Brian Windhorst is sharing a rather interesting anecdote about LeBron James this week.
Appearing Wednesday on “NBA Today,” the ESPN reporter Windhorst went viral for his revelation about the Los Angeles Lakers star James. During a segment about multi-sport NBA players, Windhorst noted how James had played football in high school as a wide receiver. Windhorst said James was about to quit football after his sophomore year but changed his mind after R&B singer Aaliyah died in a plane crash.
“He was gonna stop playing [football] after his sophomore year,” Windhorst said of James. “Then Aaliyah, one of his favorite singers, died in that plane crash. He decided he was not going to live his life being afraid. Aaliyah’s passing got him to come off the sidelines.
“He skipped the start of his junior year,” Windhorst added. “He missed the first game of the year, joined the second year with no practice, no training camp, played 12 games, had 1,200 yards and 11 touchdowns, and was one of the greatest receivers in the history of the school.”
Here is the full clip.
“[LeBron James] was going to quit football after his sophomore year, then Aaliyah, one of his favorite singers, died in a plane crash. He decided he wasn't going to live life scared."
Brian Windhorst reveals why LeBron played football 🏈
(via @ESPNNBA)pic.twitter.com/i8W98mQWIE
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 11, 2023
Known for such hits as “Try Again” and “One in a Million,” Aaliyah died along with eight others in an Aug. 2001 plane crash after filming a music video in the Bahamas. She was just 22 years old at the time of her passing.
The timing does match up for James, who was 16 years old at the time and just about to enter his junior year at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio in the fall of 2001. Windhorst was already covering James at the time too since James was a highly-touted prospect by then who had already been named Ohio Mr. Basketball and been selected to the USA Today All-USA First Team.
On top of that, a version of the Aaliyah story did indeed appear in James’ very first profile for Sports Illustrated in Feb. 2002.
This story is in LeBron's original SI cover story with Grant Wahl
(https://t.co/qtkHVK2WVf) pic.twitter.com/jkCg0fvuvV
— Rob Lopez (@r0bato) October 11, 2023
James would obviously end up ditching football eventually to focus on basketball and didn’t play football at all as a senior due to a wrist injury suffered in an AAU basketball game. But he was still really superb on the gridiron and once even got a college scholarship offer from a very well-known football coach.
