LeBron James is undoubtedly one of the best (if not the best) players of all time in basketball history.While his style of play may have generated admirers and haters during his long journey in the league, the numbers are definitely on his side and he last famously became the first person to reach 40,000 points scored in the NBA and at the age of 39 he is still one of the top players, maintaining averages of 25.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game for his Los Angeles Lakers.
In a recent post-game interview, LeBron James was asked what he would say is what advice he would give to his 18-year-old self, now that he has accumulated some experience of playing and living, and his answer was, as is often the case, surprising: “Honestly, I wouldn’t have said anything to him, because the LeBron at 18 had a big head on his shoulders. At 18 I was in a position that I wouldn’t wish on anyone, the expectations on me were enormous, I was immediately compared to the greats of history, and living with all that was not easy at all. My good fortune is that I was raised in the right way by my mother, by the coaches I had on my youth teams and my friends, by the people around me. I met a great girl when I was in high school who helped me stay humble during my career. I always told myself that in order to bring up my name is my family’s name, the only way would be to always stay focused and work to improve without letting it affect me.
Apart from my family, my friends and my city, everyone else would have rejoiced to see me fail when I stepped into the NBA“.
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Player and coach class of ’91, when he is not in the gym he is in front of his PC writing about basketball (with BU since November 2012) or watching his beloved Grizzlies. He was editor-in-chief for Legabasketv’s Serie A Beko Live broadcast for the 2015 and 2016 seasons along with Matteo Gandini.
