With a net worth of $1.4 billion, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is the third NBA billionaire and the first to become one while still playing in the league.
But before LeBron achieved financial success and lived a life fit for a king, he was a kid from Akron raised by a single mother in the Spring Hill Apartments at 1180 Rentar Lane. And like any other government housing project in the United States, the young King’s abode was small and modest. Because of that, he did not know what a pantry was until he was a high school freshman.
“I went to my high school coach’s house; his name was Coach Dambrot. I went to his house and asked him ‘Can I get a snack or like some chips?’ Or whatever the case may be,” recalled LeBron during a recent episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast.
“He was like, ‘Yeah, just go in the pantry.’ I’m like, ‘What the hell is a pantry?’ I’m like, ‘Where I grew up, everything is on top of the refrigerator, bruh – the bread, the chips, the cereal. Everything is on top of the refrigerator. I don’t know what the hell a pantry is.’
James family lived in Apartment No.602
Gloria James was only 16 when she became pregnant with LeBron. Without a permanent home, they moved from couch to couch, including in the summer of 1993 when they relocated five times during a three-month period.
Later that year, LeBron met his youth football coach, Bruce Kelker, who offered Bron to stay with his family for five days during the week, while Gloria was on the waitlist for a government project. When she finally got her own place – Apartment No. 602 at the Spring Hill projects, LeBron moved back with her. It wasn’t much, but it felt like home.
“Sliding glass doors separate each balcony from the living room and the rest of the apartment. The floors are carpeted and the walls white. In unit 602, a TV sits in the corner, up against the back wall and a couch and coffee table anchor the space. Down the hallway are two bedrooms, one bigger than the other, complemented by one-and-a-half bathrooms. The gas stove is next to the sink, opposite the single-door refrigerator, on tile flooring in the kitchen,”wrote Joe Vardon of The Athletic in 2022.
“That was my motivation, right there,” added James. “Like, I gotta get my mama a pantry.”
Related: “That one instant showed me who and what he is” – Robert Parish reveals when he felt betrayed by Larry Bird during Celtics contract dispute
LeBron bought Gloria a new house after signing with Nike
On May 22, 2003, or one day before the NBA Draft Lottery, Nike signed LeBron to the biggest shoe deal ever handed out by the company during that time. During an appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show” last year, “King James” revealed that he immediately got his mom out of the projects after inking his Swoosh contract.
“I signed with Nike cause I got a hell of a signing bonus and they gave me a seven-year $90 million contract and I moved my mom out of the hood the next day I signed that contract, and ultimately, my whole thing is like, ‘What do I want to wear off the court?’ I want to wear Nike. I want to wear Jordans, I want to wear Penny’s,” James said.
It’s unclear where LBJ moved Gloria following his Nike deal. But after he was drafted first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft, Bron bought a 5.5-acre lot with an 11-bedroom house in Bath Township. Near the property, he got Gloria her own house. You can bet that property has a pantry.
Related: “He’s a damn fool” – Why LeBron’s mother Gloria wasn’t buying the $90M hype in 2002
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.