Growing up surrounded by his mother and coaches in his hometown of Akron, LeBron James has never admitted that his father abandoned him and his mother.

At least three people have claimed LeBron James as their son since he became the NBA’s most famous star a decade ago. The first was the family of Roland Bivins, a former basketball player who was murdered when James was eight years old and had no idea he existed.

But when LeBron began to create a fever in the NBA in 2003, Bivins’ family immediately claimed James was their blood relative. Believing it was a publicity stunt, LeBron never accepted a DNA test to see if he was Bivins’s son. The incident was quickly forgotten.

Many people have claimed to be LeBron James’ biological father over the past decade. But Anthony McClelland is the name confirmed by James’ mother. Photo: ESPN.

The second person is Bryce Stovell, a lawyer in Washington. In 2010, he claimed to have slept with Gloria, James’ mother, about a year before the NBA superstar was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧. Bryce even provided genetic data to prove he was not lying. However, the results of James’ DNA test showed that Bryce’s story was completely fabricated.

Finally, and most accurately, Anthony McClelland is LeBron’s real father. Without speaking out, without genetic testing, McClelland was acknowledged by Gloria James herself. The American media then conducted many investigative reports on McClelland’s background. The collected data showed that he was almost certainly James’ biological father.

LeBron James and his mother were abandoned in their most difficult times. That’s why the NBA star never intended to meet his biological father. Photo: ESPN.

Gloria James confirmed that Anthony McClelland was her only 𝓈ℯ𝓍ual partner in the years before LeBron was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧. There was no love between them, but they came together to satisfy their physical pleasures. “I couldn’t love a gangster like Anthony. But he was really attractive in that matter. Anthony’s muscular body and reckless personality made me agree to sleep with him,” Gloria shared in an interview with Time in 2010, when Bryce Stovell claimed to be LeBron’s biological father.

Anthony McClelland is exactly as Gloria described. He is tall, has a face similar to LeBron James, and has an arrogant personality. Despite living at the bottom of society, McClelland has never appeared in the press seeking fame for being LeBron James’ biological father. The images published by the American press about him are mainly prison photos kept at the local police station.

According to Gloria, when she announced her pregnancy, McClelland said outright that he was not interested in being a father. The notorious gangster of the Akron railroad area was later imprisoned for theft. A few years later, after being released from prison, McClelland was involved in drug trafficking and hired murders in nightclubs. The number of times he was in and out of prison, therefore, was countless during LeBron James’ early years.

“He is not the father in the traditional sense. As LeBron always told me, he is only the ‘biological father’. He does not pay attention to LeBron’s existence because he is too busy with his gangster life. We have not seen each other since I gave 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 to LeBron. I have never intended to see him again and never will,” Gloria affirmed.

The world might not have seen LeBron James’ extraordinary talent if his 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥hood had been peaceful. Photo: AP.

On Christmas Day 2014, LeBron James wrote on Twitter to thank McClelland for abandoning him and his mother. “I thank him for not meeting me. Because he abandoned me, I am who I am today. He helped me go from $10 in my pocket to $100 million in my bank account. I have no reason to meet him, and vice versa,” LeBron firmly declared.

Nearly a decade ago, ESPN first published information about McClelland, with suspicions that the man with a long criminal record was LeBron James’ father. The article claimed that McClelland had intended to come and meet his famous son, but was arrested before he could do so. However, no one has yet verified this information. At that time, the best player in the NBA simply told ESPN: “I’m going to keep some things far, far away from me.”

Now, Anthony McClelland has completely disappeared and is no longer the target of investigation by NBA reporters in the US. Somewhere, he may still be watching LeBron play every week, winning prestigious awards and earning huge amounts of money. McClelland, at some point, may have felt regret for abandoning James and his mother. But after all, if he hadn’t done that, the basketball world would not have had a legend named LeBron James.