Facts about LeBron James That Might Surprise You

LeBron James, a three-time NBA champion and four-time NBA MVP, is considered by some as the greatest player of all time, but did you know basketball wasn’t even his favorite sport as a youth?

Truth be told, when it comes to Lakers star LeBron Raymone James Sr., there are plenty of facts about him that you might find surprising.

Take a look at a few…

Photo: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty

Meaning behind “Man in the Arena” quote written on his shoes

The “Man in the Arena” comes from a famous speech in 1910 by Theodore Roosevelt entitled Citizenship in a Republic. His words obviously impacted James.

Roosevelt, a year removed from his presidency, said: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

The significance of Nos. 23 and 6

When an 11-year-old LeBron James was asked the number he wanted to wear with his traveling club team, he didn’t hesitate to say “23.” James wore the number through high school and with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and now with the Lakers.

Dru Joyce II, James’ coach, wrote in his book “Beyond Championships” that it “was a tribute to Michael Jordan, the basketball legend he aspired to emulate.”

As for the No. 6 he wore with the Miami Heat? It was to honor family: His first child was born on Oct. 6 and his second child was born in June.

LeBron’s first tattoo

LeBron’s first ink, on his right upper arm, was that of a lion’s head, which is said to have transformed over the years. King was added above and James was added below. It’s been reported that he now has 42 tattoos.

Photo: Joe Robbins–USA TODAY Sports

High school cover-up

LeBron was not allowed to show off his tattoos while playing basketball for St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. School policy dictated that he cover them up during games. So he played with tape over the tattoos.

Photo: Lou Capozzola–USA TODAY Sports

“The Chosen One” Sports Illustrated cover

The Feb. 18, 2002 issue of Sports Illustrated featured the high school junior on the cover with the headline “The Chosen One.” The story stated he was already being mentioned as the heir to Air Jordan. So much for the SI cover jinx.

On Feb. 18, 2017, James celebrated the 15th anniversary of his cover celebrity with an Instagram post of the SI cover, saying, “To me I just thought it was cool and all cause the magazine was always something my boys and I would look at and read in the library every time another issue dropped but I [had] no idea the magnitude of being on the cover as a high school kid would bring!! I guess that’s why nothing ever fazed me cause I was so unaware of it all.”

“Chosen 1” became a tattoo on his back.

LeBron married his high school sweetheart

James met Savannah Brinson during his senior year in high school. He proposed to her on Dec. 31, 2011 while celebrating New Year’s Eve and his 27th birthday. They married on Sept. 14, 2013 in San Diego, California. They have three children: LeBron James Jr., Bryce Maximus James and Zhuri James.

LeBron, in his 16th season, was listed as a rookie in game notes

The game notes when the Lakers played at San Antonio in December 2018 listed LeBron James as a rookie, prompting him to reveal in his Instagram post he will be “going for Rookie of the Year.”

James joined Jordan in hitting the trifecta

LeBron James won the regular-season NBA MVP award, the NBA Finals MVP award, and an Olympic gold medal in the same year (2012), becoming the second player to do so. Michael Jordan was the first in 1992.

Photo: Bob Donnan–USA TODAY Sports

LeBron’s most important professional accomplishment

The LeBron James Family Foundation partners with local schools and the University of Akron “to positively affect the lives of children and young adults through education and co-curricular educational initiatives.”

Capping his “I Promise” program is an actual school he had built. LeBron called it the most important thing he’s done in his life, aside from marrying his wife, having three kids, and being able to take care of his mother.

The I Promise School is set to open July 30 for 240 third- and fourth-graders, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.

“By 2022-23, it will be a fully integrated school for about 960 kids in grades 1-8,” the report said.

There’s definitely some meaning behind those “I Promise” wristbands LeBron wears.

The first organized sport James played wasn’t basketball

A coach of an under-10 recreation football team was looking for players when he discovered LeBron James playing tag with some friends, as the story goes, told by ESPN The Magazine in 2013.

Bruce Kelker, the coach, asked the boys, “You guys like football?”

“That’s my favorite sport,” answered James, a fourth-grader at the time.

And so began LeBron’s athletic career, playing running back for the East Dragons youth football team. He scored 17 touchdowns in six games that first season.

LeBron was a high school football star, too, with NFL potential

While making headlines in basketball at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio, James was recruited to play football by Notre Dame, along with some other Division I schools.

James played wide receiver and was first-team all-state as a sophomore when he helped lead the team to the state semifinals.

After breaking his left wrist in an AAU basketball game before his senior season, James’ football career came to an end.

“He definitely could have been an NFL player,” former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry once told the New York Times.

Photo: Lou Capozzola-USA TODAY Sports

The moment James decided to skip college

“I think that early on, freshman, sophomore year, he definitely thought about college,” Dru Joyce II, LeBron’s high school coach, told the Huffington Post in 2015.

“That summer before junior year, he played against the number one high school player in the country [Lenny Cooke, who had earned MVP the previous year at this Adidas ABCD camp]. LeBron pretty much destroyed him and from that moment on all of us knew.

“He was going straight to the league and would never play college basketball.”

Huge milestone comes in historic loss

While wearing a Los Angeles Laker uniform, LeBron James became the fifth player in NBA history to score 32,000 points, but it came in the worst loss of his 16-year career, a 136-94 thumping at Indianapolis on Feb. 5, 2019.

The 42-point defeat surpassed 36-point losses he suffered twice with previous teams. In this one, he scored 18 points in his second game back after being out with a groin injury.

Of reaching the milestone, he said on Instagram that he “still can’t believe when I’m listed with any of the GREATEST OF GREATS to ever play this beautiful game!”

Shoots right-handed, writes left-handed

When LeBron signed his last contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers—a three-year deal worth $100 million—he used his left hand, though when he’s on the court he shoots with his right.

Photo: Upper Deck, used with permission

James scores big in soccer

When Liverpool Soccer Club of the English Premier League advanced to the UEFA Champions League final in May 2018 for the first time in 11 years, it meant a great deal to LeBron James.

Because in 2011, his marketing firm bought a 2 percent stake in the club in a joint venture with Fenway Sports Partners. ESPN’s Darren Rovell reported in 2018 that Liverpool’s trip to the final guaranteed an award of more than $100 million, that the club’s worth had grown substantially, and that James’ investment had gone from $6.5 million to $32 million in seven years.

Liverpool lost to Real Madrid, 3-1, in that final, but the bottom line is looking good for LeBron’s investment.

LeBron James jumps off cliff as a free agent

Twenty days after his last game with the Cleveland Cavaliers on June 8, 2018, LeBron James posted on Instagram a video of him jumping off a cliff in some undisclosed location.

Since he was a free agent, we presume James was under no contractual agreement to avoid any risky activities. His agent must have about died watching this video, however, and so must have the teams vying for his services.

Fruity Pebbles: One of LeBron’s all-time favorites

In this case, we’re talking about his favorite kicks not cereal. But for the record, his favorite cereals are Fruity Pebbles, Frosted Flakes and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.