LeBron James has two Olympic golds and a bronze. He will looking to add another gold to his tally, in Paris.

Considered as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, LeBron James is also considered the best by a huge section of fans. He will be turning 40 soon and will participate in his fourth Olympic appearance in Paris, but also his first since 2012.

Rise to stardom
Born in Ohio, LeBron was a basketball prodigy right from the start and led his school team to multiple state championships and also was the National Player of the Year during his second year.
After his high school career which shot him to stardom, he was selected as the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He also became Rookie of the Year after his first full season and played for the USA in his debut Olympics in Athens 2004, clinching bronze.

One of the greatest
Soon, he became one of the best players in NBA history. During his stunning seven-season stint with the Cavaliers, he collected plenty of individual awards, including a MVP award, although he never got the Championship trophy with them.

He later won the c’ship title with Miami, whom he joined in 2010. He got two titles, and two more MVP awards during his four-year stint with the Heat. He led the USA to gold in Beijing Olympics 2008, and repeated it in London 2012. He returned to Cavaliers in 2016, where he was key in their first c’ship trophy. Then, he signed for the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent in 2018 and got the c’ship in his third season, also his fourth NBA title.

In February 2023, he also crossed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387 total points and became the all-time NBA leading scorer in history.

What did he say?

Speaking on his return to the Olympics, he said, “I think just timing. Timing’s everything, and I think — you know, at this point in my career, I still, I have a lot to give, and Team USA has given a lot to me, so I feel like it’s an opportunity for me to give back.”

Speaking on life, when he retires from the sport, he said, “I hope it’s not just talking about basketball. You know, for me, what I do in our community and the people that I inspire all over the world is what I want my — a lot of my legacy to be talked about.”

“Basketball has definitely given me an opportunity to see parts of the world and do things that I’ve never, I would never even imagine or be able to do without it. But if my legacy is only talking about the game of basketball, then I failed in my mission, so — we’ll see, though,” he added.