To say that LeBron James has had a great year thus far is an understatement. In July, the 31-year-old signed a new three year, $100 million deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers that will make him the highest paid player in the league in 2017-18 season, and earlier this year, he signed a lifetime deal with Nike worth over a billion dollars. And oh yeah, he led his Cavs to the NBA title, defeating the Golden State Warriors after being down 3-1 in the series, giving Cleveland their first major sports title in 52 years. The man is clearly successful both on and off the court. Now he plans on taking his success to the classroom.
LeBron James recently stated that he will pursue a college degree during his free time at the University of Akron. James, who is a native of Akron, Ohio, skipped college and went directly to the NBA after his senior year at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in 2003.
Said James regarding his choice to go back to school: "I'm signed up at the University of Akron for whenever I'm able to get a little bit of down time … That's always been a conversation that took place — to take some college courses, take some classes. So right now I just do a lot of reading, book reading, and obviously I'm around some really good people that I kind of take their knowledge and sort it into my mind."
(Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
James said that he plans on learning more about world history. "I love world history, just the history of how everything was put together. I love that part of things, and people that founded the world, made this world such a beautiful place. I'm pretty fond of that," said the 31-year-old James. "I love when I go around, obviously every summer traveling places, and it's kind of unique to see how we kind of built things. Who kind of ruled places at certain points of time. It's pretty cool."
Though James chose to forgo his college eligibility when he left high school for the NBA, James has fully supported education for the younger generation. He established the "I PROMISE" initiative last year, which guaranteed a full four-year scholarship to the University of Akron to any student that completed the program.
Congrats to LeBron for deciding to continue his education.
