Lebron James
Sports Illustrated India|January/February 2017

In 2016, Northeast Ohio’s Favourite Son Used His Incomparable Skills to Deliver a Title to a Suddenly Revitalised City, While Using His Voice to Have an Even Wider Impact.

Lee Jenkins
Lebron James

AFTER MIDNIGHT, WHEN the kids are down and the streets are still, LeBron James asks his wife if she wants to go on a cruise. That’s the term he uses, and because Savannah has been with him since high school, she knows he is not referring to a yacht in the Caribbean. They head to the garage, grateful somebody can watch the children, and select one of the more inconspicuous cars from their fleet—usually the pickup or an SUV. And as Northeast Ohio sleeps, they turn out of their gated mansion 20 miles south of Cleveland and continue another 20 miles down Interstate 77, through the darkness and into the past.

The cruise does not follow a defined route. It can start in West Akron or North Hill, Merriman Valley or Lane-Wooster, but it always traces the same stops on a boy’s urban odyssey. There’s no need to fire up the GPS. “I don’t know every address,” James says. “But I can find the places I’m looking for.”

Hickory Street, where Big Mama’s house used to sit high atop the hill, before the city tore it down. “My first home,” James says. His mother, Gloria, who gave birth to him at 16, raised him there with her mother, Freda, across from the low-slung lawn maintenance centre. All that’s left on the property is an asphalt driveway in the woods and railroad tracks running through hickory trees in what used to be the backyard.

Overlook Place, up the block, where he and Gloria lived with the Reaves family after Big Mama died and they struggled to pay the electric. “The Reaveses cut out the bottom of a crate and nailed it to the telephone pole,” James remembers. “I hooped all day on that crate.” Now the neighbourhood kids have a real portable basket and a trampoline on the corner of Overlook and Hickory.

Bu hikaye Sports Illustrated India dergisinin January/February 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye Sports Illustrated India dergisinin January/February 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED INDIA DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Hockey World Cup- India Gears Up For Glory
Sports Illustrated India

Hockey World Cup- India Gears Up For Glory

Hosts India will have to play out of their skins to win their second Hockey Men’s World Cup title.

time-read
10 dak  |
December 2018
The Drive For Consistency
Sports Illustrated India

The Drive For Consistency

Find something you love doing and use that to fall in love with your body, so you can embrace change and sustain a pattern that lets you unlock the best version of yourself

time-read
3 dak  |
May 2018
The Phenomenon
Sports Illustrated India

The Phenomenon

Kevin Pietersen may have retired from playing, but he will remain a part of the game and Test cricket folklore for a long time

time-read
4 dak  |
May 2018
Powering The Action
Sports Illustrated India

Powering The Action

The IPL is intense. Players let off the fireworks on the pitch, but it is the coaches and support staff that light the fuses. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED traces the evolution of this critical aspect of the game, and why Indians still need to make a mark

time-read
9 dak  |
May 2018
A Steep Learning Curve
Sports Illustrated India

A Steep Learning Curve

Making the transition from the junior level to the senior team has been quite challenging but a hugely rewarding experience.

time-read
4 dak  |
August 2016
Scorecard - Don't Blame It on Rio
Sports Illustrated India

Scorecard - Don't Blame It on Rio

Apathy towards the Olympics could cast golf in a negative light and jeo paradise its standing with the IOC for the 2024 Games and beyond.

time-read
5 dak  |
June - July 2016
Bench Strength
Sports Illustrated India

Bench Strength

With the Likes of Nair, Yadav, Jadhav and Chahal Performing With Maturity Over the Past Year, Team India’s Bench Strength Looks Strong Ahead of the Champions Trophy.

time-read
9 dak  |
March 2017
Sir Roger Bannister (1929-2018)
Sports Illustrated India

Sir Roger Bannister (1929-2018)

A legend in his own time, Sir Roger was most proud of his neurology research but his historic sub-four mile run in 1954 is still regarded as one of his best breakthroughs

time-read
2 dak  |
April 2018
Battle Ready
Sports Illustrated India

Battle Ready

A star-studded Indian contingent seeks to reshape its approach with rising talent, even as seasoned warriors in badminton, weight-lifting, shooting and wrestling aim for gold

time-read
9 dak  |
April 2018
Safe Passage
Sports Illustrated India

Safe Passage

The Dustup That Marred the Return of Chris Paul to L.a. Has Faded. As the Point God Settles Into a New Home, He Has a New Running Buddy and a Group of Teammates Who Feel Like a Family

time-read
10+ dak  |
April 2018