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LeBron James’ unique journey to a basketball record
Ken Makin
Late Tuesday evening, as LeBron James dribbled toward the free-throw line and fired off a mid-range jump shot, his most important accomplishments were already in front of him.
His children.
Mr. James’ jumper during the Los Angeles Lakers’ contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder vaulted him to the top of the National Basketball Association’s all-time scoring list, ahead of luminary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The feat isn’t remarkable just because of the sheer number of points, but because of Mr. James’ approach to the game.
“I’ve been telling myself ever since I was a little kid that if I ever got to this point in my life and this career, that I would never be defined by just being a scorer,” Mr. James said in 2019 after he passed Michael Jordan for fourth on the all-time list. “If you take scoring away from me, I told myself I would still be able to make an impact on the game.”
Mr. James’ impact on the game, both on and off the court, is undeniable. If his brand could be described in a single term, it would be “fatherly.”
His jovial postgame interaction with his oldest son, Bronny, was in lockstep with a Beats by Dre commercial aptly named “Fatherhood,” where the elder LeBron shared a powerful testimony.
“I always knew I could be a great ball player, and [then] I had you. And I had no idea how I was going to be as a father,” LeBron expressed in a voiceover. “Patience, commitment, joy. The things I learned from basketball, but really, I understood from you.”
The spot was more paternal than promotion, and underscored Mr. James’ team-building ethos – “family.” His school in Akron, Ohio, is under the name of the LeBron James Family Foundation. For years, Mr. James’ approach to basketball was seen as “passive-aggressive,” largely because of how the hyper-competitive Mr. Jordan had been marketed to us. What Mr. James has done to redefine that notion gives the idea of “making your teammates better” a fresh look, because it speaks not only to the success of Mr. James’ teammates, but also to his prowess as a father and community partner.
