LeBron James' 42nd Birthday Countdown

LeBron James Timeline

LeBron James NBA records

About LeBron James

Drafted first overall straight out of high school in 2003, LeBron became the NBA's all-time leading scorer and won championships with three different franchises, Miami, Cleveland and the Lakers, while building schools and businesses off the court.

The Chosen One from Spring Hill

By his junior year at Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, LeBron was such a phenomenon that home games were moved to a university arena and even sold on pay-per-view. In February 2002, Sports Illustrated put the 17-year-old on its cover as 'The Chosen One.' A year later his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers drafted him first overall straight out of high school, and the kid from Akron's Spring Hill apartments began one of the longest primes any athlete has ever had.

Passing the record nobody thought would fall

On February 7, 2023, a fadeaway jumper against Oklahoma City carried LeBron past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 38,387 points, a record that had stood for nearly 39 years. He has since pushed the mark beyond 43,000 and remains the only player with 50,000 combined regular-season and playoff points. Along the way came four championships with three franchises, Miami, Cleveland and the Lakers, and in October 2024 he and his son Bronny became the first father and son to play together in an NBA game.

A whole school that keeps its promise

The LeBron James Family Foundation does its biggest work blocks from where he grew up. In 2018 it opened the I PROMISE School with Akron Public Schools, and its I PROMISE program now supports well over a thousand Akron students, wrapping in family services and offering graduates free tuition at the University of Akron. Nearby, the foundation converted a landmark ballroom into House Three Thirty, a 60,000-square-foot community hub for job training and financial education.

Quick facts

• Born December 30, 1984, in Akron, Ohio
• NBA's all-time leading scorer, with more than 43,000 regular-season points
• Four-time NBA champion with three different franchises, and four-time MVP
• Appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 17 as 'The Chosen One'
• He and his son Bronny became the NBA's first father-son teammates in 2024
• Opened the I PROMISE School in Akron with his family foundation in 2018

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