LeBron James’ daughter Zhuri brings her father down to earth with heartfelt statement

It was yet another brilliant, unplanned moment from a man who has been at the top of his game for almost 20 years.

During a game against the Houston Rockets in the middle of January, LeBron James took the ball in the corner. It was a three-point shot that he was going for. Dennis Schroder, a teammate on the Los Angeles Lakers, teased him from behind the bench, “Bet you won’t make it.”

“You have to look a man in the eye to make a bet official,” James said later. That’s exactly what he did: he let the ball fly along its arc toward the net and then quickly turned to face the bet, his back to the court as the net shook and chaos broke out.

James was in his 18th season in the NBA and had turned 36 two weeks before. He still makes the rest of the league miserable, but he seems to be having more fun than ever.

As this player grew up, past coaches, teammates, and opponents write about his journey from teenage star to full-fledged superstar and beyond.

It helps to understand how this one-of-a-kind athlete has changed over the years to stay not only great and relevant, but also ahead of the rest.Before his first season, James put in extra work in the summer of 2003. He was only 18, but he had been seen as basketball’s next big thing for a long time.

When he was still a junior in high school, he was on the cover of the famous magazine Sports Illustrated. People had thought for years that he would be the first pick in the 2003 NBA draft, and they were right. The Cleveland Cavaliers, his hometown team, picked him up. It’s rare for a teenager to have such high hopes going into their first professional game.

During the summer of that year, James drove 40 minutes to the Cavaliers’ practice site from Akron, Ohio, where he grew up, to work out with one of the team’s assistant coaches, Bob Donewald Jr., one-on-one.

During a cool-down routine after one practice, the coach and the up-and-coming superstar talked. James said, “I wasn’t great today.” “It wasn’t a great workout.”

“Everything was fine. “It’s been a long week,” Donewald answered. He had pushed the teenager hard over several days of hard work to get ready for the 82-game season. “LeBron, I just want you to do well.” That’s why I’m pushing you.”

James replied, “I am great,” with a serious, flat look on his face. “If you want me to be the greatest ever, I’m with that.”

The only person who really knew what was going to happen was James himself. No one understood the work that had to be done to keep that promise better than them.

Donewald remembers the early one-on-one sessions: “Every cut, every shot, every move he made—you’d have thought it was Game 7 of the Cup, that’s how hard he worked.” To teach him a lesson, I’m trying to beat this kid in a workout, and he keeps coming through.

“The players and head coach Paul Silas were also tough on him. While they were nice, they wouldn’t give it to this kid, and he didn’t want it given to him.

James also knew that the only way to become a superstar was to accept the glitz and glamour of elite sports. He knew that you had to make up your own myth before you could sell it to the world.