Please welcome LeBron James.
-♪ ♪ -(cheering, applause)
Thank you, thank you.
Oh, wow.
Thank you.
You guys are far too kind. Far too kind.
They love you, man, they love...
I-I made a... I should have had chalk for you, though.
I didn't think of that.
You could have come out and done that.
Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being here.
-I'm happy to be here, man. Thank you. -You look dapper
in a suit, may I say that. You look...
-I borrowed one of yours. -I...
I feel like mine would look like a five-year-old's on your body.
Before we go into the interview, before we go...
I got a... I've got a bone to pick with you,
uh, LeBron James.
I-I... So, I used to travel a lot
doing stand-up all over the world.
And because of that, I chose shirts
that didn't wrinkle easily and still looked good on stage.
So I used to wear, almost exclusively,
LeBron James T-shirts, right?
-The Nike shirts with the lion. -Okay.
-'Cause I'm from Africa, obviously. So, the lion. -Right.
And then... and then I came to the U.S.,
and I came to Cleveland just after you had left.
And I didn't know the whole story.
I was just wearing the shirts.
And people (bleep) on me so hard.
People... I'm not even... People would walk...
They were... "You asshole! Get out of here, you ass...
Burn that shirt! Aah!"
And I was like... It was the most depressing thing.
I was on stage, people booed me, because I didn't know about,
like... You know? And I was like, "But the guy moved, and.."
But, I got to say, like, if ever someone has redeemed a shirt...
We were in Cleveland a few weeks ago
for the Republican convention. Same shirts, same streets,
and people were like, "Dope shirt, man!
Dope shirt, man!"
So, thank you. Thank you for that.
You sent me on a whirlwind, but welcome, welcome to the show.
Oh, man, appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
Welcome to the show. You are, uh, you are prolific,
you are a legend, you are a future hall of famer.
You-you are everything, and yet your life
doesn't just revolve around basketball.
I'm just gonna go straight into this, 'cause it was
probably one of the most amazing things I've seen.
This is you and some of your friends
-at the ESPYS. -Okay.
Let's use this moment as a call to action
for all professional athletes to educate ourselves,
explore these issues, speak up,
use our influence,
and renounce all violence.
And, most importantly, go back to our communities,
invest our time, our resources,
help rebuild them,
help strengthen them,
help change them.
We all have to do better.
-Powerful words. -(cheering and applause)
Powerful words.
You're an NBA... you're an NBA superstar.
Why do you feel you need to say something like that
-in a sports forum? -Uh, it just comes natural to me.
Um, and, you know, for me, personally,
um, I know where I come from,
you know, growing up in the inner city in Akron...
Akron, Ohio. And I know the challenges that kids have.
-Yeah. -And-and for our society to become as great
as it should be, I think it starts from the ground up.
And it starts in our communities,
our own communities, going back into our communities,
using our resources, using our knowledge, you know?
Anybody can lend money
or anybody can go give an appearance.
But I think actually being there and them seeing you
gives them... it gives the kids hope.
And, uh, you know, without the kids, we have no future.
So it-it just comes natural to me,
and I understand what they go through.
I walked the same, uh, streets as them.
-Yeah. -I-I breathed the same air as those kids.
I know what they go through, you know, growing up
in tough situations. So, um, I think
it's very important, for all of us.
You-you, uh... you got into Wheels for Education.
I mean, that was really your-your first foray
-into this, independently. -Yeah.
You-you didn't have a way to get to school when you were a kid.
-No. -You struggled getting to school,
and so you started a program to help kids out.
-And now you start with third graders. -Yeah.
Why third graders specifically?
Well, uh, between myself and my office
and everyone at my foundation, there was...
We read up on it, and the statistics showed
that, um, if kids get behind in the third grade,
then it's the least amount
of chance for them to graduate high school.
-Yeah. -And so that's why we started in third grade.
And yesterday was my, uh,
LeBron James Family Foundation Reunion
where we welcome another third grade class into our program,
-and this is our sixth year now, so... -Wow.
-Uh, and... uh, thank you. -(applause and cheering)
-Wow. -This is our sixth year, and it was unbelievable how...
If anybody has ever come to Ohio,
and been to Sandusky, Ohio, and been
-to the great Cedar Point amusement park... -Yeah.
-I brought 5,000 families yesterday... -Wow.
...to the amusement park for our reunion.
-(applause and cheering) -Wow. I...
I think it's fascinating that you say, get involved...
-Yeah. -...and actively get involved,
because you do something that is honestly the meanest
and most amazing thing ever.
You record messages for these kids...
-(laughing): Oh. Yeah. -...to inspire them.
So, for those who don't know, LeBron James records messages
and sends them out to these kids,
so if they're not, like, at school,
then you'll get a message from LeBron James.
(laughter)
Do you not understand how heartbreaking that is?
-(laughter) -Like, that's...
What do you say? What do you say in the call?
Uh, well, if you don't, if you miss school,
uh, they will get a phone call and say,
"Hey, listen, you are very important to the classroom,
"and you're very important to your friends and your family.
We need you in school."
If you're not doing well in school,
I'll say, "Well, listen, we need you to read the books,
"we need you to stay in the classroom
and listen to your teachers."
And there's also times, because I know kids--
they would try to get slick
and try to miss a couple days of school to...
'Cause they want the message from LeBron James.
(laughter, applause)
So I'll show up at the school on 'em and be like,
"Listen, I know what you're trying now.
I was a kid at one point, too."
So I would stay on 'em.
This is like the best guidance counselor in life ever.
You better stop messing around.
LeBron James is gonna show up and...
That's just so... it's-it's a beautiful story.
You're also, um, helping these kids,
not just in third grade, but you're trying
-to get everyone through to a college education. -Yeah.
Yeah. We... That's funny, because I partnered
with the University of Akron a few years back,
and, um... if our kids--
-and the criteria is very attainable. -Yeah.
If our kids can get from the third grade
and graduate through high school,
then there's a college scholarship waiting on them.
-Wow. -Just full ride, just waiting on them.
-(cheering, applause) -I, uh...
I have a hunch...
I have a hunch that you do that--
is-is that part of the guilt, maybe, that you have
-because, uh... -(laughter)
No, I mean, there's probably kids out there
who've come up to you and gone, "Hey, LeBron,
"I was gonna go straight from high school to the NBA,
but you shut that down, so now I got to go to college."
-Is that why you did it? -Well, I-I've had kids say,
"Well, Mr. James, um, you want us to go to college,
"but I read something about you, you didn't go.
And I thought it was 'practice what you preach.'"
And I was like, well, you know, back then
when I had an opportunity-- I'm a lot older than you--
college... college, they didn't have college
-when I came out of high school. -(laughter)
Oh! Oh, man, before... before we go to a break,
one of the most innovative things that you do,
honestly blew me away, is you're not just providing education
for the kids, you have a program where you help parents
-Yeah. -get a GED.
Yeah, absolutely. And it's funny you say that.
-(cheering, applause, whistling) -Thanks.
And... and, you know, Trevor, it's funny you say that,
because as much as we... as much as we want
to hit home on the kids, what happens in their household
-means a lot as well, so, you know, -Yeah.
I have all my kids that's looked after,
I have mentors that look after them,
I have high school kids that look after my kids as well,
but when they go home, they have to have someone else
they look up to as well, and sometimes, you know,
you have a lot of parents that's not educated as well.
So we've given the opportunity for parents in these households
that didn't graduate high school to get an opportunity
to graduate, get a GED as well, so they can feel like,
you know, parents do their work, kids do their work,
they feel like, listen, we're all empowered,
and it's pretty cool what we're able to do.
It's-it's something. It's an amazing initiative.
Uh, you-you have managed to do something.
You know, it's-it's funny, uh, after you made that statement
at the es... at the ESPYS, uh, with your fellow stars
and close friends, um...
I've seen you guys on Instagram partying without me.
Um...
(laughter)
You... you, in essence,
crossed a line that many people
have been afraid to cross.
So many athletes have always said, "I don't want
"to get involved because it may taint my brand.
-I'm a sportsman; I can't get involved." -Right.
You know, Michael Jordan famously never got involved,
and yet a week after that, even Michael Jordan has now
-come out and started speaking. -Right.
Do you feel that this is the groundswell?
Why did you feel it's important as an athlete to go,
-"I know I'm making money... -Right.
...but I can still speak to issues."
Yeah, I mean first of all, I-I'm...
I-I don't have all the answers.
-I'm not a politician. -Yeah.
Um, let's-let's throw this out there right now.
-(laughter) -That's not me.
I know we look good in these suits up there...
-(Noah laughs) -...but we're not politicians.
-I'm not a politician, but... -Yeah, yeah.
-I-I-I know what I'm about. -Yes.
And I know what I represent.
And I know how many kids
-look up to me for guidance. -Yeah.
And, I feel like if there's something else going on
in our society, um, that I feel very comfortable
-or very passionate about... -Yeah.
...then I'll speak upon it, no matter... no matter what
anyone says about it, um, because it doesn't matter to me.
I know I'm passionate about it.
I'm knowledgeable about it.
And I know how many kids that look up to me as...
as a role model, as a leader, and some-some of them,
as a father, as well, as a father figure.
Um, so... i-it's what I do.
I-- i-if it's not up for other athletes, then-then...
I'm not giving... I'm not saying, "Listen, go do it."
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so it's not pressure.
-It's-it's-it's not pressure. -Yeah.
But it's... it's comfortable to me.
It's what I do, and, uh, you know, I like to...
I like to give back.
It-it is truly, a... a magical thing to see
because a lot of people don't understand, as you said,
it is not fighting.
-It is just saying, "This is my experience." -Right.
"This is my world."
Seeing you on the court,
wearing shirts, wearing, like,
wearing bandannas, wearing those...
it's just... it's a powerful thing.
And I-I think I'm not the only one who says
-I-I appreciate it when I go. -Well, thank you.
LeBron James is part of it.
(cheers and applause)