“This is where it all began,” Gloria James said as she grabbed the rim of the Little Tikes basketball hoop. “I’m thinking it’s too tall for him to play with, so I put it down and he falls out, acts a fool, ‘I want it up, I want it up,’ I said you’re not going to make any baskets if I put it up. ‘Put it up!’”
“…He always played it at this height,” Gloria said of the four-foot hoop, “At two years old.”
“Mom they’ve got a long walk, let them just start walking,” LeBron James called to his mother standing in the doorway of another room in their replicated apartment located in the LeBron James Home Court Museum in Akron, Ohio.
“Okay,” she replied warmly, “Continue and enjoy.”
The museum, which opened in November, is located in the LeBron James Foundation’s House Three Thirty, a workforce development facility part of the I Promise initiative to institute generational change in James’ hometown.
Because the Lakers were playing Cleveland that weekend, LeBron and his teammates visited opening weekend and received an exclusive tour from the man whose life they were examining—and his mother.
The exclusive exhibit has artifacts spanning from when James was a child through his illustrious NBA career. It’s no wonder Gloria had so much to share.
“I used to get on my mom a lot for saving everything since I started playing sports,” James explained, “But a lot of stuff in there is because of the stuff that she saved.” Everything from his actual high school computer in his bedroom to the iconic white suit he wore on draft night in 2003 can be seen in the rooms that make up the museum of his life. In addition to James’ home, there is a replica of the St. Vincent-St. Mary’s High School basketball locker room, a section dedicated to his professional basketball career, including chapters from the Cavaliers, the Heat, and the Lakers. And then there is a room dedicated to his family and professional endeavors off the court. Trophies, photos, newspaper clippings, uniforms, sneakers, audio and video clips, and more give color to the small and big moments of LeBron’s life that shaped who he became.
“All right so just a quick little background,” LeBron commanded his teammates’ attention on somewhere other than a basketball floor. “This door—obviously everyone knows SpringHill, my SpringHill company right now—but that stemmed from when me and my mom finally found a stable place to live. We moved into an apartment called Spring Hill Apartments. And this is basically the door that we’re going to enter to our apartment that we spent a lot of time in. It was the first time I got a key to a place. I moved there in the middle of sixth grade and stayed there basically through high school.”
“So, this is the beginning of,” LeBron holds a long pause and displays a smirk, “Yeah—of the museum.” When he opens the door and everyone pours inside, straight ahead is a beige couch facing a TV with two TV trays set up in front. The trays have retro McDonald’s packaging sitting on top. To the right is a shelving unit covered in picture frames.
“So, this is basically exactly how our apartment looked,” LeBron declared. “My brother’s right there so he will tell you, I’m not lying. This is exactly how our apartment looked. The kitchen, the living room, my bedroom, this is one of the TVs we had at the time. But go ahead, look around.”
Gloria commented on the accuracy of the cleanliness of LeBron’s replicated bedroom, “He’s very meticulous, very tidy.” In the kitchen two boxes were sitting on the counter, Little Debbie’s Star Crunch and Creme Pies, Gloria would include one of these in LBJ’s lunch every day.
LeBron’s mom explained how she had the smallest place with the most kids because LeBron’s high school friends always wanted to come over. At one point there were so many friends hanging out and staying at the apartment, she sacrificed her bedroom!
Usually, museums house things from history that have long passed, but LeBron’s Museum is a window into who he was, and who he is, as we witness who he is still becoming. He had the opportunity to show this part of himself to his current teammates—proof that he’s still very much writing his history.
“It’s crazy ’cause it’s all like relatable,” someone on the tour was overheard saying.
Sometimes the magnitude of what you’ve done can be seen through the minute details of the normalcy of your life. Maybe what cements you as legendary is when people can see themselves in the greatness of your story.
