LeBron

By: Jeff Benedict

Narrated by: Chris Jackson

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the #1 bestselling author of The Dynasty and Tiger Woods—the “definitive…fantastic” (Sports Illustrated) biography of basketball superstar LeBron James, based on three years of exhaustive research and more than 250 interviews.

LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of the twenty-first century, and he’s in the conversation with Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time. The reigning king of the game and the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, LeBron wears the crown like he was born with it. Yet his ascent has been anything but effortless and predetermined—the truth is vastly more interesting than that.

What makes LeBron’s story so compelling is how he won his destiny despite overwhelmingly long odds, in a drama worthy of a Dickens novel. As a child, he was a scared and lonely little boy living a nomadic existence in Akron, Ohio. His mother, who had LeBron when she was sixteen, would sometimes leave him on his own. Destitute and fatherless, he missed close to one hundred days of school in the fourth grade. Desperate, his mother placed him with a family that gave him stability and put a basketball in his hands.

“An absorbing chronicle of talent, character, pluck, and luck” (Wall Street Journal) LeBron tells the full, riveting saga of how a child adrift found the will to become a titan. Jeff Benedict, the most celebrated sports biographer of our time, paints a vivid picture of LeBron’s epic origin story, showing the gradual rise of a star who, surrounded by a tight-knit group of teenage friends and adult mentors, accelerated into a speeding comet during high school. Today LeBron produces Hollywood films and television shows, has a social media presence that includes more than one hundred million followers, engages in political activism, takes outspoken stances on racism and social injustice, and transforms lives through his visionary philanthropy. He went from a lost boy in Akron to a beloved hero who uses his fortune to educate underprivileged children and lift up needy families—and brought home Cleveland’s first NBA championship.

But LeBron is more than just the origin story of a GOAT or a recap of his multi-championship, multi-MVP, gold medal-decorated career on the court. Benedict delves into LeBron’s relationship with fame and power: how he has cultivated it, harnessed it, suffered from it, and leveraged it. In this book, we watch his evolution from a player who avoided politics and was widely criticized for not joining his teammates in protesting China’s role in the Darfur genocide to becoming an athlete who partnered with President Obama; campaigned for Hillary Clinton; became an advocate against gun violence, racism, and voter suppression; and openly clashed with President Trump, empowering other athletes to speak out against social injustice.

To capture LeBron’s extraordinary life, Benedict conducted hundreds of interviews with the people who were involved with LeBron at different stages of his life. He also obtained thousands of pages of primary source documents and mined hundreds of hours of video footage. Destined to be the authoritative account of LeBron’s life, LeBron is a “masterful…propulsive” (Los Angeles Times) and unprecedented portrait of one of the world’s most captivating figures.

©2023 Rockspring Media, LLC. All rights reserved. (P)2023 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Chris Jackson’s clear tone matches the author’s writing style—it’s not flashy or showy and has no wasted emotion. Jackson stays focused and delivers consistent enunciation. This is an interesting listen, thanks to a writer who doesn’t overwrite and a narrator who brings steady storytelling to this account of James’s lives in Akron, Cleveland, Miami, and Los Angeles." (AudioFile Magazine)

Must Read…

If you are interested in knowing why so many call him the GOAT, It isn’t a mystery, just look at the trials and tribulations this young man went thru 🤷🏽‍♂️. We would miss him if he was just a baller, but this MAN is sooo much more 🔥

Excellent

Overall the book is fantastic. Narration is good and clear even at faster playback. The story and reporting on LeBron is insightful and well worth the listen.

Inspiring

One of the best biographies ever written. Benedict is a masterful storyteller. He’s done us all a huge favor by telling Lebron’s true story. Absolutely inspiring.

LeBron is the Greatest

This is a masterpiece! LeBron’s story has encouraged me to strive for excellence each day and never give up on my dreams.

wish I could give it a four and a half so I round

learned a lot I didn't know about LeBron. after a while got tired of hearing a bit over-the-top descriptions of his play ... he is good ... some would say great, but so were others.

LeBron is my GOAT and has nothing left to prove!

I hope LeBron gets to play with Bronny! This was a great book and I loved learning more about the details of LeBron’s rose to stardom. The details of his relationship with reporters especially sports writers was so insightful! Thank you Jeff Benedict for putting together a masterful book of details about the Greatest Of All Time Athlete not only in basketball but arguably in all sports, and in life! The fact that he has devoted himself to his beautiful wife Savannah and their children is something that is almost unheard of. I’m so thankful I have been able to watch and enjoy LeBron’s game from the beginning, and the book gives so many details of games I watched over the years that just brought back so many memories both good and bad!
Thank you for this insight into LeBron’s career and his relationship with Maverick (The Shop is still one of my favorites), Rich (so happy for him and Adele) and Randy (what an awesome job to have!)
Great read if you are a true fan of the game of basketball!

Wonderful Book

I loved the book. The story, the narration, and the research that went into the book. Once I started listening to it, I could not stop. I finished it in just a few days.

What can I say... This is a fantastic account of

I was so excited to see this title. The best player in the game.

Great listen!!

Really enjoyed listening to a story that I knew about but was not as informed As I thought I was. Great learning a lot more details about His great story!

Great story

Amazing story, amazing athlete! Excellent author and a worthwhile of your time to learn of this remarkable and rare human being.