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Being a “s–t show” wasn’t part of LeBron James’ career blueprint.
The Lakers superstar, who’s currently in his 22nd NBA season, was a guest during Wednesday’s “New Heights” podcast and he explained how that strategy has gotten him pretty far.
“You can’t be a s–t show,” James, 40, who is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, told hosts Jason and Travis Kelce. “You can’t be a piece of s–t, you can’t be doing things that affects anything that has anything to do with your profession and being available to your teammates, being available to the franchise and being available every time you get out there that causes a distraction. I felt that.
“When I started to start my family that was another part of it. I knew [his wife] Savannah was the one and I started having kids and I was like, ‘I didn’t have that male influence. My dad wasn’t around.’ I was, ‘OK I can’t f–k that up.’
“… To the young guys out there that feel the pressure, that feel like it’s maybe too much — if you just put the work on, don’t be an asshole, be a good person and dedicate yourself to the craft, the game will always be kind to you.”
James has been open about not having a relationship with his biological father — and being raised by his mother, Gloria Marie James, who had him at 16 years old, in Akron, Ohio.
The four-time NBA champ discussed his upbringing after Jason asked him to share “the wisdom” about how he’s navigated his career with “class and grace.”
“One, knowing where I came from… you know that you’re one and two and three in a billion,” James said. “If you get that opportunity man, you can’t f–k it up, you just can’t. Being from a single parent household, just me and my mom, I have no siblings — seeing the struggle that my mom went through and things of that nature that was another thing that I was like, ‘OK you can’t f–k her up’ because now you’re given this opportunity.
“Then I started thinking about my career, and I was like, ‘how do you want to be remembered? Do you want to go out and just play ball or do you actually want to be remembered when you’re not playing ball?’ So I took that into consideration and I took that into serious account. I was like ‘I want to be the greatest that anyone has ever seen in this sport, ever.”
The couple have three children together, LeBron “Bronny” James Jr., 20, Bryce Maximus, 17, and Zhuri Nova, 10.
James explained that he knew he had to put in the work and take care of business both on and off of the court to maximize his talent.
Some athletes didn’t adopt that same thought process while in the prime of their career.
Tiger Woods went through numerous controversies in the public eye during the height of his pro golf career, most notably his past cheating scandal with ex-wife Elin Nordegren that nearly destroyed his career.
The ex-couple are co-parents to daughter, Sam, son, Charlie.
English (US)