Childhood
Lebron was born on December 30, 1984, in Ohio. His mother, Gloria James raised Him at the young age of sixteen. His biological father was an ex-prisoner who ran out on the family because he wasn’t interested in having a child. Till today Lebron still goes by his mom's last name and not his dad's. Lebron showed many basketball skills at an early age. His mother got him a toy hoop when he was young and Lebron would spend hours a day playing with it. He also was tall and strong which helped him with the sport. Lebron had a tough childhood growing up with very little. His mother battled many personal problems while raising Lebron. Some of these problems were brought from her mothers death. His mother could never keep a job so they bounced from apartment to apartment. Despite his mothers struggles she worked hard to shield Lebron from poverty, violence and the streets. This was very tough for his mother so sometime it made it puzzling for her to find a boyfriend. When Lebron was two she started dating Eddie Jackson who was in and out of trouble. Lebron liked having a father figure around but Jackson was sent to jail for drug trafficking and mortgage fraud. Lebron's brothers Terry and Curt had to step up and fill in and help out. Lebron played wide receiver as a child and scored 19 touchdowns in 6 games in his first year of pee wee football. He was coached by Frankie walker who had a big influence on his life. When Walker found out that fourth grade Lebron had not been attending school he talked to Lebron's mother and they decided it would be best if Lebron would live with the Walkers for some time. Lebron liked the Walkers and enjoyed living with them. As a fifth grader he even won the attendance award. Walker also helped Lebron with his basketball by teaching him how to shoot with his left hand. After 18 months Lebron returned home but when his mother couldn’t pay rent the Walkers and Lebron's mom worked out an agreement to help with the rent and support Lebron.
High School
While attending St. Marys Lebron was awarded with national high school player of the year in 2003. He was named the parade high school boys basketball player of the year as a junior and also a senior. He was the first repeat winner in the 47 years the award has been in place. He also was named the Gatorade player of the year his junior and senior years. Lebron James led his high school team to three state championships. He was then named Mr. Basketball by the Ohio state associated press for three straight years starting with his sophomore season. He was also named to the all USA first team for his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. His high school totals added up to 2657 points, 892 rebounds, and 523 assists at St. Mary. Lebron excelled by winning the MVP of the McDonalds all-American game, the EA sports roundball classic and the Jordan Capital Classic. Lebron James was such a great athlete at St. Marys he even played football as a wide receiver. He was named all state and led his team to the state semifinals. He even got scholarship offers, but decided to play basketball.