LeBron James stood on a stage near one of the streets that he walked as a troubled kid and looked out at thousands of faces.
While his 3-year-old daughter, Zhuri, played at his feet, James watched as his mother, Gloria, raised a flag in front of a school that is perhaps his greatest accomplishment, it’s called the “I Promise School”; a year-around learning center devoted to some of the city’s most challenged youngsters – ones just like him.
Just for a little background story,
James recalled missing 82 days of school as a fourth grader while he and his mom “looked for stability”
“This means everything,” James told The Associated Press in an interview before the public event. “I think this is the greatest accomplishment for me because it’s not just me. A championship is for a team, that’s for an organization and a city. But these kids, this is for generation after generation after generation and it’s for these kids, so it means everything.”
It was easily a highly emotional day for LeBron, who also made his first comments since signing the $154 million deal with the Lakers.
James recalled beating the odds of his youth when life was a daily struggle for him and his mom. Nothing was easy as the two of them as they moved around so it was only with the help of others than James found structure then.
Now, he’s giving kids with the same problems a path.
