LeBron: No football in my house
LeBron's Stance on Football
NEXT VIDEO
- LeBron's Stance on Football
LeBron's Stance on Football
Mike Golic shares his thoughts on LeBron James' remarks about prohibiting his children from playing football. - Youth Football Sees Drop In Participation
Youth Football Sees Drop In Participation
Trevor Matich, Jerome Bettis and Darren Woodson discuss the decline in participation in the nation's largest youth football program, Pop Warner, and how proper safety measures could make the game safer.Tags: NFL - Obama Wouldn't Allow His Kids To Play Football
Obama Wouldn't Allow His Kids To Play Football
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell joins "Mike & Mike" to address President Barack Obama's comments that if he had a son, he wouldn't let him play football.Tags: NFL - Pierce Concerned Over Concussions
Pierce Concerned Over Concussions
With the news that Hall of Fame RB Tony Dorsett has signs of CTE, former Pro Bowl LB Antonio Pierce reflects on his career and past concussions, and says his children will never play football.Tags: Antonio Pierce, NFL
LeBron James told ESPN.com that he does not let his sons, LeBron Jr. and Bryce Maximus, play football.
When asked whether the reason for his decision was the health dangers related to football, James replied, "Yes."
"Only basketball, baseball and soccer are allowed in my house," James said hours before leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a victory over the Denver Nuggets.
James elaborated on his thoughts Thursday.
"We don't want them to play in our household right now until they understand how physical and how demanding the game is. Then they can have their choice in high school, we'll talk over it," he said. "But right now there's no need for it. There's enough sports they can play. They play basketball, they play soccer, they play everything else but football and hockey."
"It's a safety thing," James continued. "As a parent you protect your kids as much as possible. I don't think I'm the only one that's not allowing his kids to play football, it's just that I'm LeBron James and it gets put in the headlines for no reason."
In addition to being one of the most highly touted high school basketball players of all time, James was an all-state wide receiver at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. He stopped playing football after his junior season because of a broken wrist suffered in the offseason.
James, who in the past has called football his first love, remains a huge NFL and college football fan.
James said 7-year-old Bryce Maximus plays soccer, among other sports, while LeBron Jr., 10, is beginning to focus on basketball.
ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin contributed to this report.
- Senior Writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Formerly at the New York Times, 1998-2004
- Covering the NBA since 1995
SPONSORED HEADLINES
MORE NBA HEADLINES
- Clips' Griffin 'confident' after battery charge
- Bulls' Rose unfazed by critics of comments
- NBA owners expendable, union chief says
- New NBA All-Star ballot includes all players
MOST SENT STORIES ON ESPN.COM
THE NBA ON ESPN.COM
EDITORS' PICKS
- Keeping The Pace
- Can Roy Hibbert keep his pace all season?
Tom Haberstroh
- Who's No. 3?
- After LeBron and KD, who is the NBA's best player.
Jordan Brenner »
- Haberstroh: Hibbert fade? | Bosh 3.0
- Pelton: New big men | Davis passing LeBron?
- Doolittle: Need more Love | Thompson real?
- Elhassan: Summer of big men
- NBAFrontOffice: How to solve Cavs problems
Comments
Use a Facebook account to add a comment, subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook name, photo & other personal information you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment, and may be used on ESPN's media platforms. Learn more.