LeBron James
Appearances
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
So when I finally was able to get on the court. First of all, MJ, Antoine Walker, and the rest of those guys did not let young guys get on the court at all. And I was 16 years old. I was sophomore in high school. And it takes a while to get on the court. It's usually when the older guys, they get tired and they don't want to play no more. They're like, whatever. But I did it.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
And I was able to get on the court alongside. I was on the court with Michael Jordan, Antoine Walker, Penny Hardaway, Ron Artest, Michael Finley, all these guys. Who guarded you? Nobody. I was unguardable. Ah! I was 16. There's a, there's a, uh, 16, the baby from, yep. That was the baby from, I was in Chicago at, uh, MJ's, uh, court. It was called hoops.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
There's a clip right now of actually metal world piece talking about that moment as well. Like, Oh man, I got to check it out. When I finally got out there, I was like, I'm busting ass, man. It's time to show up. I was nervous as hell being out there with MJ and the rest of those guys. Are you kidding me? I was like, oh, I'm about to go crazy. And I did. I did, man. That's awesome, man. I did.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
I think I've seen you wear the old Iversons. Was it always Nike? Trav, no, it was not. It was not always Nike. It was Nike when I was a young kid, when I was a young lad. Obviously, you know, you... You know, I've been in love with Michael Jordan my whole life. So, you know, I saw him, Penny Hardaway, you know, Ken Griffey Jr., Bo Jackson. I watched all these unbelievable sports figures.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
So as a kid growing up, it was Nike. Once I got into the AAU program, started playing basketball, Adidas took us over.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
You know, and it became Adidas. It was Adidas like from seventh, eighth grade to pretty much my junior, senior year. They sponsored us every year. We played in all the Adidas tournaments, big time tournament in Vegas and all over the United States of America. So, It was Adidas. And then my senior year, the process began. The recruitments, the Nikes came in and the Adidas was still there.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
Reebok came in and won. All these companies came in and I took on three pitches. I did a Adidas pitch. I did a Reebok pitch. I did a Nike pitch. The best pitch that I got where I thought I was going to end up was actually Reebok at one point. Reebok. I went to their meeting. I went to their meeting, and I sat down across from their CEO and the guys that was running basketball.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
At the time, I don't know if you guys remember this, but Reebok had the NFL as well. Uh-huh. That's what it was when I first got in the league. They had the NFL as well. They knew my love for football as well, so they had all the NFL jerseys, all the Pro Bowl-looking jerseys. That was going to be the next year. I'm sitting across from the table. I'm a senior in high school.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
I actually have to have, I actually go to, I'm going back to class the next day. They flew me in. I'm going back to St.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
Mary the next day, my senior year. And the guy slides over a check to me at the end of the table. It's me and my mom and Maverick Carter at the end of the table. And he says, if you don't go talk to any other companies, this is yours. And I look at it. I look at it. 10 million fucking dollars.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
I was a high school senior, man. They gave me a check for $10 million, and if I promised not to go see anybody else, I told them I need a break. They stepped out. I need to fucking bring the time out. I can't believe 30. I need the time out. My mom looked at it. Me and my mom were living in an apartment in Section 8 housing in Akron. I'm going back. I don't have shit, whatever.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
My mom looked at me. She said, son, trust your gut. If they're offering you this, then who knows what the other companies may offer you.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
Yeah, she's super composed. She's like, we ain't got shit already. So it's not like, you know, it changes our life at this moment. Yes, maybe in the future, but I want you to trust your gut and trust Do what you think is right. That's awesome advice, man. So they came back in. Boom. I said, thank you.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
I will, you know, I will definitely like to continue our conversation, but I will be remiss if I did not take those other pitches from the other companies. I may have cried on the way home because I had to leave.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
I was like, I could have bought the building that me and my mom was living in with that goddamn money. Man, what? Easily. You already know.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery Presents: New Heights
Oh, my God. Yo, Jason, that might be the greatest introduction of all time. Falling at the end with the powder. Oh, my goodness. You guys are fucking unbelievable. This dude is just wearing the powder, too. Right, right.
PBD Podcast
Zelenskyy's OMINOUS Putin Threat | PBD Podcast | Ep. 568
He's like on a Taylor Swift tour run right now.
PBD Podcast
Zelenskyy's OMINOUS Putin Threat | PBD Podcast | Ep. 568
You're seeing it as well. No, he literally started off with, I didn't want to address it. I didn't want to address it. I wasn't going to address it. But since the video came out, I feel the need to address it. Are you kidding me? If there's one person that couldn't wait to the video to drop so you could address it, it's like seriously. And like another, he completely like missed the whole point.
PBD Podcast
Zelenskyy's OMINOUS Putin Threat | PBD Podcast | Ep. 568
The whole point. Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport, criticize players about what they do on the court. That is your job to criticize or to be in a position where, okay, if a guy's not performing, that is all part of the game. That's all part of the game.
PBD Podcast
Zelenskyy's OMINOUS Putin Threat | PBD Podcast | Ep. 568
But when you take it and you get personal with it, it's my job to not only protect my damn household, but protect the players. And I think a lot of the media, including him, and I know he's going to be happy as hell. He's going to be smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about him. Oh, my God. He's going to get home and grab some ice cream out of the fucking...
PBD Podcast
Zelenskyy's OMINOUS Putin Threat | PBD Podcast | Ep. 568
Who, me and Michael? Jordan. Yeah, we're a good spot. We don't talk.
PBD Podcast
Zelenskyy's OMINOUS Putin Threat | PBD Podcast | Ep. 568
Because I'm still playing. I think I'm still playing. I'm still focused on my craft right now.
PBD Podcast
Zelenskyy's OMINOUS Putin Threat | PBD Podcast | Ep. 568
I would hope so. You know, the funny thing is, me and Kobe, besides our late great Kobe, obviously, me and Kobe never had a real relationship either until we was on the Olympic team. We had a great relationship there. Olympic team eight, Olympic team 12. But it was always competitive between us. We were always like, I was on the East Coast, he was on the West Coast.
PBD Podcast
Zelenskyy's OMINOUS Putin Threat | PBD Podcast | Ep. 568
And it was like, even though we never... I fucked up one time in, you know, 09 and didn't beat Orlando. And I think it was 09, didn't beat Orlando and didn't get an opportunity to play him in the finals.
PBD Podcast
Zelenskyy's OMINOUS Putin Threat | PBD Podcast | Ep. 568
Until I became a Laker and then he retired, that's when our relationship, like, became really, really good. Yeah. You know, he, like, welcomed me, called me, like, bro, anything you need in L.A., like, I got you. You're a Laker now. You're family. You know, and we would have multiple conversations. Obviously, you saw him come in a lot of games and things of that nature.
PBD Podcast
Zelenskyy's OMINOUS Putin Threat | PBD Podcast | Ep. 568
And when I passed him in the scoring record in Philly, you know, I think he had a tweet out there, like, keep on going. Like, keep transcending the game. Keep going. And that shit, like, meant so much to me. So, like... I think it's because I'm still playing. And MJ, we all know MJ. Even if you don't know him personally, he's one of the most ruthless competitors there is.
PBD Podcast
Zelenskyy's OMINOUS Putin Threat | PBD Podcast | Ep. 568
And until I'm done and he doesn't have to look at me run up and down wearing the number 23, and every time my name is mentioned, it's mentioned with his, he's like, I don't want to fucking talk to you. Yeah, I want to talk to you. Yeah, I'm on a golf course. Don't talk to me right now. I'm on a back nine. Do not call me. It was great to see y'all at the top 75. Oh, yeah, that was dope.
PBD Podcast
Zelenskyy's OMINOUS Putin Threat | PBD Podcast | Ep. 568
Yeah, that was dope. That's straight respect, admiration, and just like, you know, me for sure. I mean, shit, like I said, I wear 23 because of MJ. You know, and that shit, the inspiration that he gave me is a – A kid at Akron, Ohio that don't have much inspiration in your hometown.
Pardon My Take
Adam Schefter, Reporter Fights In Indy, National Sports Podcast News + Fyre Fest
This was the first moment where I had an inkling that LeBron may not be back. One thing you don't do is fuck with Lebron Cookies. No, no, no, no.
Pardon My Take
Adam Schefter, Reporter Fights In Indy, National Sports Podcast News + Fyre Fest
He loves chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chip cookies and ice cream he loves, right? And so when he gets on the plane, Bron walks on the plane with a bag of food. One bag is all cookies, and the other bags are what his chef has prepared for him to eat, because he eats a certain way. He don't eat what's on the plane. But, you know, he have his cookies.
Pardon My Take
Adam Schefter, Reporter Fights In Indy, National Sports Podcast News + Fyre Fest
So we get on the plane, and we play cards at the front of the plane. We play cards, and then at some point, Bronco be like, hey, bring me those cookies. And this one day, he was like, hey, where my cookies at? And they had to come up there and whisper his name and tell him there weren't no more cookies on the plane. That motherfucker sat back away from the game.
Pardon My Take
Adam Schefter, Reporter Fights In Indy, National Sports Podcast News + Fyre Fest
He pushed that table, that cards back. He sat there quiet. Doing his head like this. I was looking, I'm like. He didn't play cards no more. He sat there like this. You got to know, if the car gang gets shut down, shit's serious. It's serious. If the car gang gets shut down, it's serious. It was too much micromanaging at that point. That's it?