On the eve of his 30th birthday, LeBron James sat down with Bleacher Report to reflect back on how he’s changed as both a basketball player and as a man.
One of the more interesting bits from this slightly scripted interview came when King James touched on raising his three children and how fatherhood parallels leading an NBA locker room.
“There’s no encyclopedia or book about parenthood. You learn on the fly. And, as a parent, if you have multiple kids, you can’t teach them all the same thing because they all have different personalities. They’re their own person. And I understand that. The way I can talk to one of my kids has to be different from the other one, because how they react and how they take in the knowledge is different.
And what’s funny is it’s a lot like being a leader of a basketball team. How I speak to Dwyane Wade is different from how I speak to Chris Bosh. How I speak to Mario Chalmers is different from how I talk to Norris Cole. How I talk to Kyrie Irving is different from how I talk to Kevin Love. It’s how they receive the knowledge and how it processes into their mind—that’s how you know you’re doing it the right way. Being able to understand their personalities, and understand their mind, on how they take the knowledge.”
I get what LeBron is trying to say, but he might want to use a different metaphor if he wants people to think he’s a good father.
Apart from his freakish athleticism on the court, King James is best known for pouting in the face of adversity. This season has been particularly difficult for LeBron. The Cavs were expected to be favorites to win it all, but things just haven’t been going their way this year.
Anyone can lead a team when they’re kicking ass, but how does James respond when his squad faces adversity? As the old saying goes, “when the going gets tough,” LeBron blames his teammates. (RELATED: LeBron Is Not Happy The Cavs Kind Of Suck)
WATCH:
That’s the look of an exasperated father.