Decoding Lebron James

By Adwaith Shamjith, Grade 6

When you read the title, this is what you might be thinking: " What could you possibly need to know about a basketball legend?" Although not everyone knows that Lebron James received a gold medal twice in the Olympics, 2 x Gatorade Player of the Year, and received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2017, it is less of his traits, and more of his name. "Le" in French means "the", "Bron" means " source" in Afrikaans and James means " supplanter" in the Bible. So, Lebron James means The Source Supplanter, and a supplanter is someone who takes the place of another. This matches Lebron James-- think about it! Lebron James is the "source" of legendary basketball skills, and he takes the place or replaces a lot of other basketball players. Lebron James also has another meaning-- Lebron means " the brown" in French, referring to the word " brun" ( which sounds like bron), and means brown in French, because whenever someone wore brown clothing, especially a shirt, they would be wearing " brun" colored clothing. James means someone who follows so Lebron James refers to the "brown follower" as brown is a mix of a lot of colors mixed together and since Lebron James played for three different NBA teams, the brown part refers to his variety of teams and how he is following in the steps of great heroes of basketball. Lebron James's name can also be scrambled to make new words. For example, Lebron James can be scrambled and you can find the words jamborees, renames, blames, and jerboa. It is interesting to look further into someone's name because you never know what interesting, wacky, or shocking facts you may discover. Lebron James's name itself carries forth a destiny, and Lebron James has achieved it, in small and big ways.