In a conversation with Maria Shriver for Today in 2014, LeBron said, “I don’t know if she read about it, or she just heard about it, but from day one, I always had that mother and father inside my mother, so I never was a kid that was kind of like, ‘Where is my father?’ “

She had LeBron when she was 16 and raised him alone

She had LeBron when she was 16 years old, and LeBron never had a relationship with his biological father, according to Sports Illustrated. Gloria had some help raising LeBron early on from her own mother, LeBron’s grandmother Freda James Howard, as LeBron recalled in a 2014 essay he penned for Today.

She didn’t push LeBron to become an NBA star

In a 2001 New York Times profile of LeBron, then a 16-year-old junior in high school in Akron, Ohio, Gloria was described as “an enthusiastic fan” of her son. While she was proud of his achievements, she told the outlet that she wouldn’t put any pressure on LeBron to become an NBA star

An SUV she gifted LeBron came under scrutiny

Gloria gifted LeBron a Hummer for his 18th 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡day in December 2002, complete with TVs and hook-ups for computer games. The purchase, however, sparked an investigation; per the New York Times, it raised flags because LeBron and Gloria lived in public housing in Akron at the time.

She helps run the LeBron James Family Foundation

She’s a grandmotherGLORIA JAMES INSTAGRAM

LeBron missed her most during quarantineLEBRON JAMES INSTAGRAM

She was the first person LeBron called after winning the 2020 NBA Championships