LeBron

Film and TV producer Benedict (The Dynasty) delivers an engrossing biography of LeBron James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, who is considered by many to be the greatest player to ever grace the court. Drawing from hundreds of interviews and extensive research, Benedict chronicles the star’s hardscrabble Akron, Ohio, childhood, when his teen mother struggled to put food on the table and pay for heat, eventually forcing the two to move in with a neighbor. The instability made James “a quiet kid who seldom spoke up,” though fortunes shifted when he joined a peewee football team at age nine and gained confidence in his athletic abilities. Benedict takes readers through the athlete’s high school basketball days, after which he bypassed college to join the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003; his 2010 move to the Miami Heat; and his eventual return to his home state, helping Cleveland earn its first-ever NBA championship in 2016. LeBron’s achievements off the court get their due, from his anti-racist activism to his founding of an elementary school for at-risk children in Akron. This authoritative account renders the athlete’s life in fascinating, fine-grained detail, though it gives short shrift to recent developments. (James’s tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers—including winning a 2020 NBA championship—gets fewer than 10 pages.) Even devoted fans will emerge with a greater understanding of the superstar. (Apr.)