LeBron James has voiced his strong concerns regarding the current state of youth sports. Speaking on his podcast, Mind the Game, with Luka Dončić and Steve Nash, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar identified worrying trends such as focusing on a single sport from a young age, year-round participation, and the impact of social media figures. He believes these factors are contributing to premature physical and mental exhaustion among young athletes. As a father of three, James shared insights from raising his own children and how today`s sports environment differs significantly from the past.
The prominence of travel teams and off-season training programs has grown across all sports, becoming central to the modern youth athletics model. While they can offer valuable exposure for college recruitment and development opportunities, they also impose significant demands.
“I think a lot of kids, they burn the hell out,” James stated on his podcast. He elaborated on the consequence of constant engagement in one sport: “You burn out at 22, 23, 24 because you`ve just been doing it. Or younger. They just say, `To hell with it. I don`t even want to play no more.`” James advocates for young people to have the freedom to explore different activities rather than being confined to just one sport.
James himself was a versatile athlete in high school at Akron (Ohio) St. Vincent-St. Mary`s, where he also excelled as a wide receiver in football. There is still debate about how successful he might have been in college or the NFL. Ultimately, he chose basketball and was selected as the number one overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft directly out of high school.
Drawing from his personal experience as a parent, James explained, “I`ve made sure that our kids, and my wife included, have always taken a break.” He and his wife communicated clearly to their children, “This is not an all year-round thing for you guys.” Their reasons were twofold: to prevent burnout and to ensure sufficient family time.
James`s sons, Bronny and Bryce, are both accomplished basketball players who attracted significant interest from major college programs. Bronny played one season at USC before departing and being drafted by the Lakers. Bryce recently committed to play college basketball at Arizona. His youngest child and only daughter, Zhuri, plays volleyball.
Given his status as one of the greatest basketball players ever, James and his family live under constant public scrutiny, which brings its own set of challenges and opportunities.
James also pointed a critical eye towards some individuals involved in training young athletes. He feels that many skills coaches and trainers are more focused on gaining personal fame than on the athletes` development. “A lot of their skills coaches and trainers and stuff that`s involved in a lot of these kids` lives, they actually want to be more famous than the actual kid,” said James. He added, “They think they`re more important than the actual kid that they`re training. Their motive is not pure. They want to be on the camera. They want to be recognized. They want to talk to the media. … That`s not the objective.”
Jasper Hawthorne