The I Promise School is LeBron James’ greatest career achievement

LeBron James’ crowning achievement was the opening of the I Promise School.

You’re not supposed to do what LeBron James has done in his life.

The neighborhoods he grew up in, the amount of school he missed, the crime rates. He wasn’t supposed to make it.

He put it best after winning the 2013 Finals: “I’m LeBron James from Akron, Ohio. I’m not even supposed to be here.”

In that series, he would average 25.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game en route to the Miami Heat’s second straight championship and, of course, his second Finals MVP award.

But that’s what makes it more incredible for The King: none of this was supposed to happen but all of it did.

Coming from a single-parent home, the phenom out of Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary’s High School was seen as the next Michael Jordan. He was going to be one of the best players in the league, which is why he had $100 million in contracts before he even put on his own uniform for the first time.

But all of this happened on the court, and this is all the information you’ve heard before.

Whether you want to accept that he’s the greatest basketball player of all-time or not is completely up to you but what is no longer a discussion is the fact that the greatest achievement of his entire basketball career is off the court: The I Promise School.

When I went to sleep last night, I had tears in my eyes because of the final episode of Friends (yeah, I know… I’m basic). When I woke up, I checked Twitter and was granted another waterworks show courtesy of the 240 third and fourth graders I saw smiling like they had just walked into a candy store.

It’s so easy for many of us to watch all of this happen before our eyes. Yet, so few are able to soak it all in and realize just how many lives are being changed.

Among the benefits of such a school, I Promise has opened up programs at school to help unemployed parents find jobs to support their children.

Think about it. That means the LeBron James Family Foundation will directly work with 240 families to find them work.

Students were also given backpacks, breakfast, lunch, and snacks, uniforms, a bicycle with a helmet, a food pantry, and for all graduates, guaranteed enrollment at the University of Akron.

For those of you wondering where the $41 million went to, you’re reading about it.

Parents won’t be stressed out over having to set money aside from low-income jobs to buy their children food to bring to school and bags to put their books in. In fact, there will be programs providing job placement for their parents.

LeBron did that.

Children won’t be judged based on what they’re wearing to school and will wear formal uniforms every day to school.

LeBron did that.

Parents won’t have to worry about having gas money to get their child to school or having to put them on public transportation. Instead, their children will get exercise and learn how to ride a bike.

LeBron did that.

Families won’t be going to bed hungry. Instead, they will be selecting foods that they can prepare at home for dinner. Students will be healthy and eat foods that they like. Students will be energized for a full day of learning.

LeBron did that.

Young kids that grow up around the harsh realities of inner-city life, like substance abuse and gun violence, get to leave their surroundings to explore. To see a better life. They can do that with the bikes they’ll get for free when school starts. Their parents get emotional counseling, stressed from having to raise a child in that environment and live there themselves.

LeBron did that.

The average tuition of a college is hovering at just under $10,000 a year. The average student will come out of public university with a four-year degree but also a student debt of roughly $26,000. These kids won’t pay a dime to go to school for the rest of their lives. Even their parents will have a program to earn their GED.

LeBron did that.

Never in the history of sports has one person contributed so much of their hard-earned money and done anything like this. It might never be done again.

What we are bearing witness to is something so much more than just an act of kindness.

What LeBron did on Monday was the greatest thing he will ever accomplish in his lifetime and I only hope that his biggest critics soon take a step back to realize that.