rules of the NBA dictated all drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft and be "one year out of high school" in addition to the age requirement.
After two outstanding seasons at St. Vincent-St Mary, it was evident that he was the best player in the country at the high school level and probably better most college ball players in the country as well. In his freshman year, James averaged 21 points and 6 rebounds. Further evidence that he is Mr. Basketball as he was later called, came in his second when he was averaging 25.2 points and 7.2 rebounds.
After his third year of high school, LeBron petitioned the NBA to allow him to enter the draft, but they would not allow a child that was only 16 years old to sign a professional contract and play for the league. LeBron had to play a full year more and graduate high school before he could play in the NBA.
He did so and after finishing his senior year of high school, he was selected as the first pick of the draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.