Gamechangers: LeBron James
January 16, 2020
All basketball fans know the name LeBron James. The Los Angeles Lakers player is one of the biggest names in the sport, as synonymous with basketball as Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. James is particularly known for his 2014 return to his first team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and his role in leading them to victory over the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA finals—a journey explored in sports memoirs such as Return of the King: LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Greatest Comeback in NBA History by reporters Brian Windhorst and Dave McMenamin, who followed the events of James’s return to the Cavaliers and their historic Game 7 as they unfolded.
LeBron James’s life has been a true rags-to-riches story. Born in Akron, Ohio, to his mother, Gloria Marie James, when she was just sixteen, the small family struggled to make ends meet during James’s childhood. This led to James moving in with local football coach, Frank Walker, while his mother searched for steady work. Walker encouraged the young James to play basketball, and his talent for the game soon became obvious. James was named Mr. Basketball during both his sophomore and junior years of high school, as well as being selected for the USA Today All-USA First Team. A prep-to-pro player, he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003 and was named Rookie of the Year for his first season, thanks to his record-scoring point total. In 2006, the Cavaliers qualified for playoffs for the first time since 1998, thanks in a large part to James. During this time, he also received the NBA Most Valuable Player Award.
2008-9 was also a strong season for the Cavaliers, both because of James’s versatile play and the addition of Mo Williams to the team’s roster. However, in 2010 James became an unrestricted free agent and, along with fellow free agents Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, signed with the Miami Heat. The move, announced live on ESPN in the infamous special The Decision, was highly controversial. James wanted to further his career by signing with the Heat; many critics, fans, and media felt that The Decision was too showy, and that James was abandoning the team that had helped him establish his career.
James played for the Miami Heat for four years, helping them achieve a 27-game winning streak in the 2012-13 season, and, once again, being named Most Valuable Player. In 2014, he again became an unrestricted free agent—and, in a personal essay for Sports Illustrated, announced he was returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a widely celebrated move.
The full story behind James’s return to the Cavaliers is detailed by Windhorst and McMenamin in Return of the King, with perspectives from the key figures involved in the many meetings and negotiations that built up to James’s re-signing with his original team. Authors and narrators Windhorst and McMenamin’s firsthand perspective on James’s career—in particular, his winning 2016 season with the Cavaliers (culminating in the famous Game 7, where James performed
LeBron James’s life has been a true rags-to-riches story. Born in Akron, Ohio, to his mother, Gloria Marie James, when she was just sixteen, the small family struggled to make ends meet during James’s childhood. This led to James moving in with local football coach, Frank Walker, while his mother searched for steady work. Walker encouraged the young James to play basketball, and his talent for the game soon became obvious. James was named Mr. Basketball during both his sophomore and junior years of high school, as well as being selected for the USA Today All-USA First Team. A prep-to-pro player, he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003 and was named Rookie of the Year for his first season, thanks to his record-scoring point total. In 2006, the Cavaliers qualified for playoffs for the first time since 1998, thanks in a large part to James. During this time, he also received the NBA Most Valuable Player Award.
2008-9 was also a strong season for the Cavaliers, both because of James’s versatile play and the addition of Mo Williams to the team’s roster. However, in 2010 James became an unrestricted free agent and, along with fellow free agents Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, signed with the Miami Heat. The move, announced live on ESPN in the infamous special The Decision, was highly controversial. James wanted to further his career by signing with the Heat; many critics, fans, and media felt that The Decision was too showy, and that James was abandoning the team that had helped him establish his career.
James played for the Miami Heat for four years, helping them achieve a 27-game winning streak in the 2012-13 season, and, once again, being named Most Valuable Player. In 2014, he again became an unrestricted free agent—and, in a personal essay for Sports Illustrated, announced he was returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a widely celebrated move.
The full story behind James’s return to the Cavaliers is detailed by Windhorst and McMenamin in Return of the King, with perspectives from the key figures involved in the many meetings and negotiations that built up to James’s re-signing with his original team. Authors and narrators Windhorst and McMenamin’s firsthand perspective on James’s career—in particular, his winning 2016 season with the Cavaliers (culminating in the famous Game 7, where James performed
The Block,which has been viewed as one of his greatest moments)—allows fans to get a real behind-the-scenes feel for these games. For basketball fans, and lovers of sports biographies in general, the audiobook written and read by two veteran reporters who were on the scene as events unfolded gives a unique insight into this pivotal time in James’s sporting journey.
Alice Nuttall is a freelance writer, and co-creator of the long-running webcomics Footloose, Cherry, and Black Market Magic.
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