LeBron James will likely go down as one of the top two or three players in NBA history, and he couldn’t have done it without the immense physical gifts he was blessed with from such an early age. But to be able to reach these heights, it’s also taken a tremendous amount of work and daily dedication.
Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were both notorious for their borderline pathological drive to achieve greatness. LeBron is of the same ilk, and in that pursuit, there were always going to be casualties. The sacrifices required often directly affect your personal life and the loved ones surrounding you.
LeBron understands this well, and on a recent episode of teammate Richard Jefferson’s “Road Trippin'” podcast for Uninterrupted, the three-time champ and four-time MVP opened up about the toll his career has taken on his family and even went so far as to apologize to his wife. A tip of the hat to USA TODAY Sports for the text of that segment:
“I am addicted to the process. I’m addicted to the process,” James said. “It’s so funny. I just told my wife the other day, I apologized to her. She was like ‘What are you apologizing for?’ I said ‘Because the journey that I’m on to want to be the greatest to ever play this game or to the point where no one ever forgets what I accomplished, I’ve at times lost the fact of how important you are to this whole thing. … I want you to understand that along this journey while I’m playing this game there will be times that I lose the fact of how important you and my three kids are – my babies are.’”
On the surface, it sure seems like LeBron is a loving father and a dedicated husband to his family, but it’s obviously challenging to juggle so many aspects of life. Even just acknowledging that reality surely goes a long way to keeping his priorities in order.
(Uninterrupted; h/t USA TODAY Sports)
