LeBron James Videos

LeBron Raymone James (born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Commonly nicknamed "King James" and "The Chosen One", the Akron, Ohio-born James was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA star while still in high school, and was named Ohio's "Mr. Basketball" three times. At the age of 18, he was selected with the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cavaliers and signed an unprecedented US$90 million shoe contract with Nike before his NBA debut. He has since set numerous youngest player records.

In his first season, he received the NBA Rookie of the Year Award and in the following three seasons received All-NBA and All-Star honors. He led the Cavaliers to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2006 and 2007; the latter year the team advanced to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1992 and the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

James is listed as a small forward, but can also play point guard and shooting guard. This versatility has led to his classification as a "point forward." James was a member of the United States men's national basketball team that won the bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens and he finished second in the league Most Valuable Player balloting in 2006.

Personal Life

James has two children with his high school sweetheart, Savannah Brinson. The first, named LeBron James Jr., was born on October 6, 2004. The second, Bryce Maximus James, was born on Thursday, June 14, 2007. During his sophomore year, he was named First Team-All State as a wide receiver, and in his junior year he helped lead St. Vincent - St. Mary High School to the state semifinals in football. As a freshman playing basketball, James wore jersey number 32 before adopting his current number 23 as a tribute to his role model, Michael Jordan.

Despite being compared to players such as Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, and Magic Johnson, James compared himself to a young Penny Hardaway. He stated, "Penny sees the whole floor and can score," James said. "He's still one of my favorite players of all-time."

James has stated he wants to be the first billionaire athlete and a global icon. He has a number of endorsement contracts with Nike, Sprite, Powerade, Bubblicious, and Upper Deck. With Nike LeBron has released five signature shoe styles. He has acted in a series of commercials called "The LeBrons" also produced by Nike.

During the 2007 NBA Playoffs, James drew criticism when he declined to sign a petition started by his teammate, Ira Newble, regarding the Chinese government's alleged involvement in the ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan.

On July 11, 2007, James, along with comedian Jimmy Kimmel, hosted the 2007 ESPY Awards. The show aired on July 15, 2007. LeBron was nominated for three ESPYs; his nominations were for Best Male Athlete, Best NBA Player (winner), and for Best Record Breaking Performance. The Record Breaking performance was when he scored 48 points in Game 5 of the 2007 NBA Eastern Conference Finals. In addition to hosting, James performed a parody of the Bobby Brown song My Prerogative.[citation needed] On a special of the 2007 ESPY's on ESPN, James called himself "LeBobby Bron" because of his performance in the parody. In other comedic pursuits, James hosted the 33rd season premiere of Saturday Night Live. Creator Lorne Michaels along numerous castmembers praised him for his versatility. LeBron joined the ranks of other NBA hosts including Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley who also hosted the premiere episodes.

In December 2007, James was ranked at #1 in the Forbes Top 20 Earners Under 25 with annual earnings of 27 million dollars.

On October 4, 2007, James received criticism from Cleveland fans and critics alike for showing up to Game 1 of Major League Baseball's 2007 American League Division Series at the Cleveland Indians' Jacobs Field as a fan wearing a cap of the New York Yankees, the Indians' ALDS opponents. In a third inning interview with TBS reporter Craig Sager while seated in the bleachers, James said, "As individuals I want every Indian to succeed. I love all these fans for coming out and supporting us. But team-wise I want the Yankees to win." Despite residing in Ohio for all of his childhood, James explained that he grew up as a Yankees fan, a Dallas Cowboys fan for the NFL and a Chicago Bulls fan for the NBA. As the Indians began to rout the Yankees in the sixth inning, James left the stadium with his entourage. The controversy would continue upon Nike's January 22, 2008 announcement of the "Air Zoom V LeBron" shoe. The shoe was named in James' honor, but in a Yankees-type motif and scheduled to only be available in New York.

LeBron James Bio courtesy of Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeBron_James