{"id":800303,"date":"2018-12-30T06:03:52","date_gmt":"2018-12-30T11:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=800303"},"modified":"2018-12-29T21:10:12","modified_gmt":"2018-12-30T02:10:12","slug":"happy-birthday-king-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/happy-birthday-king-james\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday, King James!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Time sure does fly.<\/p>\n

Sixteen years ago, a kid from Akron went straight to the league and changed the game forever. Today, Mr. LeBron James<\/strong> celebrates his 34th birthday as a surefire Hall-Of-Famer and arguably (yes, arguably) the NBA GOAT<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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LeBron James at 17 (Photo by Eileen Blass, USA TODAY)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

King James was born on December 30, 1984 and raised by his mother, Gloria. At a very young age the community of Akron, OH saw the talent within LeBron so they supported him as a team to ensure his potential for greatness wasn’t wasted (much like he does now with his I\u00a0 Promise School).<\/p>\n

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(Photo by Tom Pidgeon\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In his high school days, LeBron was dubbed the “Chosen One” and heralded as the greatest high school prospect of all time. Nationally televised games on ESPN, multiple state championships and multiple Mr. Basketball awards, LeBron did it all while lacing ’em up for St. Vincent St. Mary’s.<\/p>\n

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(Photo by Tom Pidgeon\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The entire basketball world had James on their radar. He was obviously too talented for college ball – when there was no age limit – so LeBron went straight from H.S. to the league when he was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers number 1 overall in 2003.<\/p>\n

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MVP hardware.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We all know LeBron’s career plays out after being drafted:<\/p>\n