Last Updated on January 1, 2025 by Mathew Diekhake
Lebron James was drafted first overall by his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Unable to win in Cleveland, he, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh realized that they as free agents all at the same time could join one another and play for the Miami Heat. That is when they chose to play for the Miami Heat. Lebron spent four years in Miami and won two championships before Wade had knee problems that he would never overcome, and Lebron went back to Cleveland. Lebron later left Cleveland to play for the Lakers.
If you wanted to make a case for Lebron James being the best player in NBA history, you would look at his career length. Lebron is the first player in NBA history to play in the NBA with his own son. Moreover, he is the first player to play on the same team as his son. It was rumored that Lebron wanted to play on the Lakers with his son Bronny for years. As we got closer to Bronny being drafted, Lebron reportedly didn’t care about playing with Bronny. Once the draft day arrived, Lebron’s agent was calling teams and telling them not to draft Bronny or he’d be off playing in Mexico rather than their ball club. Bronny fell to the Lakers with the 55th overall pick (second round) and was drafted by the Lakers. Lebron’s next contract and Bronny’s rookie contract could conclude at similar times.
Lebron played for the Heat in the prime of his career even though his statistics declined. The reason his stats declined while playing for the Heat was that he didn’t have to do as much for the team because it had other very good players capable of doing some scoring themselves, et cetera. Declining stats are not always a sign of a declining player.
NBA MVP AND FINALS MVP SEASONS
Lebron James, while playing for the Miami Heat, won the NBA Most Valuable Player award (2012, 2013) and NBA Finals MVP award (2012, 2013).
Notes: Bold indicates Miami Heat seasons. Purple indicates NBA Most Valuable Player seasons (LeBron James – 2012, 2013).
Career Stats
| SEASON | TM | GP | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% |
| 03-04 | CLE | 79 | 39.5 | 20.9 | 5.5 | 5.9 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 41.7 | 29.0 |
| 04-05 | CLE | 80 | 42.4 | 27.2 | 7.4 | 7.2 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 47.2 | 35.1 |
| 05-06 | CLE | 79 | 42.5 | 31.4 | 7.0 | 6.6 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 48.0 | 33.5 |
| 06-07 | CLE | 78 | 40.9 | 27.3 | 6.7 | 6.0 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 47.6 | 31.9 |
| 07-08 | CLE | 75 | 40.4 | 30.0 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 48.4 | 31.5 |
| 08-09 | CLE | 81 | 37.7 | 28.4 | 7.6 | 7.2 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 48.9 | 34.4 |
| 09-10 | CLE | 76 | 39.0 | 29.7 | 7.3 | 8.6 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 50.3 | 33.3 |
| 10-11 | MIA | 79 | 38.8 | 26.7 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 51.0 | 33.0 |
| 11-12 | MIA | 62 | 37.5 | 27.1 | 7.9 | 6.2 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 53.1 | 36.2 |
| 12-13 | MIA | 76 | 37.9 | 26.8 | 8.0 | 7.3 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 56.5 | 40.6 |
| 13-14 | MIA | 77 | 37.7 | 27.1 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 56.7 | 37.9 |
| 14-15 | CLE | 69 | 36.1 | 25.3 | 6.0 | 7.4 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 48.8 | 35.4 |
| 15-16 | CLE | 76 | 35.6 | 25.3 | 7.4 | 6.8 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 52.0 | 30.9 |
| 16-17 | CLE | 74 | 37.8 | 26.4 | 8.6 | 8.7 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 54.8 | 36.3 |
| 17-18 | CLE | 82 | 36.9 | 27.5 | 8.6 | 9.1 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 54.2 | 36.7 |
| 18-19 | LAL | 55 | 35.2 | 27.4 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 51.0 | 33.9 |
| 19-20 | LAL | 67 | 34.6 | 25.3 | 7.8 | 10.2 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 49.3 | 34.8 |
| 20-21 | LAL | 45 | 33.4 | 25.0 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 51.3 | 36.5 |
| 21-22 | LAL | 56 | 37.2 | 30.3 | 8.2 | 6.2 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 52.4 | 35.9 |
| 22-23 | LAL | 55 | 35.5 | 28.9 | 8.3 | 6.8 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 50.0 | 32.1 |
| 23-24 | LAL | 68 | 35.1 | 25.4 | 7.2 | 8.2 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 53.6 | 41.3 |
| Regular | 1,489 | 37.9 | 27.1 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 50.6 | 34.8 | |
| Playoffs | 282 | 41.3 | 28.5 | 9.0 | 7.2 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 49.5 | 33.1 |
Playoff Stats
| SEASON | TM | GP | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG% | FT% | 3P% |
| 2005-06 | CLE | 13 | 46.5 | 30.8 | 8.1 | 5.8 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 47.6 | 73.7 | 33.3 |
| 2006-07 | CLE | 20 | 44.7 | 25.1 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 41.6 | 75.5 | 28.0 |
| 2007-08 | CLE | 13 | 42.5 | 28.2 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 41.1 | 73.1 | 25.7 |
| 2008-09 | CLE | 14 | 41.4 | 35.3 | 9.1 | 7.3 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 51.0 | 74.9 | 33.3 |
| 2009-10 | CLE | 11 | 41.8 | 29.1 | 9.3 | 7.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 50.2 | 73.3 | 40.0 |
| 2010-11 | MIA | 21 | 43.9 | 23.7 | 8.4 | 5.9 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 46.6 | 76.3 | 35.3 |
| 2011-12 | MIA | 23 | 42.7 | 30.3 | 9.7 | 5.6 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 50.0 | 73.9 | 25.9 |
| 2012-13 | MIA | 23 | 41.7 | 25.9 | 8.4 | 6.6 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 49.1 | 77.7 | 37.5 |
| 2013-14 | MIA | 20 | 38.2 | 27.4 | 7.1 | 4.8 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 56.5 | 80.6 | 40.7 |
| 2014-15 | CLE | 20 | 42.2 | 30.1 | 11.3 | 8.3 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 41.7 | 73.1 | 22.7 |
| 2015-16 | CLE | 21 | 39.1 | 26.3 | 9.5 | 7.6 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 52.5 | 66.1 | 34.0 |
| 2016-17 | CLE | 18 | 41.3 | 32.8 | 9.1 | 7.8 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 56.5 | 69.8 | 41.1 |
| 2017-18 | CLE | 22 | 41.9 | 34.0 | 9.1 | 9.0 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 53.9 | 74.6 | 34.2 |
| 2019-20 | LAL | 21 | 36.3 | 27.6 | 10.8 | 8.8 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 56.0 | 72.0 | 37.0 |
| 2020-21 | LAL | 6 | 37.3 | 23.3 | 7.2 | 8.0 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 47.4 | 60.9 | 37.5 |
| 2022-23 | LAL | 16 | 38.7 | 24.5 | 9.9 | 6.5 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 49.8 | 76.1 | 26.4 |
| 2023-24 | LAL | 5 | 40.8 | 27.8 | 6.8 | 8.8 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 56.6 | 73.9 | 38.5 |
All-Star Stats
Lebron James spent his entire career playing for the Eastern All-Stars before the format of the All-Star game was changed during the 2017-18 NBA regular season when team captains were delegated the task of choosing their teams. Each of the two captains would take turns to choose the players they wanted on their teams, akin to the schoolyard, though the player pool was still decided by fan votes.
| SEASON | TM | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG% | FT% | 3P% |
| 2/20/2005 | EST | 31 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 46.2 | 0.0 | 25.0 |
| 2/19/2006 | EST | 31 | 29 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 57.1 | 20.0 | 40.0 |
| 2/18/2007 | EST | 32 | 28 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 55.0 | 100.0 | 50.0 |
| 2/17/2008 | EST | 30 | 27 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 54.5 | 100.0 | 28.6 |
| 2/15/2009 | EST | 27 | 20 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 42.1 | 100.0 | 40.0 |
| 2/14/2010 | EST | 32 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 45.5 | 100.0 | 16.7 |
| 2/20/2011 | EST | 32 | 29 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 55.6 | 90.0 | 0.0 |
| 2/26/2012 | EST | 32 | 36 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 65.2 | 75.0 | |
| 2/17/2013 | EST | 30 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 38.9 | 50.0 | 42.9 |
| 2/16/2014 | EST | 33 | 22 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | |
| 2/15/2015 | EST | 32 | 30 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 52.4 | 80.0 | 33.3 |
| 2/14/2016 | EST | 20 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 46.2 | 20.0 | |
| 2/19/2017 | EST | 19 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 58.8 | 37.5 | |
| 2/18/2018 | TLJ | 31 | 29 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 70.6 | 100.0 | 50.0 |
| 2/17/2019 | TLJ | 27 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 52.9 | 0.0 | 12.5 |
| 2/16/2020 | TLJ | 19 | 23 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 45.0 | 75.0 | 20.0 |
| 3/7/2021 | LBN | 13 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 28.6 | 0.0 | |
| 2/20/2022 | LBN | 36 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 45.8 | 18.2 | |
| 2/19/2023 | LBN | 14 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 54.5 | 20.0 | |
| 2/18/2024 | LBN | 14 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 40.0 | 0.0 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Lebron James play for the Miami Heat?
Yes. Lebron James played for the Miami Heat for four seasons: 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14.
How many championship rings does Lebron James have with the Miami Heat?
Lebron James won two championship rings during the four years he spent with the Miami Heat (2011-12, 2012-13).
When did Lebron leave the Heat?
Lebron James left the Miami Heat after the 2013-14 season to go and play for the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time. Notes: Lebron James started a podcast recently with JJ Reddick called Mind the Game, which is a podcast featuring technical analysis and more.