How LeBron James Redefined the Modern Athlete https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/lebron-james/ A purple smock adorned with smiley faces cloaks LeBron James’ body around 7:30 a.m. one mid-April morning, as he’s groomed for a magazine cover shoot at the L os Angeles Lakers practice facility in El Segundo, Calif. Typically, this would be awful timing for a reflective talk with one of the world’s most famous peopl e. James hasn’t been sleeping well. His speech is groggy. A first-round playoff series with the Houston Rockets opens in three days. He has practice soon. 四月中旬某天早上约 7 点 30 分，LeBron James 身穿一件印满笑脸图案的紫色罩袍，在加 利福尼亚州埃尔塞贡多（El Segundo）的洛杉矶湖人训练馆内，为杂志封面拍摄进行造型整 理。通常来说，这绝对不是与世界上最知名人物之一进行深度对谈的理想时机。James 最近 睡得不好，说话带着疲惫感。距离与休士顿火箭的季後赛首轮系列赛开打只剩三天，而他很 快也要开始训练。 But throughout a rare exclusive interview, James is utterly locked in. In fact, I can’t recall an athlete more present for one of these sit-downs. As some half -dozen people hover around him, James maintains his focus, answering each questi on that comes at him, including the most pressing one: How long does he want to keep playing? 但在这场难得的独家专访中，James 的专注力却完全在线。事实上，我想不起还有哪位运动 员在这类访谈中能如此全神贯注。即使身旁围绕着大约半打人，James 依然保持专注，回答 每一个抛向他的问题，包括那个最迫切的问题：他还想打多久？ “It’s up to the mind,” says James, 41. “Where the mind goes, the body will l ay. When I’m not in love with getting to the arenas on game days five hours bef ore to start my preparation, if I’m out of love with getting to practice 2½ ho urs beforehand, then I know I’ll be done. Because then I'm going to start cheat ing the game.” 「这取决於心态，」41 岁的 James 说。「心之所向，身体便之所往。如果有一天，我不再 热爱在比赛日提前五个小时到达球馆开始准备，如果我不再热爱提前两个半小时到达训练场 ，那我就知道自己该结束了。因为到了那个时候，我就会开始欺骗这项运动。」 Right now, James remains very much enamored. “Hell yeah,” he says. “I’m sitt ing here talking to you. I don’t have a voice, I’ve got practice in an hour. Y ou think I’m not having fun still? I could have my ass at home, with a hot pack on my throat, having a f-cking hot toddy and some scrambled eggs.” 而现在，James 显然仍然深爱着这一切。「当然啊，」他说。「我现在正坐在这里跟你聊天 。我声音都哑了，一个小时後还要去训练。你觉得我现在不是乐在其中吗？我本来大可以待 在家里，脖子敷着热敷包，喝着他妈的热托迪（Hot Toddy），再配上一份炒蛋。」 Instead, James continues to sustain his excellence, to a degree never before see n in major pro sports. Already the leading scorer in NBA history, a middle-aged James once again produced at an All-Star level in 2025–26, his 23rd NBA season. When Lakers stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves missed postseason games with in juries, James showed he can still play head honcho, propelling his team past a t alented Rockets squad, before the Oklahoma City Thunder sent his undermanned tea m home. 相反地，James 依然持续维持着自己的卓越表现，其程度在主流职业体坛前所未见。身为 N BA 历史得分王，这位已步入中年的 James 在 2025–26 赛季——也就是他 NBA 生涯第 23 个球季——再次打出了全明星等级的表现。当湖人球星 Luka Doncic 与 Austin Reaves 因伤缺席季後赛比赛时，James 证明自己依然能够扮演球队老大的角色，带领球队击败实力 不俗的休士顿火箭，直到阵容不完整的湖人最终遭到奥克拉荷马雷霆淘汰出局。 Having entered the NBA as the most-hyped high school athlete in history, James w rote the blueprint for exceeding the types of expectations that felled so many b efore him. His superior skill level and genius hoops IQ as well as the great car e he’s given his physique allowed him to run roughshod over NBA record books: 2 2 straight All-Star selections, all-time leading playoff scorer, most first-team All-NBA selections, etc. “He’s had the greatest career in NBA history,” says two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, who co-hosts the Mind the Game podcast with James. “You combine his peak and his longevity, and there’s nobody that comes close. ” 以史上最受瞩目的高中运动员身分进入 NBA 後，James 写下了一套超越外界期待的蓝图， 而那些期待曾击倒无数前辈。他卓越的技术水准、天才般的篮球智商，以及对自己体魄的细 心保养，让他横扫 NBA 纪录簿：连续 22 次入选全明星赛、季後赛历史得分王、入选年度 第一队次数最多等等。与 James 一同主持《Mind the Game》Podcast 的两届 NBA MVP Ste ve Nash 表示：「他拥有 NBA 历史上最伟大的职业生涯。如果把巅峰高度和生涯长度结合 起来看，没有人能与他并驾齐驱。」 Add in his off-court accomplishments, and James may be the most influential athl ete of the past half-century. In the decades before his arrival, superstar athle tes mostly stayed in their lane. James ushered in the era of player empowerment, showing that you can start companies, mix it up in politics, and elevate the pe ople around you—all while playing like the GOAT of your game. “I don’t think it’s a stretch at all to say LeBron is one of the most important athletes in Am erican history, and one of the most important Americans of the 21st century,” s ays Todd Boyd, professor of race and popular culture at the University of Southe rn California. 再加上场外的成就，James 或许是过去半个世纪最具影响力的运动员。在他出现之前的数十 年间，超级球星大多只专注於自己的领域。James 开启了球员赋权（player empowerment） 的时代，证明运动员可以创立企业、参与政治议题、提升身边人的地位，同时仍在球场上展 现 GOAT 等级的表现。南加州大学种族与流行文化教授 Todd Boyd 表示：「如果说 LeBron 是美国历史上最重要的运动员之一，也是 21 世纪最重要的美国人之一，我完全不觉得这 是夸大其词。」 In the face of public doubt, he entrusted his business affairs to friends, used leverage to make his own decisions on where to play, and engaged with the broade r world around him. He invested his equity in global sports brands, technology, and his hometown of Akron, Ohio, while enjoying healthy returns. “The guy is sm art,” legendary investor Warren Buffett, who’s met with James several times ov er the years, tells TIME. “He’s a smart guy on the court, he’s a smart guy of f the court.” 面对外界的质疑，他选择把商业事务交托给朋友处理，运用自身影响力决定自己的去向，并 积极参与更广阔的外部世界。他将资金投入全球运动品牌、科技产业，以及家乡俄亥俄州阿 克伦（Akron）的发展，并享有丰厚的回报。曾多次与 James 会面的传奇投资人 Warren Bu ffett 对《TIME》表示：「这家伙很聪明。他在球场上很聪明，在球场外也很聪明。」 And while he’s been outspoken about politics and social justice, drawing critic ism from the right, his decades-long career has been basically scandal-free. His big controversy this year? Dissing the hotel he’s stayed at while playing in M emphis. “Everything I say and do is overblown,” says James during his haircut. “I don’t have a problem with Memphis people. People need to know that. I have a problem with that hotel, and I don’t like going there.” 尽管他长期对政治与社会正义议题直言不讳，因而招来右派的批评，但他长达数十年的职业 生涯基本上毫无丑闻。他今年最大的争议？是批评了自己到曼非斯（Memphis）比赛时入住 的饭店。正在理发的 James 说：「我说的每句话、做的每件事都会被放大解读。我对曼非 斯的人没有任何意见，大家必须知道这点。我有意见的是那家饭店，我就是不喜欢去那里。 」 GOAT debates pit James against Michael Jordan, whose come-fly-with-me style, six titles in the 1990s, and rocket fueling of global sports marketing, through Air Jordans and other endorsements, created a lasting legend. While the relative me rits of their basketball bona fides can be—and most definitely have been—argue d ad nauseam, James spoke up on uncomfortable topics. Jordan, on the other hand, said he was reluctant to do so, because Republicans buy sneakers too. 关於 GOAT（史上最佳球员）的辩论，让 James 经常被拿来与 Michael Jordan 比较。Mich ael Jordan 凭藉其飞天遁地的球风、1990 年代六座总冠军，以及透过 Air Jordan 和其他 代言极大推动全球运动行销的影响力，建立起历久不衰的传奇地位。虽然两人在篮球成就上 的相对优劣可以被——而且绝对已经被——令人厌烦地反覆争论，但 James 愿意公开谈论 令人感到不自在的话题；相较之下，Michael Jordan 曾表示自己不愿这麽做，因为共和党 人也会买球鞋。 When I invite James to agree that he’s a more influential athlete than Jordan, he just laughs. “You ask somebody that grew up in the Jordan era, they’re gonn a say Jordan,” says James. “You ask somebody who grew up in the LeBron era”— he pauses for a beat—“they’re still gonna say Jordan.” Which he understands. “Listen, to each his own,” he says. “I can tell you this. I never step my fe et in another man’s shoes, saying, ‘OK, well, sh-t, I got to do better than hi m.’ My journey is my journey. I do what I do. I know what I’ve brought to the table. From a basketball standpoint, an inspiring standpoint, an influential sta ndpoint, I know I can walk in any room.” 当我请 James 认同自己是比 Michael Jordan 更具影响力的运动员时，他只是笑了笑。「 如果你问一个在 Michael Jordan 时代长大的人，他会说 Michael Jordan，」James 说。 「如果你问一个在 LeBron 时代长大的人——」他停顿了一下，「他们可能还是会说 Micha el Jordan。」对此他能理解。「听着，每个人都有自己的看法，」他说。「但我可以告诉 你这点，我从来不曾踩在别人的脚步里，心想着：『好吧，该死，我一定要做得比他更好。 』我的旅程就是我的旅程。我做我该做的事。我知道自己带来了什麽价值。无论是从篮球、 激励人心、还是影响力的角度来看，我知道自己有底气走进任何一个房间。」 Growing up in a tough area of Akron, James spent hours in his own head. “I had so much time to explore and imagine and want to be more than a little Black kid that stays in the house and feels sheltered,” he says. He rarely saw Akron mark ed on maps. “When you feel like you are being slighted, that’s a motivating fa ctor,” he says. “I felt slighted that I was in a single-parent household. I fe lt slighted because I didn’t have any siblings. So I’ve always felt a certain chip on my shoulder.” 在阿克伦（Akron）较为艰困的地区长大，James 花了大量时间沉浸在自己的思绪中。「我 有很多时间去探索、去想像，去渴望成为不只是那个待在家里、感觉被庇护着的小黑人男孩 ，」他说。他很少在地图上看到阿克伦被标示出来。「当你觉得自己被忽视时，那会成为一 种动力，」他说。「我觉得自己被忽视，因为我身处单亲家庭；我觉得自己被忽视，因为我 没有兄弟姊妹。所以我一直都带着一股不服输的心态。」 James, who skipped college to turn pro, was determined to share his success with his inner circle. The Cleveland Cavaliers won the 2003 draft lottery and took t heir native son with the top pick. He won Rookie of the Year and after his secon d season fired his agent and formed a company called LRMR, a first-name acronym for LeBron James and friends Rich Paul, Maverick Carter, and Randy Mims, to hand le his business. Critics derided the move, given their lack of traditional manag ement experience. In 2016 Phil Jackson sparked controversy when he referred to t hem as James’ “posse.” (Jackson later said his "word choice could be somethin g I could regret.") 没有读大学、直接投入职业篮坛的 James，决心要与自己最亲近的圈子共享成功。克里夫兰 骑士在 2003 年选秀抽中状元签，选中了这位家乡英雄。他赢得了年度最佳新人，并在生涯 第二个赛季结束後解雇了他的经纪人，成立了一家名为 LRMR 的公司来处理他的商业事务， 这家公司的名称缩写源自 LeBron James 与好友 Rich Paul、Maverick Carter 和 Randy M ims 的名字。由於这群人缺乏传统的管理经验，评论家对此大肆嘲讽。2016 年，Phil Jack son 以「随从集团（posse）」称呼他们，引发了争议。（Phil Jackson 後来表示，他的「 用词可能是他会後悔的事情」。） “If I would have listened to the narrative of the outside world, I would have b een doomed,” says James. “Because everybody said it was a bad idea. Why am I h iring people with no education? Why am I hiring people that haven’t been in the business? Why am I hiring my childhood friends? Everybody, when it comes to thi ngs that have never been done before, they want you to go to the sound of the be at that was from yesterday, or the beat that was from 10 years ago. My mom never raised me to be that way.” James 说：「如果我当时听信外界的说法，我早就完蛋了。因为每个人都说那是个烂主意。 为什麽我要雇用没有受过正统教育的人？为什麽我要雇用没有业界经验的人？为什麽我要雇 用我的童年好友？每当碰到前所未有的事情时，每个人总希望你跟着昨天的节奏走，或是跟 着十年前的节奏走。但我妈妈从来不是这样教育我的。」 “You know how LeBron James changed the game?” says Paul, from his office overl ooking Beverly Hills, Calif., where he runs the Klutch Sports Group, an agency r epresenting James, A’ja Wilson, Jalen Hurts, Myles Garrett, and some 700 other athletes. “He changed the game because he was the athlete that was willing to t ell that prominent person that was in position with a business card from a high- level corporate institution to go f-ck themselves。” 在加州贝佛利山（Beverly Hills）俯瞰市景的办公室里，负责经营 Klutch Sports Group 的 Rich Paul 如此说道。这家经纪公司旗下客户包括 James、A’ja Wilson、Jalen Hurts 、Myles Garrett，以及约 700 名其他运动员。Rich Paul 说：「你知道 LeBron James 是 怎麽改变这个产业的吗？他改变了游戏规则，因为他是那种敢直接对那些拿着高级企业机构 名片、自认高高在上的大人物说『去你的』的运动员。」 James played seven seasons with Cleveland, winning two NBA MVPs, leading the Cav s to two seasons with 60-plus wins, and reaching the NBA Finals. Still, he fell short of a title, and in 2010 seized an opportunity to join forces with Dwyane W ade and Chris Bosh. On the now infamous ESPN program The Decision, James told th e world he would “take my talents to South Beach.” A portion of the ad revenue , $2.5 million, was donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. James 在克里夫兰效力了七个赛季，期间拿下两座 NBA MVP，带领骑士两度取得 60 胜以上 的赛季战绩，并闯进 NBA 总决赛。然而，他始终与冠军擦身而过，因此在 2010 年把握机 会，与 Dwyane Wade 和 Chris Bosh 联手。在如今声名狼藉的 ESPN 节目《The Decision 》中，James 向全世界宣布自己将「把我的天赋带往南滩（South Beach）」。该节目的部 分广告收入，共 250 万美元，捐赠给了美国 Boys & Girls Clubs。 Still, critics hammered the televised event as egotistical and self-serving. In Cleveland, fans burned his jersey. “It was the most ridiculous thing,” says Ja mes. “I thought it was overblown then. I know it’s ridiculously overblown now. ” The source of the venom was twofold. First, by reporting the news himself and creating a superteam in Florida, he was wresting his story from entrenched powe r structures: the media and NBA suits. Second, superstars were supposed to deliv er titles for the teams that drafted them, like Jordan had done in Chicago, Larr y Bird in Boston, and Magic Johnson in L.A. That James left Northeast Ohio witho ut ending Cleveland’s excruciating championship drought—the city hadn’t won a major pro sports title since 1964—added to the furor. 然而，批评者猛烈抨击这场电视直播事件，认为它自大且自私。在克里夫兰，球迷甚至焚烧 他的球衣。James 说：「那是最荒谬的一件事。我当时就觉得反应被夸大了，现在回头看更 觉得荒谬得离谱。」这股恶意的来源主要有两个。第一，他亲自宣布消息并在佛罗里达组建 超级球队，等於是从既有的权力结构——媒体与 NBA 高层——手中，强行夺回属於他自己 的故事权。第二，超级球星理应为选中他们的球队带来冠军，就像 Jordan 在芝加哥、Larr y Bird 在波士顿、Magic Johnson 在洛杉矶所做的那样。而 James 离开俄亥俄州东北部时 ，仍未能终结克里夫兰自 1964 年以来从未夺得主要职业运动冠军的痛苦乾旱期，更加剧了 外界的愤怒。 “I was comfortable with changing that narrative because my journey is different from those guys’ journey,” says James. He points out that Johnson, for exampl e, in his rookie season joined with Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the fi rst of the five titles they would win together. “I wasn’t privy to that,” he says. “M.J. spent his first couple years without a Hall of Fame teammate. But t hen, boom, they drafted Scottie Pippen, and boom, here comes Phil Jackson.” Bir d, meanwhile, teamed up with Robert Parish and Kevin McHale in year two. “I did n’t see that the franchise was going on the trajectory that I was going on in m y career,” says James. “I wanted more. I wanted to win at the highest level.” He rejects the notion that chasing titles with fellow stars counts as some kind of cheat code. “It’s no different from someone in business going from one pla ce to the next place, because they get a better opportunity to be around better people,” he says. “In sports, sometimes people get so caught up in ‘He should do this on his own.’ I don’t play tennis and I don’t play golf. The way I gr ew up is, we’ve got to do this together as a team.” James 说：「我很坦然地改变这种叙事，因为我的旅程和那些人的旅程本来就不一样。」他 指出，例如 Magic Johnson 在菜鸟赛季就与名人堂球星 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 搭档，并一 起拿下他们将共同赢得的五座冠军中的第一座。「我可没有那种待遇，」他说。「M.J. 生 涯前几年确实没有名人堂队友，但接着，砰，他们选进 Scottie Pippen；再来，砰，Phil Jackson 来了。」与此同时，Larry Bird 在第二年就与 Robert Parish 和 Kevin McHale 联手。James 说：「我看不到球队发展的轨迹有跟上我职业生涯的轨迹。我想要更多，我想 在最高层级赢球。」他不认同与其他球星联手追逐冠军算是某种作弊捷径的说法。「这跟商 界人士从一个地方跳槽到下一个地方没什麽不同，因为他们获得了更好的机会，能与更优秀 的人共事。」他说：「在运动界，有时候人们太执着於『他应该靠自己做到这点』。但我不 是打网球的，也不是打高尔夫的。我成长的方式就是：我们必须作为一支团队，一起完成这 件事。」 Superteams soon became the norm. “It was a turning point for the league,” says five-time All-Star Kevin Love, who played with James and Kyrie Irving during Ja mes’ second tour with the Cavs. “You know who has the power here. In the past, it was always ownership and the front office. LeBron completely flipped that on its axis.” 超级球队很快就成为联盟的常态。曾在 James 第二次效力骑士时与他及 Kyrie Irving 并 肩作战的五届全明星 Kevin Love 表示：「那是联盟的一个转捩点。你很清楚现在是谁掌握 权力。在过去，永远是球队老板和管理阶层说了算，而 LeBron 彻底颠覆了这个轴心。」 James’ move proved prescient, but he was villainized at the time. He embraced t he black hat during his first year in Miami. The low point came in the 2011 NBA Finals, where the Heat dropped Game 6 at home, giving the Dallas Mavericks the t itle. Johnson had four championships in his first eight seasons, Bird three, Jor dan two. James zilch. 事後证明 James 的决定极具先见之明，但在当时他却被妖魔化。在迈阿密的第一年，他主 动接受了反派的角色。最低潮出现在 2011 年 NBA 总决赛，热火在主场输掉了第六战，将 冠军拱手让给达拉斯独行侠。Magic Johnson 在他生涯前八个赛季拿到了四座冠军，Larry Bird 有三座，Jordan 有两座。James 则是零。 After the series, James, who scored nearly 9 points per game below his regular-s eason average in those Finals, seemed to take solace in the misery of others. “ All the people that was rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day, they got t o wake up tomorrow, have the same life that they had before they woke up today, ” he said at a press conference. “They got the same personal problems they had today.” 系列赛结束後，James 在那次总决赛的场均得分比例行赛平均少了将近 9 分，他似乎试图 从别人的痛苦中寻求安慰。他在记者会上说：「所有那些希望我失败的人，到了今天结束後 ，他们明天醒来还是得过着跟今天醒来前一模一样的生活。他们依然得面对和今天一模一样 的个人问题。」 While James now admits he could have been more diplomatic, he regrets nothing—t hose comments, making The Decision a TV show, none of it. “The best teacher in life is experience,” he says. “I learned from that moment. I see how that coul d have been taken. But f-ck, I was angry. I was mad. I was sad. I got stomped on all year. And I let the media get the best of me.” 如今 James 虽然承认自己当时或许可以表现得更圆融一些，但他并不後悔——无论是那些 发言，还是将《The Decision》做成电视节目，他全都不後悔。「人生最好的老师就是经验 ，」他说。「我从那个时刻学到了教训。我明白那些话可能会被怎麽解读。但，他妈的，我 当时真的很愤怒。我很生气。我很难过。我整整一年都被踩在脚下，而我也让媒体牵着我的 鼻子走。」 James transformed his arc that offseason. “That’s not you, bro,” he says. “G et back to who you are.” He traveled to Houston to train with Hall of Famer Hak eem Olajuwon, who taught him footwork tricks. In 2012 and 2013, James won back-t o-back MVPs, and the Heat back-to-back NBA titles. 那个休赛季，James 彻底改变了他的生涯轨迹。「那不是你，兄弟，」他对自己说。「找回 真正的自己。」他前往休士顿与名人堂球星 Hakeem Olajuwon 一同训练，向他学习低位脚 步的技巧。2012 年与 2013 年，James 连续两年拿下 MVP，而热火也连续两年夺得 NBA 总 冠军。 He made strides as a human too. James pushed his foundation to do more than host one-off events, like his annual bike-a-thon. “That loss was the best thing tha t ever happened to the LeBron James Family Foundation,” says Michele Campbell, executive director of James’ nonprofit. “We had some deep conversations about what we were doing and frankly, where we were missing the mark.” Since then, th e organization has started the I Promise School in Akron, for grades 3 through 8 , and funded college scholarships for 25 community members who’ve earned degree s. It’s built affordable housing, provided job training and health care service s, and, in April, opened a restaurant, Buckets, which employs more than 70 local s and serves, among other items, “The GOAT” smashburger. 他在个人成长方面也迈出了步伐。James 推动他的基金会不再只是举办单次活动，例如他每 年的自行车公益活动。「那次失利是 LeBron James Family Foundation 发生过最好的事情 ，」James 的非营利组织执行董事 Michele Campbell 说。「我们针对自己正在做的事进行 了深入谈话，坦白说，也检讨了我们在哪些地方做错了。」自那之後，该组织在阿克伦（Ak ron）创办了 I Promise School，招收三年级至八年级学生，并资助了 25 位已取得学位的 社区居民完成大学学业。基金会也兴建平价住宅、提供职业培训与医疗服务，并於四月开设 了一间名为 Buckets 的餐厅，聘用了超过 70 位当地居民，其菜单品项中包含了名为「The GOAT」的 smashburger（压砸汉堡）。 In February 2012 Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teenager in a hooded sweatshirt, was shot and killed by neighborhood-watch volunteer George Zimmerman in a Sanford, Fla., gated community. (Zimmerman, who claimed self-defense, was later acquitted on second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.) The incident divided the U.S . along racial and political lines. In March, James posted a photo on social med ia of him and his Heat teammates bowing their heads while wearing hooded sweatsh irts. #WeAreTrayvonMartin, James wrote. “It was the exact countermoment to Repu blicans buy shoes too,” says Adam Mendelsohn, James’ longtime communications a dviser. 2012 年 2 月，身穿连帽上衣、手无寸铁的青少年 Trayvon Martin，在佛罗里达州桑福德 （Sanford）的一处封闭式社区内，遭到社区巡守志工 George Zimmerman 开枪射杀。（主 张正当防卫的 George Zimmerman，後来被判二级谋杀与过失杀人罪名不成立。）这起事件 沿着种族与政治立场撕裂了美国。到了 3 月，James 在社群媒体上发布了一张他与热火队 友身穿连帽上衣、低头默哀的照片。James 写下 #WeAreTrayvonMartin。James 的长期公关 顾问 Adam Mendelsohn 表示：「那正好是对『共和党人也买球鞋』那句话最直接的反面回 应。」 James had two young boys. The incident had unfolded relatively close to his city . “Things that hit home have always been easy for me to speak about,” he says. “Things that get into my soul. We’re the most powerful team in the world at t his point. We’re the Heatles. There’s no way we can’t speak up.” In 2014, Ja mes wore an “I Can’t Breathe” shirt in warm-ups at a game against the Brookly n Nets after a New York City grand jury declined to indict the police officer im plicated in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. At the 2016 ESPY awards, after a string of shootings by police, and retaliatory attacks against law enforcement, in places like Minneapolis, Dallas, and Baton Rogue, La., he joined fellow NBA stars Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, and Wade to call on athletes to follow in the footsteps of Muhammad Ali and denounce social injustice and violence. “He coul d have just said, ‘I’m wealthy, I’m untouchable, that doesn’t affect me,’” says Boyd. “But he did the opposite: ‘I’m going to use what influence I have to make a statement. And that’s not going to bring this guy back from the dead . But it’s going to make people talk about this.’” A little over a month afte r the ESPYs, Colin Kaepernick began his protest against inequities, at first by sitting, then kneeling, during the national anthem. 当时 James 有两个年幼的儿子。这起事件发生的地点距离他所在城市相对较近。「那些切 身相关的事情，对我来说一直都很容易开口谈论，」他说。「那些深入我灵魂的事情。在那 个时间点，我们是世界上最强大的球队。我们是 Heatles。我们不可能不发声。」2014 年 ，在纽约市大陪审团决定不起诉涉及 Eric Garner 锁喉致死案的警察後，James 在对阵布 鲁克林篮网的比赛热身时，穿上印有「I Can’t Breathe」字样的 T 恤。在 2016 年 ESPY Awards 颁奖典礼上，在曼非斯（Minneapolis）、达拉斯（Dallas）与路易斯安那州巴顿 鲁治（Baton Rouge）等地接连发生一系列警察枪击事件及针对执法单位的报复性攻击後， 他与同为 NBA 球星的 Chris Paul、Carmelo Anthony 以及 Dwyane Wade 一同呼吁运动员 效法 Muhammad Ali 的步伐，公开谴责社会不公与暴力。「他大可以说：『我很有钱、我高 高在上，这影响不到我。』」Todd Boyd 说。「但他选择了相反的做法：『我要利用我的影 响力发表声明。这虽然无法让死者复活，但能让更多人开始谈论这件事。』」在 ESPYs 结 束一个多月後，Colin Kaepernick 开始了他对不平等现象的抗议，起初是在国歌仪式期间 坐着，随後改为单膝下跪。 James’ activism didn’t hurt his bottom line. He signed a lifetime deal with Ni ke in 2015. He endorsed brands like Kia, Intel, and AT&T. He pushed for equity s takes in enterprises: Instead of taking a fee for promoting Beats by Dre, he neg otiated a small piece of the company; in 2014, he reportedly netted around $30 m illion when Apple bought the brand. In 2021, he and Carter exchanged a minority stake in Liverpool, the English Premier League club, for a broader ownership int erest in Fenway Sports Group, which owns Liverpool, the Boston Red Sox, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2022, according to Forbes, James became the first active NBA player to reach billionaire status. James 的社会倡议并没有伤害他的收益底线。他在 2015 年与 Nike 签下了终身合约。他代 言了 Kia、Intel、AT&T 等品牌。他积极争取企业的股权：他没有单纯收取代言费来推广 B eats by Dre，而是谈判拿到了公司的一小部分股份；据报导，在 2014 年 Apple 收购该品 牌时，他净赚了约 3,000 万美元。2021 年，他与 Maverick Carter 将持有的英超球会利 物浦少数股权，换取了 Fenway Sports Group 更广泛的拥有权权益；该集团同时拥有利物 浦、波士顿红袜与匹兹堡企鹅。根据《Forbes》的说法，James 在 2022 年成为第一位达到 十亿美元身价的现役 NBA 球员。 In a 2014 Sports Illustrated article, James announced that after four years in M iami, he’d be returning to the Cavs. “That was, unintentionally, the starting point for a business,” says Carter, who with James in 2015 launched Uninterrupt ed, a platform for James and other athletes to share their own stories. “I didn ’t quite like the fact that, you know, I could sit and talk to the media for 15 to 20 minutes, and then only two minutes of a sound bite will come out,” says James. “I got tired of being interrupted. I got tired of not letting my voice b e heard thoroughly and all the way through.” 在 2014 年《Sports Illustrated》的一篇文章中，James 宣布自己将在迈阿密效力四年後 重返骑士。「那在无意中成为了一项事业的起点，」Maverick Carter 说。他与 James 在 2015 年共同创立了 Uninterrupted，这是一个让 James 与其他运动员能够分享他们自己故 事的平台。「我不太喜欢这样的情况：你知道，我可以坐下来接受媒体 15 到 20 分钟的访 问，最後却只有两分钟的片段被剪出来，」James 说。「我受够了一直被打断。我受够了自 己的声音无法完整、彻底地被听见。」 Uninterrupted’s signature offering The Shop, a talk show in which athletes and celebrities join James and/or members of his inner circle in barber’s chairs, a ppeared on HBO for four seasons and now runs on YouTube. Credits for his product ion outfit, SpringHill Company, include documentaries on Ali and the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, the Space Jam sequel, and an Adam Sandler basketball drama. (T IME Studios worked with SpringHill on the docuseries Top Class.) Athletes like S teph Curry, Kevin Durant, Peyton Manning, and Patrick Mahomes have followed Jame s into the media space. “I love storytelling,” James says. He wrote his best s cript in 2016 when he led the Cavs back from a 3-1 deficit against the record-se tting 73-win Golden State Warriors to claim the city’s first title in more than 50 years. James was the unanimous Finals MVP and became the first and still onl y player in history to lead a championship series in five statistical categories : points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. Uninterrupted 最具代表性的节目《The Shop》，是一档让运动员与名人坐在理发椅上，与 James 或他的核心团队成员进行对谈的谈话节目。该节目曾在 HBO 播出四季，目前则於 Y ouTube 上运行。他旗下制作公司 SpringHill Company 的作品包括关於 Muhammad Ali 以 及 1921 年塔尔萨（Tulsa）种族屠杀的纪录片、《Space Jam》续集，以及一部 Adam Sand ler 主演的篮球剧情片。（TIME Studios 曾与 SpringHill 合作制作纪录片系列《Top Cla ss》。）Steph Curry、Kevin Durant、Peyton Manning 与 Patrick Mahomes 等运动员， 也纷纷跟随 James 的步伐进军媒体领域。「我热爱说故事，」James 说。2016 年，他写下 了自己最精采的剧本：他带领骑士在总冠军赛逆转创下 73 胜纪录的金州勇士，在 1 比 3 的落後劣势下，替城市赢得了 50 多年来的首座冠军。James 全票获选 Finals MVP，并成 为史上第一位、也是至今唯一一位在总冠军赛系列赛的得分、篮板、助攻、抄截与阻攻五项 数据中，皆领先全场的球员。 That November, Donald Trump was elected President. (James campaigned for Hillary Clinton in Ohio.) As Trump escalated his attacks against athletes who criticize d him, James responded in kind. In September 2017, Trump withdrew a White House invite to the Warriors after Curry said he didn’t want to go. In response, Jame s called Trump a “bum” on Twitter. In 2018, James and Durant knocked Trump in a podcast interview, with James saying Trump doesn’t “give a f-ck about the pe ople,” and Durant mentioning that the country is “not ran by a great coach.” 同年 11 月，Donald Trump 当选总统。（James 当时在俄亥俄州为 Hillary Clinton 助选 。）随着 Donald Trump 不断加大对批评他的运动员的攻击力道，James 也予以反击。2017 年 9 月，在 Curry 表示自己不想前往後，Donald Trump 撤回了对勇士的白宫邀请。Jame s 随即在 Twitter 上称 Donald Trump 是个「bum（混混/废物）」。2018 年，James 与 D urant 在一档 Podcast 节目中批评 Donald Trump，James 表示 Donald Trump 根本「不在 乎人民」，Durant 则提到这个国家「并不是由一位伟大的教练在治理」。 On her Fox News show, Laura Ingraham called James “barely intelligible” and la beled the players’ comments “ignorant.” Then came those flammable four words. “Shut up and dribble,” she said. 在她主持的 Fox News 节目中，Laura Ingraham 形容 James「几乎让人听不懂他在说什麽 」，并将这些球员的言论贴上「无知」的标签。接着，她说出了那句引爆争议的四个字：「 Shut up and dribble（闭嘴去运球）。」 Mendelsohn texted him the next day. “Oh, I laughed,” says James. “I was like, ‘Oh man, this white lady is telling this Black man to shut up and dribble. Are you kidding me?’” James didn’t know who Ingraham was. “I definitely don’t watch Fox News,” he says. “You can put that in all caps. I definitely don’t w atch Fox News.” He knew her now. “I was like, ‘Ohhh man, she has no idea what she just started,’” he says. “This is about to be the complete opposite。” 隔天，Adam Mendelsohn 传讯息给他。「喔，我笑了，」James 说。「我心想：『天啊，这 位白人女士竟然叫一个黑人闭嘴去运球。你是在开玩笑吗？』」James 当时根本不知道 Lau ra Ingraham 是谁。「我绝对不看 Fox News，」他说。「你可以把这句话全部用大写写出 来。我绝对不看 Fox News。」但现在他认识她了。「我当时心想：『喔——天啊，她根本 不知道自己刚刚开启了什麽。』」James 说。「这接下来将会是完全相反的走向。」 James signed with the Lakers in 2018, following his eighth straight trip to the Finals. In his second season with the team, he won his fourth championship, in t he 2020 COVID bubble at Walt Disney World; James became the only player in histo ry to win Finals MVP with three different teams. After Derek Chauvin murdered Ge orge Floyd in 2020, James founded More Than a Vote, a nonprofit whose registrati on efforts increased turnout in key areas that Joe Biden needed to win the 2020 election. Later that summer, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, anoth er Black man, in Kenosha, Wis., NBA players thought about leaving their bubble a nd canceling the season. James led the charge to stay, contingent on NBA owners making meaningful investment in social-justice initiatives. Efforts by the leagu e, players, and coaches helped sign up 20,000 new poll workers; open 23 NBA aren as and practice facilities for voting; and over the past five-plus years, suppor t legislation that protected voting rights in Minnesota and gave formerly incarc erated people easier access to jobs in New York, Utah, and Pennsylvania. 2018 年，在连续第八次打进总冠军赛後，James 与湖人签约。效力球队的第二个赛季，他 就在 2020 年 Walt Disney World 的 COVID 泡泡园区中夺下生涯第四座总冠军；James 成 为历史上唯一一位代表三支不同球队获得 Finals MVP 的球员。2020 年 Derek Chauvin 谋 杀了 George Floyd 後，James 创立了非营利组织 More Than a Vote，该组织的选民登记 工作提升了 Joe Biden 赢得 2020 年大选所需的关键地区投票率。那年夏天稍晚，在威斯 康辛州肯诺沙（Kenosha）的黑人男子 Jacob Blake 遭警方枪击後，NBA 球员曾考虑离开泡 泡园区并取消赛季。James 主导了留下来的决定，但前提是 NBA 老板必须对社会正义倡议 投入实质性投资。联盟、球员和教练的努力，协助招募了 20,000 名新的投票站工作人员、 开放了 23 座 NBA 球馆与训练设施作为投票场所，并在过去五年多来支持相关立法，保护 明尼苏达州的投票权，同时让以前服刑过的人更容易在纽约州、犹他州和宾州找到工作。 “She was like one of them schoolteachers, telling you to stop talking in the ba ck and be quiet,” says James of Ingraham. “But she didn’t realize I was the d ean. This is my school.” 谈到 Laura Ingraham，James 说：「她就像学校里那些老师一样，叫你不要在後面讲话、 要保持安静。」「但她没有意识到，我才是院长。这是我的学校。」 Peers cite James as an inspiration. Last October Novak Djokovic, the all-time le ader in men’s Grand Slam singles titles who turned 39 in May, said James was on e of the athletes motivating him to keep going. Olympians Lindsey Vonn, 41, and Allyson Felix, 40, brought him up when discussing their comebacks. Sleep, soft-t issue massages, strength training, yoga, Pilates, cryotherapy, hyperbaric chambe rs, IVs, and a clean diet have kept James sharp. Some of his longevity stats—he ’s played against 36% of all NBA players, he’s the only player to score 40 or more points in a game in both his teens and 40s, he’s played against 10 sets of fathers and sons in the league—often make him chuckle. “It doesn’t make any sense,” he says. 许多同侪都将 James 视为激励自己的力量。去年 10 月，男子网球大满贯单打冠军数历史 第一、今年 5 月满 39 岁的 Novak Djokovic 表示，James 是激励他持续奋战的运动员之 一。41 岁的奥运滑雪名将 Lindsey Vonn 与 40 岁的奥运田径传奇 Allyson Felix，在谈 到她们的复出时也都提到了他。睡眠、软组织按摩、重量训练、瑜伽、皮拉提斯、冷冻治疗 、高压氧舱、静脉注射疗程以及健康饮食，让 James 始终维持敏锐状态。他那些惊人的长 寿数据——与 NBA 历史上 36% 的球员交手过、是唯一一位在青少年时期与 40 岁後都曾单 场攻下 40 分以上的球员、曾与联盟中 10 组父子档交手——常常让他自己都忍不住发笑。 「这根本没有道理，」他说。 His son Bronny wasn’t born when he made his debut. Now they’re teammates, and the first father-son duo to assist each other on baskets. “Out of all the sh-t I’ve done in basketball,” says James, “that’s the best accomplishment I’ve ever had.” 当 James 完成生涯初登场时，他的儿子 Bronny 甚至还没出生。如今他们成为队友，且是 NBA 历史上第一对互相助攻得分的父子组合。James 说：「在我所有於篮球界做过的事情当 中，这是我拥有过最好的成就。」 James hears the nepotism claims. “The kid has earned his right to be a professi onal athlete,” he says. “The thing you’re not going to do is throw stones at us as a family. I’m not letting that sh-t slide, because I know what I’ve crea ted because of what I didn’t have. So if you want to talk about the kid, that h e shouldn’t be an NBA player, I don’t care about that. As long as you don’t g et to the fatherhood piece. I don’t play those games.” James 听到了外界对裙带关系（nepotism）的质疑。「这孩子靠自己赢得了成为职业运动员 的权利，」他说。「但你们不能做的一件事，就是对我们这个家庭丢石头。我不会让那种狗 屁言论轻易带过，因为我知道自己所建立的一切，正是来自於我曾经缺少的东西。所以如果 你们想谈论这孩子、说他不应该成为 NBA 球员，我不在乎。但只要你们别扯到父亲这个角 色，我不玩那种游戏。」 James appears in no rush to decide on next season. While Bronny remains under co ntract with the Lakers for at least one more year, his dad is entering free agen cy. But when asked if he’d take a discount to come back to L.A. and give the te am more financial flexibility, James declined to comment. He also suggests that it’s unwise to read too much into his interest in golf—a popular retiree pasti me. “I’m happy that I picked it up at this point in my life, but that has noth ing to do with my decision on my playing career,” says James. “That is separat e. I love golf, man. But I also know the main thing is the main thing. And that ’s my love for the game of basketball. If I continue to play, then that’s alwa ys gonna be my passion.” James 看起来并不急着决定下个赛季的去向。虽然 Bronny 与湖人的合约至少还有一年，但 他的父亲即将进入自由球员市场。不过，当被问到是否愿意接受降薪回到洛杉矶，以提供球 队更大的财务弹性时，James 拒绝对此发表评论。他也认为，外界不该过度解读自己对高尔 夫球的兴趣——那是一项受欢迎的退休人士消遣。「我很高兴在人生的这个阶段开始接触它 ，但这跟我对职业球员生涯的决定毫无关系，」James 说。「那是两件不同的事。我很爱高 尔夫，兄弟。但我也知道最重要的事情永远是最重要的事情，那就是我对篮球这项运动的热 爱。如果我继续打球，那永远都会是我的热情所在。」 On their podcast, James told Nash his answer may arrive in August. “I love bein g out there and competing at the highest level, which the postseason is,” James told TIME after the Thunder eliminated the Lakers. “Playing the game that I lo ve and having fun, enjoying the competition, was something that you always live for, no matter where you are in your career.” The lure of family, however, rema ins. His younger son Bryce, who turns 19 in June, is on the basketball team at A rizona, and his youngest child, daughter Zhuri, plays volleyball. 在他与 Steve Nash 的 Podcast 节目中，James 表示答案可能会在 8 月揭晓。在雷霆淘汰 湖人後，他接受《TIME》访问时表示：「我热爱站在球场上、在最高层级竞争，而季後赛正 是那样的舞台。打着自己热爱的比赛并乐在其中、享受竞争，不论你处於职业生涯的哪个阶 段，这都是你一直为之而活的事情。」然而，家庭的牵绊依然存在。他的小儿子 Bryce 将 於 6 月满 19 岁，目前是亚利桑那大学（Arizona）篮球队的成员，而他最小的女儿 Zhuri 则是打排球。 “I’ve spent a lot of time sacrificing,” says James. “I spent a lot of time p utting in the work of my own individual craft, and I’ve had to give up a lot of family time. So a big part of the next 10 years won’t be me getting it back, b ecause you can’t get time back. But my daughter is 11 years old. I’m going to pour into her. I’m going to pour into my wife. Because I wanted to be the great est that ever played this game, I’ve had to not be the complete husband and com plete dad that I want to be.” 「我牺牲了很多时间，」James 说。「我花了大量时间投入在磨练个人的技艺上，也因此不 得不放弃很多陪伴家人的时光。所以未来 10 年的重要部分，并不是要把那些时间拿回来， 因为时间过去了就无法重来。但我的女儿现在 11 岁了，我会把心力灌注在她身上，也会把 心力灌注在我妻子身上。因为我想成为史上最伟大的篮球员，所以我以前不得不放弃成为理 想中那样完美的丈夫与完美的父亲。」 Whenever James hangs up his sneakers, he’ll put a bow on an unprecedented journ ey. “I just knew the police sirens and all that type of sh-t was not for me,” he says. “I knew that the handcuffs was not for me.” And while James won’t di rectly make the case that he’s the most influential athlete of the past half-ce ntury, on the barroom debate about the basketball GOAT, he doesn’t hesitate. 不论 James 何时挂靴退休，那都将为这段前所未见的旅程画下圆满的句点。「我一直就知 道，警笛声和那一类的烂事不属於我，」他说。「我知道手铐绝不是为我准备的。」虽然 J ames 不愿直接为自己冠上「过去半个世纪最具影响力运动员」的头衔，但在关於篮球 GOAT 的酒吧辩论中，他毫不犹豫。 “I’m not taking nobody over me,” says James. “There’s no question. But I th ink Mike will say the same thing. Rest his soul, Kobe will say the same thing. M agic will say the same thing. Bird will say the same thing. Shaq could say the s ame thing. The late great Wilt. Kareem. I don’t think none of us are going to t ake somebody else. If there’s a general manager and he’s eyeballing all of us on a baseline, with the No. 1 pick, it’s gonna be hard not to take me, champ.” 「我不会选任何人排在我前面，」James 说。「这是毫无疑问的。但我认为 Mike 会这麽说 。愿他安息，Kobe 也会这麽说。Magic 会这麽说。Larry Bird 会这麽说。Shaq 也可能这 麽说。还有已故伟大的 Wilt，以及 Kareem。我不认为我们任何人会去选别人。如果今天有 一位总经理站在底线上注视着我们所有人，手里握着状元签，那他很难不选我，老兄。」 - 超长一篇，如有错漏请不吝指教 --

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