LeBron James Talks About His Absent Father: “Why didn’t my dad wanna be around? I feel like I’m a pretty cool kid”
For all of his accomplishments on the court, the thing that I am personally most impressed with, as far as LeBron is concerned, is his fatherhood and his family.
How present he is, how he loves his family and how involved he is with everything they do. Also - how he adores his wife and gives her her flowers any chance he gets.
Truly a beautiful thing to see, “kid”.
Indeed. being the world superstar for so long, he literally have zero scandal, just love to play ball, eat tacos and love his family.
How dare you exclude his love for enjoying red wine and acting like a middle aged white woman on Instagram?
Do you even understand LeBron as a concept?
Could you explain that concept in only emojis?
🏀👴🏿❤️🍷➡️👩📱⛳️🌮 💃#TheKidFromAKRON 🚀👑
Something like this?
Edit: this is a community creation.
If you put a basketball emoji in the beginning it would be 10⁄10.
That’s a great point! I’m going to edit that in.
Thats what teamwork is all about!
Don’t forget the ⛳️ now
I’m enjoying this, the emoji train count get messy.
He isn’t a man, he’s a lifestyle brand.
\#TheKidFromAKRON🚀
Needs a taco but otherwise great work
On it goes!
You are slowly capturing le-essence
One le-mote at a time 🚀
Bro you forgot💃💃💃
Ummmmm… 🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️ WOW MAN!! #ThekidfromAKRON🤴🏾is literally speechless and beyond thankful!! I love this game and will do anything for it! I’m having a blast. #2AllTimeScoring but I’m a not a scorer *Suppa Hot Fire voice 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👑
LeBronmaxxing
LeBrostmodern Man
Wait, really? I honestly had no clue lol
He’s def got this weird “wine mom” energy but it’s wholesome af lol
Have you ever seen a LeBron instagram post?
LeLive LeLaugh LeLove
he literally have zero scandal
But, but, he said something about China one time
LeBron’s “Republicans buy shoes too” moment
Nah, not even that. His comments weren’t just about money, it was about safety. Tensions were fairly raised with China at the time, and he and his family were in the country when Morey said what he said.
I’m sure he wouldn’t have reacted the same way if they weren’t there at the time.
that’s a political view, not a scandal. In fact, Chinese fans loved him for speaking up on the matter.
I am personally affronted by his Lebronto years, but other than that, I think he was an incredible face of the league.
The year Casey won COTY and the Raps were thee first seed and you knew Bron was gonna do it to em regardless
His only fault is his habitual lying about the funniest little things, which given the world we live in, basically is nothing
He is really a great model for all men. He’s appropriately emotional, he gets fired up and passionate but never embarrassed others or shows bad sportsmanship. He’s open about how much he loves his family and is willing to be vulnerable. Willing to be corny just for the sake of being silly? Oddly a normal dude, who just happens to be LeBron James.
Guys with a lot of money can keep scandals real quiet lmao
Except for the many, many, many wealthy people—quite often people with wealth that makes LeBron look middle class—who cannot keep their scandals real quiet.
Pretty much why I also expect him to stay in LA and most likely just come back to the Lakers or retire. His daughter is his last chance to be a ‘dad’. Bronny is grown and Bryce is in college. Daughter is hitting high school years and it would suck to move her now and force her to make new friends in another city. See so many 40 year old workaholics or those who travel a lot for work start regretting all the time they spend away from their kids at that age.
Zhuri is almost high school age now? Holy crap I’m getting old
she’s 12. so not quite.
Guess she’s 11 so probably not yet. I don’t have kids so don’t know how they structure the grades now. She attends Sierra Canyon though which runs grade K-12 so the kids are basically there until they are adults.
I’ve said this many times, the Lakers will try to bring him back and they will work out a reasonable deal with him, whatever number he’ll agree to. And he will come back because the Lakers earn loyalty points from him by drafting Bronnie and allowing LeBron to fulfill his dream of playing with his son for the last 2 seasons. It’s probably the same reason why it’s hard for Giannis to leave the Bucks, they kept his brothers on the roster for so many years. And he seems like a super loyal guy. So, unless Luka says he doesn’t want to play with LeBron, there’s no way LeBron is going to any other team.
I don’t think he’s retiring. There’s too much money to be made by too many people for him to just retire without notice/farewell tour.
This is also right when JJ Redick decided to retire and he talked about making that decision because it wasn’t worth missing out on being a Father. I’m sure LeBron and JJ have had many conversations about this
This is kinda how good Dad’s become that way though. Just negating all the ways they were treated themselves.
Still agree with Bron though. Why TF wouldn’t you be interested?
Well, Bron chose to not repeat the cycle. There’s so many reasons why he still could’ve been a bad dad in so many ways. He could’ve made excuses. He could’ve blamed his past. But instead he did everything in his power to not only break the cycle, but do the exact opposite in every way possible.
A kid don’t give a damn if dad is a superstar to the world. All they care is that dad makes them feel like they’re a star; like they matter.
And throwing an alleyoop to your son in a playoff game if a pretty unique way of making your kid feel like they’re a star.
“The cycle ends here. We must be better than this” - LeKratos
A vast majority of kids end up repeating the same cycle of how their parents treated them because that’s all they know and grew up with. It’s only through therapy and/or serious self reflection that people can change and break the cycle. It’s a lot easier to be a good dad when you had a good dad to show you how it should be.
Yeah, I have no idea what OP is talking about. Historically, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Lebron though is one of those exception and I admire him for it especially in the world he lives in.
Went from being raised without a dad to playing in the nba with his own son
and in between these two things, had the most expectations put on his shoulders out of any player ever. his career is like 70 years long lol, I’d disappoint people on and off the court atleast a couple times
We should never take for granted that the two biggest stars of their generation - him and Curry - are about as good as role models come.
Way better dudes off the court than ole yellow eyes
He’s mature enough to understand that his kids deserve better than what he had growing up.
The worst thing about LeBron is televising the decision. And it wasn’t even that bad in the grand scheme of things especially when you have athletes that beat up their wives/girlfriends, kill ppl because of dui, gambling on their own games and raping women to name a few
televising the decision.
all that money went to charity though..
It’s insane to say but it’s definitely super impressive. These things are cyclical. He didn’t have a good father figure or role model and usually that creates a a vicious cycle. He wanted to be better and he was.
Dude was mega famous since like 16 and has no scandals. Thats really impressive
Yeah idk he definitely cheats on her - he has gotten into some shenanigans but has been able to hide it all pretty well
Legit the best sports role model
also no real scandals compared to other major athletes like Ronaldo or Dani Alves, hell he doesn’t even have a gambling problem like Jordan did
He confiscated the Nike tape and watches on stream east
Not really surprising if you want to make up for what you didn’t get from your own father
This. He is a true high performer
I think 🤔 he decided to be what he was missing. Like he had the blueprint of what not to be
All he has done and accomplished has ultimately been to help his mom and be the dad he always wanted.
LeBron chose to be the father that he never had growing up. Massive respect to LeBron.
Role model goat
Fresh Prince
How come he don’t want me man?
That scene gets me every time
That Uncle Phil hug and the Good Will Hunting hug always get me.
RIP Uncle Phil.
The best TV Uncle ever
First things first
for real
The best TV Dad ever
Nah, Laura and Eddy’s dad clears
But does Uncle Phil also get the credit for The Shredder, since they have the same actor? If so, I think that puts Uncle Phil over the top
Tbf I’d go either way. Family Matters and TFP are my favorite shows of the 90s (what a time)
And RIP Robin Williams
It’s not your fault
your move chief
This comment with Ur pfp is fucking hilarious
Especially once you learn that hug was not scripted. That was James Avery to WILL during that hug. It’s one of my favorite moments of a sitcom
Looking for this comment. Man, that scene gets me every time I rewatch fresh prince. And the one where uncle phil have to bail them out from prison.
You knew shit was real when a Fresh Prince episode ended with silence.
I think LeBron has actually referenced this scene before too.
First thing I thought of too
Hot take, corny people tend to be decent human beings.
I suspect they are corny because initially they were being funny with their kids when they little.
Now the kids grown up but LeFather hasn’t learned any new jokes or tricks. So he sticks to what he knows and remains corny tbh.
Like an 80s comedian…
Or an Austin one
that’s not even a hot take. my mormon friends in high school were the corniest people alive, but god damn were they some of the funniest kids I ever knew. except for the whole cult thing, they all turned out just fine
I too turned out just fine if we’re allowed to throw an asterisk on our biggest faults lol
In your case, being a Michigan fan 😅
Smh ^go ^blue
There’s human corny and then there’s robot corny. Lebron strikes me as human corny
Hes as corny as any middle-aged suburban dad should be.
Corny people can definitely be assholes too. LeBron is far from corny anyways but in general people need to stop labeling people as corny with a bad connotation and just let people be themselves.
If they’re an asshole then they’re not really corny, they’re just an asshple
Yeah to me if I call someone corny it’s not because I don’t like them or anything, it’s just more describing their sense of humor. They probably mostly just have a lot of puns and say jokes that are 50⁄50 getting a quick laugh or an eye roll.
Except Russell Wilson
(Just kidding, I have no idea if he’s a decent person but he sure is corny)
He really has lived up to the expectations on and off the court and then some. Sit the dumb ass GOAT debate aside and recognize greatness. Haters and fans alike will miss him when he’s gone.
GOAT debate aside, LeBron is simply a way better person than Jordan. It’s not even close. Jordan is kinda a POS tbh.
I think this is overblown.
Jordan isn’t some awful guy - he’s just a self-centered one with some extreme competitive issues. I’ve never seen any reports of Jordan being a truly bad guy, just being a self-involved one.
Some of the shit that is attributed to him to make him seem like a worse person (like “Republicans buy shoes too” to justify his lack of public engagement in social issues) is made up.
Lebron never told me to stop it and get some help.
That’s why MJ is my GOAT.
Understand where you’re coming from, but that quote is a true story, he talked about it in The Last Dance too lol. (Edit: even if exaggerated)
But yeah, pretty crazy that all things considered, the GOATs of this sport have really minimal scandals.
That was a tongue in cheek joke. I hope you take a look at what he’s done to give back to others less fortunate than him. Politics aside, shit people don’t give up large portions of the financial worth to help the needy.
Nah yeah I agree bro dw haha, check my other comment I know it was an overblown joke. And yeah it definitely doesn’t negate the work he’s done. I just meant that using that quote as an example of something fake isn’t necessarily true, even if it was exaggerated. Though I do believe that him being more silent about politics while LeBron is more outspoken about is easy to use against him, even when his charity work should be part of his legacy.
As I understood it (and I could be wrong), he said it as a joke to Pippen and it got treated as a real perspective, despite him being (privately) willing to engage in activism and charity.
Basically something said to make his friends laugh got turned into a tear down of him and his core character.
Not a perfect person, and one who absolutely wanted to focus on basketball and business/branding over being an activist, but I don’t think that’s necessarily something we should tell a guy he can’t do or else we’ll hit him with the “bad guy” label.
Ah okay I get what you mean, yeah it really was an overblown joke iirc as well. Appreciate you for clarifying all that.
Definitely not perfect but in the end, he really is just is a basketball player. That’s another reason why people really support LeBron though and paint Jordan that way, seeing as LeBron is really outspoken on issues like that.
they tried slandering jordan as a pedophile for getting ice out of his top employees sons shirt like 4 months ago
I think recently there have been some attempts by the Right to claim Jordan and a lot of fake stuff gets spread about him.
A year or two ago I saw a post claiming Jordan said something super transphobic. I didn’t think it likely that he would have publicly said something like that, so I looked it up and found zero sources. It was just on some Instagram page that seemingly posts a bunch of Right-wing propaganda.
I don’t particularly like Jordan as a person (I like LeBron better) but I don’t think he can be called a “POS.”
Charles Barkley said on live tv with Jordan next to him that he was going to give money to a homeless person but Jordan prevented him and said the guy could get a job at McDonald’s.
Yeah that POS that funds education, medicine, communities, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s largest ever individual donation.
You can compliment a human being without exaggerating someone else’s shortcomings.
Not saying you’re right or wrong, just wanted go state that giving money away doesn’t automatically make you a good person lol.
piece of shit that funds clinics in North Carolina?
MJ didn’t sign some third rate rapper’s shoes and is a bad tipper. Terrible terrible person he is.
I’ve always thought it was pretty wild that LeBron’s father never exposed himself to the media when his son became the biggest basketball player in the world. You know how a parent will be absent, kid goes on to do something great, parent suddenly comes back.
I mean I imagine the news outlets would pay a lot for an interview. And hell do we even know who his dad is? It’s none of our business but it’s always surprised me.
His father is probably dead. If he was alive he would definitely try to come back into Bron’s life
Yeah unless Gloria James is the most common name in Akron this dude is most likely dead. Or he is on the payroll and knows how to keep his mouth shut, which is super unlikely.
On one hand, Bron runs a pretty tight ship and would probably want to keep that drama from cropping up. On the other, if he won’t give the league that made him a billionaire $100 a season for league pass, I really doubt he’s shelling out to the guy who bailed on him as soon as he was born.
Dude uses Spotify with ads
He’s just like me fr
Players get league pass for free. The issue was he was blacked out from the game. Like in LA trying to watch the clippers
lol you really think they make players pay for league pass bro?
Is it possible that the dad doesn’t even know he has a kid?
Yeah, it’s Roland Bivins who died in 1994. Even Brian Windhorst made mention of it saying that LeBron’s dad passed away when he was very young.
Edit: Another angle to this is that Gloria was also 16 when she got pregnant. It could have been an older guy who stayed away because he didn’t want to get exposed and indicted for statutory rape.
Maybe it’s Karl Malone
LMFAO
Would explain LeBron’s height and athleticism
idk if you planned this to line up so well, but the 13-year old Malone impregnated was also named “Gloria” and had her baby 7 months before Bron was born.
His father is Satoshi Nakamoto
Huge plot twist for Lebron’s series finals
Here is an article that details the circumstances surroundings Bivins’ death
https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/2021/07/08/akron-man-sentenced-life-1994-shooting-denied-parole/7903396002/
I suspect this is the correct answer
Not for sure…. He might be so damaged he can’t face his child.
IIRC, the name of his dad was reported on by a few articles back in the early 2000s who interviewed his mom while he was an up and coming star. I remember that the guy was in and out of prison and had basically no involvement in brons life
I remember reading about him in the plain dealer newspaper out here years ago. I think he was a big guy also.
Of course we know. It’s Delroy Lindo!
Great basketball player, and an even greater father.
Happy Father’s Day to all you folks out there!
Edit: I lost my father to the pandemic 6 years ago. And I still miss him everyday. If your dad is still around, make sure to give him a call, hug him and show how much you appreciate him.
RIP to your dad.
My mom died recently, and I just had my 81 y/o dad travel to my place for 4 days, and I made sure to tell him how much I love him every day and thank him for raising me well. The look on his face…
LeFather
LePapa
Put that way, I now have an image of Daveed Diggs playing LeBron in a biopic.
Here’s him playing Oh Father
It’s what Clara would have wanted.
People will still find a way to hate on this
Nah I’m close to his biggest hater but this is his best side undisputably
I hate when he destroyed my Pistons in 2007
I’m a raptors fan. I feel your pain
Facts bruh, he traumatized us 😞
“he grew up to be corny because he grew up without a dad”
I’d take corny dad over whatever LeBron’s dad decided to do any day
Eh. I don’t think very man people hate him as a man.
His kids seem lovely. I’ve only heard good things about Bronny’s manners and positive attitude. LeBron and his wife did a great job raising their kids.
How come he don’t want me man?? 😭
The hate this man gets absolutely baffles me… probably one of the most unicorn athlete that is an absolute role model on and off the court. He’s become the Dad he’s always wanted to his children and that’s all that matters.
This man broke his generational curses
Obviously Tatum and LeBron are o completely different levels but Tatum similarly gets hate all he does it’s ball, make some cheese jokes or comments, and hangs with Deuce. You’d think we be commending that not demonizing them over it.
I went through that “Fuck LeBron” phase of my life before, but the older I got the more respect I have for him because he’s somehow stayed out of major personal scandals. I don’t agree with his China comments, but those are just opinions and overall he has been absolutely clean in his life. Can’t imagine being in the spotlight all your life and staying so grounded.
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I mean, you’re allowed to disagree with both of them dude. Just because trump is trump it doesn’t negate what LeBron did
Y’all folks kill me lol. I don’t know how anyone can have a “fuck this person” phase of their life especially someone they dont even know or never had any interactions with. People smh.
As a Celtics fan just before the KG/Pierce/Allen big 3, I’m still in the Fuck Lebron phase. I don’t think I know nba basketball without it lol So it will be a strange time when he finally decides to hang it up. Can’t hate on him personally though, just part of ball. I hope he gets a good farewell tour and maybe 1 last Olympics.
Brings a tear to your eye man
lebron might never be my goat, but he’s undoubtedly a great parent, and that’s not easy work. props to him.
He broke the cycle and he’ll always have my respect for that.
Especially with all his time on the road. Man’s locked in.
Why is every fucking video getting flagged now? Might be time for new mods.
Reddit just needs to abolish mods in general lol net negative on the site
LeCoolKid
You can call LeBron a lot of things, a bad father isn’t one of them.
As someone who can relate, this is why he is my GOAT.
I used to ask myself the same thing.
Le#1Dad
Man and that clip with his 2 sons, 1 plays basketball in college and the other is literally on his team. He’s the GOAT not only in basketball but arguably in fatherhood as well, incredible.
mirror?
Fucken perfect human being. Im glad he’s got toes like that.
LeVailable parent
You can have all the money in the world, but the trauma of having an absent father won’t just go away. Imagine all of therapy he can afford, yet the pain still lingers. In these situations, you either turn into your father and become an absent father yourself OR you do the complete opposite and make sure you are the best father you can be. Really happy that LeBron chose the latter.
Its the stuff like this that I call him my GOAT, amazing player, father and just all around person
LeFreshPrince
Holy shit is that Lakers Guard Bronny James as a kid? That’s crazy man small world. His dad must know Lebron.
his best trait is being a parent than a basketball player
TACO TUESDAY!!!
Hopefully Lebron has realized that the answer is there wasn’t anything wrong with him……the guy is just an asshole. And he hates Lebron’s Mom more than he loves Lebron.
This sub is just drowning in quickly taken down Streamable links recently.
Grew up fatherless and poor in Akron, Ohio, became incredibly famous while he was still in high school, became unbelievably rich while other people his age were college freshmen, probably has had more women throwing themselves at him than we can even comprehend, and yet he’s always been totally 100% committed to his wife and children.
You got to give Gloria James credit, she clearly did a great job showing her son what it means to be the head of a family.
No dad so be super dad is a classic scenario if the fatherless kids don’t turn into fuck ups growing up. Happy for Bron.
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Let’s not get carried away here.
Lol dude is offering 100k plus to women who have onlyfans.
LeBandoned
Did Lebron’s dad ever resurface when Lebron got famous?
This video breaks my heart. What a mature revelation. Amazing father 💗
LeFather is a great man
LeBron seems like such a genuinely good, kind-hearted person.
I feel like there is a good chance his dad is dead. When he started to get attention in high school you would think his dad would re appear and try to get some of that NBA money from him.
The truth is you were obviously better off because he wasn’t around.
The hurt never goes away. But you can live well despite it. Happy to see him being a great dad and family man.
The kindergarten pic of Bron… Idk how you could abandon that
Trust me, I’m sure he’s pissed about right now too.
Just like his father, this media cannot be found anymore for some reason