It’s safe to say that Grant Wahl was arguably amongst the best soccer writers in the world, but he was also very prominent in other sports such as basketball. During the early ‘2000s, everybody was scrambling to find who was the next Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant was at his first peak but the world was just getting ready for the next great player. LeBron James was inevitable, he would put himself on the map no matter what Grant Wahl wrote about him. However, his work on that legendary ‘The Chosen One‘ cover story on Sports Illustrated is a memory James keeps close to his heart.
Despite being a teenager in Akron, Ohio, James was covered by Grant much before that cover story came out. This resulted in deep respect from one of the best basketball players to ever step inside a court towards probably the best American soccer writer of all-time. That cover story is one of the reasons the entire world knew who LeBron James was at such a young age. After 20 years, James even recreated that cover story but with his two sons, Bronny and Bryce. Although the title is slightly different: ‘The Chosen Sons‘.
LeBron James reacts to Grant Wahl’s passing
After Grant Wahl suddenly passed away during the Argentina vs Netherlands World Cup match, James immediately reacted to the terrible news. This is what James said after the Lakers lost to the Sixers: “I’m very fond of Grant and having that cover shoot – me being a teenager and him covering that, it was a pretty cool thing. And he was always pretty cool to be around. He spent a lot of time in my hometown of Akron covering me over the course of time before that cover story came out. And I’ve always kind of watched from a distance.
“Even when I moved up the ranks and became a professional and he kind of went to a different sport and things of that nature over the years, anytime his name would come up I would always think back to me as a teenager and having Grant in our building down at [St. Vincent’s]. So, it’s a tragic loss. It’s unfortunate to lose someone as great as he was and I wish his family, like I said, the best. And may he rest in paradise.”
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