It's hard to even remember a time when LeBron James wasn't in the NBA.
The King has played for more than two decades between the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers, but he really did play basketball before he was in the league, too.
There's a viral clip going around social media of James hooping when he was just 12 years old.
It's awesome.
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Maybe the coolest part is just how special a passer James already was at that age. It's an ability that has almost seemed innate in him, and clearly, it has been, because it showed up before he was even a teenager.
Check it out here:
Rare footage of 12 year old LeBron at the 1997 YBOA Championship game 👑 pic.twitter.com/otgDvCVcYi
— LeBron Factory (@LeBronFactory) February 7, 2026
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It looks like LeBron still has to hit another growth spurt there, but it's clear he's in control in every spot on the floor.
A couple of his shots are pretty unconventional, but as the best player on the floor, you can fling some things up there and make them anyway.
James went on to be a storied high school player at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio.
In his day, players didn't have to go to college, so James was the No. 1 overall pick by the nearby Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft.
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The rest is history.
But yeah, there are some hoopers out there who can say they played against the King before he had fully gotten his crown.
It's so cool that these highlights exist, because they're quite the look into the past to see what LeBron was like before the whole world knew his name.
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