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Lakers News: LeBron James Explains Mindset That's Made Him One Of NBA History's Best

The superstar's supreme confidence helped him become one of the best ever.

Matt Wagner

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LeBron James' story has been well chronicled by this point.

He was a household name by 16 years old, leading St. Vincent-Saint Mary's High School to state championships, garnering player of the year honors, gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated, and becoming arguably the greatest high school basketball player of all-time.

Surely the No. 1 pick out of that high school in Akron couldn't live up to the incredible hype?

Now 20 years after becoming the top selection in the 2003 NBA Draft, James is 38 and not only remains in the best league in the world, but he's still at the height of his powers.

As for the mindset that's made him one of the best in NBA history, the Lakers forward said on the latest episode of Showtime's The Shop that it's all about confidence in himself.

Four championships later and having earned the distinction of being the NBA's all time leading scorer along the way -- a record that had gone untouched for 38 seasons before he broke it this past February -- number six's confidence has been a driving force in what's been a Hall of Fame career.

For LeBron, his mindset shifted shortly after he left the Cleveland Cavaliers and joined the Miami Heat in 2010.

LeBron announced his move in the infamous "Decision" show live on ESPN, and the way he broke the news was both unprecedented and controversial.

Using some choice words to describe his change, it was after his first season in Miami where James began to not pay attention to critics, and at that point it was all just about doing what's best for himself -- a mindset he summed up succinctly.

"I'm him."

--LeBron James on Showtime's "The Shop"

He won all four of his champions following that shift in mentality, so I'd say that worked out for him.

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Matt Wagner
MATT WAGNER

Matt Wagner was born and raised in southern California, and he lived there before moving to Colorado and getting his B.A. in Communications from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 2022. He relocated back to southern California in 2023 and is looking forward to covering the teams that mean so much to his home area. Some of his past work is in Bleacher Report, Dodgers Tailgate, and, most recently, Colorado Buffaloes Wire. Aside from writing, you can probably catch him petting the nearest dog or eating some good Mexican food.

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