LeBron James is still playing at the highest level even at age 35. James was drafted first overall in the 2003 NBA Draft by his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Even in his 17th year in the league, James continues to be one of the best, if not THE best player in the NBA. But for the first few years in his career, it seemed like his potential would go unrealized.

After being drafted by the Cavs in 2003, James went from strength to strength. He took a fledgling team and turned them into title contenders. From 2003 to 2010, Cleveland made it to the playoffs four times. They even made it to the conference finals three of those times. But James was never able to lead the Cavs to an NBA Finals victory. With no genuine star around to help him, James eventually left Cleveland to join forces with friends Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in Miami. James became one of the most hated figures in the NBA, especially in Cleveland, after this move.

James won two NBA Championships with the Miami Heat, but felt as though he had unfinished business in Cleveland. He returned to the Cavs in 2014. He delivered on his promise of bringing a championship to the city in 2016, leading the Cavaliers to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals. What made this more impressive was that he did it against the winningest regular-season team in NBA history, the Golden State Warriors.

LeBron James always wanted to learn

Larry Hughes, a former teammate of LeBron James talked about his experience with him. Hughes was with the Cavaliers from 2005 to 2008. Hughes said that ‘The King’  was always trying to learn. He said:

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“Man ‘Bron was learning then. He wanted to play with me, and that was part of my decision to leave Washington. Because I knew how, I could see what this guy was about to do and I knew what I wanted to accomplish as well. That was ultimately winning a championship. So, coming in, he had that glow. For us being teammates, he was a guy that took a lot of time to listen to people and have conversations. Through all the guys within the locker room on the plane. Because it was a veteran group, a lot of guys from different places…. All of these guys had different experiences, but what Bron did is he would go and have conversations with them, and he would listen… It was more of him taking in all the information in, and applying it to the god-given talent he had, and that’s what made it a good connection.”

Hughes and James led Cleveland to the NBA Finals in 2007 but fell to the San Antonio Spurs. James did not have enough to usurp Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker, getting swept 4-0. James led the team in every stat in the Playoffs that year, indicating how little help he had.