Source: Ezra Shaw / Getty
LeBron James has opened up about his relationship with white people prior to joining the NBA on the premiere episode of his HBO series, The Shop. In the first episode, which featured celebs such as Vince Staples and Odell Beckham Jr., James spoke in the barbershop, saying that he had never been around white people until he attended Catholic high school, St. Vincent-St. Mary. He said, “I went to an all-white high school. So when I first went to the 9th grade in high school, I was on some like, I’m not f**king with white people.”
James continued, “I was so institutionalized growing up in the hood. It was like, they don’t f**k with us. They don’t want us to succeed. So I’m like I’m going to this school to play ball, and that’s it… It’s me and my boys. We going here to school together. We going there to hoop. That was my initial thoughts, initial shock to white America when I was 14 years old. Took me a while to adjust to it.”
James later said that he fought with whether or not he was being accepted for his talents or personality, adding, “It’s hard to bounce because I’m a kid that plays this game at such a high level. You’re in your mind like are they happy that I’m here because of who I am or because of my conversation that I can have with them?”
