LeBron James was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. He's a Catholic and went to St. Vincent-St. Mary Catholic High School, from which he was immediately drafted into the NBA upon graduation.
James doesn't talk much about religion, except to be kind of ridiculous. He once likened basketball legend Michael Jordan to "black Jesus"[1] and then once, he blamed God for losing an important game, saying:
The Greater Man upstairs know when it's my time. Right now isn't the time.[2]
It was a bit controversial at the time.
Despite the religion of his upbringing, there is at least one thing about James that some devout Catholics might take issue with. He's spoken about Karma, a Hindu/Buddhist principle, and mixed it with monotheism, saying once of his opponents:
Karma is a bitch. Gets you every time. It's not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything![3]
In his defense, James might have been speaking of Karma in the colloquial sense.
Obligatory Democrat?
James is a huge Obama supporter, a Democrat, but not all that socially aware.
James supported Obama's 2008 bid, donating $20,000 to the cause.[4] He also hosted a free concert to raise money and awareness for the campaign where Jay-Z also lent his starpower. James said at the event:
I want everybody in here, moms, dads, aunts, uncles to get out and vote. November fourth is the most important day of our lives.[5]
James didn't bring up any issues that were of such alleged importance and one wonders if James really cares much about anything. He was even callous enough, in a moment of frustration, to basically tell his critics that he has a good life and they don't.[6] He said:
At the end of the day, all of the people that were rooting for me to fail, tomorrow they'll have to wake up and have the same life that [they had] before they woke up today. They got the same personal problems they had today and I'm going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things I want to do.[7]
Fair enough. A wise man once said: "The best revenge is living well." If that's his philosophy, then so be it. But he sort of comes off as an arrogant elitist.
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