Just a young kid from Akron, LeBron James was a superstar long before he touched an NBA court. From the time he was sixteen years old, anyone familiar with his game could see James was a future great in the making. LeBron has had numerous vintage moments and quotes in his illustrious twenty-one-year career. With all the hilarious moments, there have been some moments that could rub people the wrong way. Such incidents have led my associate Wyatt Mahoney and myself to research the age-old question:

How does this affect LeBron’s legacy?

1. Delonte West and Gloria James

Gloria James, the mother of LeBron James, had a huge influence on the perennial all-star. Lebron cites his mother as the biggest reason for his success. However, in 2010, an outrageous rumor spread like wildfire around the NBA. LeBron’s teammate Delonte West was rumored to have had an affair with his teammate’s mom. LeBron had performed poorly in the span that the rumor started to leak, making many fans believe the rumors were indeed true. When asked about the rumor recently, West stated something incredibly vulgar while denying it. Unfortunately, the statement Delonte gave occurred outside a gas station after he had previously fallen heavily into drug use and became homeless. Such a rumor could have been a driving factor in LeBron leaving Cleveland for Miami. Cleveland became a bottom-tier team in the NBA which ultimately led to receiving the first-overall pick in Kyrie Irving.

2. Space Jam Remake

Hollywood and the movie industry in Los Angeles was a big drawing point for Lebron when he moved West. Rumors had circulated for years that Lebron would follow in the footsteps of Michael Jordan and make a recreation of the fan-favorite film, Space Jam. Lebron should’ve realized that the sequel is never as good as the original. Honestly, this movie sucked and I love Lebron. It earned 25% Rotten Tomatoes, telling of the film’s quality. Lebron’s acting was alright but the movie just felt off. It didn’t have the authenticity or creativity of Jordan’s version. This movie just gave Lebron haters more fuel to reason Jordan over Lebron. This did not help Lebron’s legacy.

3. Treaty of Paris

The date is September 3rd, 1783. The 13 colonies had just come off their huge win in Yorktown. The British had finally

surrendered. The Treaty of Paris has been signed. The United States of America was born. The treaty did guarantee the State’s freedom, but most importantly and unfortunately, they gave us the territory that later became Ohio. And even more importantly, that led to the creation of the town named Akron. 73,532 days after the Treaty was signed, the young kid from Akron was born. This shows that the Revolutionary War and the Treaty of Paris are ultimately what led to the rise of LeBron James. This was crucial for Lebron’s legacy.

4. The 2016 playoffs

As a Cavs fan, this is my favorite year of Lebron’s career. What ultimately resulted in Lebron’s third ring, first in Cleveland, was a rollercoaster of emotions. Most people predicted a Cavs Warriors repeat in the finals and that is what culminated after both teams dominated their conferences through the playoffs. Lebron averaged 26-9-7 this year, posting impressive stats. They met the 73-9 Warriors in the finals, arguably the greatest team in NBA history. Lebron then completed the greatest comeback in NBA history, back from the deficit of 3-1. No team had ever come back from such a position. Ultimately, Lebron did the impossible. I attended the record-breaking Cavs championship parade as a young fan with my grandpa and is still one of the best memories I have. This is the greatest part of Lebron’s legacy.

5. LeMickey

The year is 2020. We have no school due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We’re all playing Fortnite and NBA 2K20 over Facetime/Houseparty with our friends. After joking about the virus while simultaneously touching everything in his vicinity at a press conference, Rudy Gobert gets sick and the NBA shuts down indefinitely. After mass confusion and many questions on whether the playoffs would get played, the NBA announced the Bubble. The Bubble, which was located in Disneyland, contained all thirty teams for ten games. Once those ten games were played, the top sixteen teams remained for the playoffs while the eliminated fourteen were sent home immediately. Championships played in all sports around this time are considered “Mickey Mouse” wins due to the change of scenery and shortened season played. Many people think this championship should be displayed with an asterisk due to the change of conditions LeBron played in. The Lakers defeated the Miami Heat in six games to win. What was so different about the season? Well, there was no home-court advantage for teams to play with taking away a huge part of the playoffs. I believe the championship was valid, but many people will disagree. This hurt Lebron’s legacy.

6. LeGM

LeGM started on the internet after LeBron became a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. The joke revolves around LeBron getting the roster he wants while the teammates around him are traded left and right. Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball were sent in a huge package to receive All-NBA and All-Defensive first-teamer Anthony Davis. Rising star Kyle Kuzma, well-known role player Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Montrezl Harrell were sent with a few picks for former MVP Russell Westbrook. That same year the Lakers signed former All-NBA player Carmelo Anthony as well as Trevor Ariza, DeAndre Jordan, Rajon Rondo, and Isaiah Thomas giving them the nickname “Los Angeles Retirement Home”. LeGM got his way and it ultimately failed, as that 2021-2022 team was terrible and started the decline of Russell Westbrook. Maybe LeGM isn’t the best player to have build your roster.

7. Basketball Christmas Gift

A famous photo of Lebron as a toddler has circulated on the internet over the years. It is a young Lebron next to a Little Tikes toy basketball hoop, smiling ear to ear on Christmas morning. It has been captioned as “the most profitable gift in history.” I would agree. This might be the factor that made Lebron fall in love with the game and in return yielded him hundreds of millions. Gloria James was smart to purchase this. This helped create Lebron’s legacy.

8. Taco Tuesday

Lebron posted a series of Instagram stories and posts showing his love for Taco Tuesdays at his home with his family. He would scream the words “Taco Tuesday” to everyone, growing notoriety for the day among NBA fans. I’m sure I’d love tacos this much too if I had a world-class private chef to prepare them for me. He continued to post videos of him and his family dining every Tuesday night. He even then attempted to trademark the phrase “Taco Tuesday” in alliance with Taco Bell but was disappointingly denied. Every time I eat tacos on a Tuesday I think about Lebron. Jordan would never, this boosted Lebron’s legacy.

9. Rejected CP3 Trade

After the lockout ended in December 2011, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak and Hornets GM Dell Demps cooked up a three-team trade which ultimately would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers. NBA Commissioner David Stern was the owner of the New Orleans Hornets to help keep them from going bankrupt. Not even fifty minutes after the trade was agreed upon, Stern used his powers as commissioner to veto the trade. How does this affect the legacy of LeBron? This trade would have sent Paul to the Lakers to make a FILTHY big three of future multiple MVP-winning shooting guard Kobe Bryant, star center Pau Gasol, and elite point guard Chris Paul. This was at the same time the Heat built their big three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh; all of which were top 5 draft picks in the same class. LeBron went on to win three straight championships with the Heat before he returned to Cleveland. You can not help but wonder how much of an impact would the Lakers had on those three championships if the Chris Paul trade was completed.

10. LeLyrics/Instagram Posts

On a similar note to Lebron’s love for Taco Tuesdays, he generally loves to post on Instagram. He posts all the time, varying from stories of him rapping to throwback highlights. He is infamous for his excessive usage of emojis hashtags such as “#WashedKing” and “#JustAKidFromAkron.” I personally am a fan of these posts; he is completely serious but everyone finds them funny. He uses emojis and hashtags similarly to how your mom does. Most infamous of all are Lebron’s stories in which he records himself rapping. He tries his best to keep up with the times, posting almost every new rap song. Unfortunately, he never knows the lyrics. There have been many instances of this most notably when he thought the lyrics were something along the lines of “Yabadabadoo Old Navy” or at least that is what he said. These things probably did not help his legacy.