While Los Angeles Lakers All-Star LeBron James hinted the end of his career is near, he also reflected on when he realized his greatness, happened before entering the NBA. Ahead of 2025-26, which will be the first full season where James and Luka Doncic will lead the Lakers, LeBron reflected on his playing career before skipping college.
James says the realization of his greatness hit him in his first season of playing organized football, he said, per Complex's 360 With Speedy.
“I mean that I don't want to say that first year because that first year I just knew that I was a lot faster and bigger, and I don't want to say stronger yet, cause I was still a little skinny kid then,” James said. “But like my first year playing organized football ever, we played six games, and I got the MVP that year. I had 18 touchdowns in six games. Like and then right in that fall the basketball season started my first year ever playing organized basketball.
“We went 6-0, won a championship. And the only reason my coach still, today, back then, he gave everybody the MVP. Clearly, I was the MVP, but it was dope as hell. But I would say, man, like I don't know. I don't know. I think that, I mean, I was out there doing s*** that I just I shouldn't have been doing. So I thought I was pretty special then.”
Lakers' LeBron James realized his greatness before high school
Lakers All-Star LeBron James knew he was different from his peers in middle school. Despite growing into his full body, as a teenager, James revealed when he knew he was destined to be great.
“Probably like 8th grade, I went to an AAU national tournament in Orlando, Florida. It was me and six other kids from the northeast Ohio region. Mostly from Akron, to be honest,” James said. “Five of us from Akron, maybe maybe four of us from Akron, three of us, three kids from like the Cleveland Brecksville area. And we went and played in the AAU nationals, which was the big, big time, you know, national tournament where it was like 120 teams, whatever, down in Orlando, Florida, at the Worldwide Sports, and we finished second, bro.
“It was like, “Motherf*****, like, you happy about finishing second?” F*** year, like, six or seven kids from Akron, Ohio. Northeast Ohio. And we lost to a team from Southern California,” James concluded.
Five years later, James would forego college and enter the 2003 NBA Draft where he was selected first overall, and the rest is history.
