NBA superstar LeBron James has a peculiar relationship with the city of Cleveland, his hometown. He came from very humble beginnings raised by a struggling single mother. Gloria James gave birth to James when she was a teenager. But his basketball talents would soon lay them the platform for a comfortable life. James soon became a national sensation and was the top prospect. He was dubbed the ‘Chosen One’ because of the dominance and maturity he displayed on the hardwood at a very young age.

Like a fairytale movie, his hometown team, Cleveland Cavaliers selected him as the #1 pick in the 2003 NBA draft. The Cavaliers have never won an NBA title in the history of their franchise. People of the city felt James would be the one to bring them their long-awaited championship. And the teenage superstar had the enormous pressure of winning his city a title.

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But James was unable to win a title for the Cavs initially and left the team for the Miami Heat in 2010. After James left the Cavs, they again got a shot at the #1 pick, and this time they selected Kyrie Irving. Filling in for James is not an easy task. The pressure of winning a title for the city fell on Irving.

Filling the shoes of LeBron James

Recently, Irving opened up about it on “The Shop by Uninterrupted” podcast. Irving said, “The prodigal son ‘Chosen One’ has left. And here we have this 19-year-old kid. I’m 6’2, I’m not jumping out of the gym. Emotionally I was dealing with things that I had no idea. Had nothing to do with me. So when I took on that pressure as my own, I started feeling like ‘I gotta bring Cleveland back to the promised land.'”

Coming straight from high school, James dominated the league. He did not look like a boy among men. In fact, his athleticism helped him push around grown men of the league with ease. And eventually, he won the Rookie of the Year award. He helped the Cavs win 18 more games than the previous year.

In the 2006-07 season, James led the Cavaliers to the NBA finals against the San Antonio Spurs. The star-studded and experienced Spurs came out as the winners. In the 2007-08 season, James and the Cavs were beaten by the eventual champions Boston Celtics. LeBron James was constantly in the mix for the best players in the league and finally won the MVP award in 2009. In 2010, he shocked the city of Cleveland by opting to sign for the Miami Heat.

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After winning two titles with the Heat, James would come back to his home team. Finally, he led them to an NBA title with Kyrie Irving on his side in 2016. And they did that in style by beating the regular season record holders Golden State Warriors after going down 3-1 in the Finals.