LeBron Raymone James (born December 30, 1984) is an
American professional basketball player who
currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the
National Basketball Association (NBA). Commonly
nicknamed "King James" and "The Chosen One", the
Akron, Ohio-born James was highly promoted in the
national media as a future NBA star while still in
high school, and was named Ohio's "Mr. Basketball"
three times. At the age of 18, he was selected with
the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the
Cavaliers and signed an unprecedented US$90 million
shoe contract with Nike before his NBA debut. He has
since set numerous youngest player records. In his
first season, he received the NBA Rookie of the Year
Award and in the following three seasons received
All-NBA and All-Star honors. He led the Cavaliers to
back-to-back playoff appearances in 2006 and 2007;
the latter year the team advanced to the Conference
Finals for the first time since 1992 and the NBA
Finals for the first time in franchise history.
James is listed as a small forward, but can also
play point guard and shooting guard. This
versatility has led to his classification as a
"point forward." James was a member of the United
States men's national basketball team that won the
bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens and he
finished second in the league Most Valuable Player
balloting in 2006.
