The Truth About LeBron James' Relationship With His Mom

LeBron James is still playing basketball, and he's already a legend. Regardless of whether he is or isn't greater than Michael Jordan, James has more than written his name in the history of the game. But James's talents might have gone unexplored had it not been for a school coach, Frank Walker, who decided to take matters into his own hands. James's mother, Gloria James, was just 16 when she gave birth to him, an event that came shortly before she lost both her grandmother and mother, according to The Guardian. LeBron's father, Anthony McClelland, wasn't in the picture, resulting in the teenage Gloria raising LeBron with no help after losing the two most important people in her life. As a result, LeBron grew up in less than optimal conditions. "I saw drugs, guns, killings; it was crazy," LeBron, who hails from Akron, Ohio, told the British publication in 2003.

Coach Walker saw both the skills and the hardship in LeBron. So he asked Gloria if he could take LeBron to live with him and his family for some time during fifth grade. "My life changed. I had shelter and food. I'll never forget what the Walkers did for me, especially Frank," LeBron told The Guardian. LeBron was soon the talk of the basketball world. In 2002, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated next to the words: "The Chosen One" — the first high school junior student to achieve the feat. But LeBron knows nothing would have been possible without Gloria's sacrifices.

LeBron James sees that every decision his mother, Gloria James, had to make, she made with his best interest at heart. After becoming a father for the first time in 2004, LeBron learned the immense amount of strength that goes into raising a child — a realization that instilled in him greater respect for his single mother. "There is no way, even in the position I am today, would I be able to raise LeBron by myself or raise Bryce by myself. Couldn't happen. I don't know how you did it. I still haven't figured it out," LeBron, who has since welcomed his third child, Zhuri, with wife Savannah, said in his acceptance speech at the 2009 MVP Awards.

In 2014, LeBron wrote a heartfelt essay for Maria Shriver's "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Pushes Back from the Brink" (via TODAY), in which he credited Gloria as the reason for his success. "You think LeBron James is a champion? Gloria James is a champion too. She's my champion," he wrote. LeBron described Gloria's decision to send her 9-year-old to live with coach Frank Walker for a year as "a supreme sacrifice." Gloria spent weekends with her son and saw that he was blossoming, giving her proof she had made the right decision. During that year, Gloria found steady employment and rented a two-bedroom apartment. "I moved back in with her. We stayed together until I finished high school. The rest is history," LeBron wrote.

Gloria James became the subject of bizarre dating rumors involving LeBron James's then-teammate Delonte West in 2010. It all started when the Cavaliers were eliminated from the playoffs, with LeBron playing particularly poorly. The reason? LeBron had just found out his mother had been sleeping with West, as Bleacher Report hypothesized at the time. The rumors went viral. In the span of days, the James-West speculation had become a news story, as Deadspin noted. But most of it appeared to be rooted in nothing but random emails, though sports gossip site Terez Owen ran with it, Deadspin detailed.

West not only denied any romantic involvement with Gloria, but he also decried the media for going after LeBron's mother. "Number one, something like that never happened. I don't know where they got that from. For a strong black woman like that, for people to try to tear her down, that's terrible. That's terrible in so many ways," West told The Dallas Morning News in February 2012. LeBron and his mother did not publicly respond, but their lawyer sent a cease and desist letter to Terez Owen that categorized the reports as "categorically false and per se defamatory," TMZ reported in May 2010. "No thinking person could possibly believe such rubbish," it read.

Through the ups and downs, LeBron continues to show his affection for Gloria. "Your son continues to be inspired by you!" LeBron captioned an Instagram post to celebrate her birthday in February.