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Lebron: “I don’t want to say it ever becomes too much, but there are times when I wish I could do normal things. I wish I could go to Target sometimes and walk into Starbucks and have my name on the cup just like regular people.”



>The attention to James’s words separates him from others, as does the attention to his life.

>“I don’t want to say it ever becomes too much, but there are times when I wish I could do normal things,” James said Thursday while standing in an arena hallway in Indianapolis about an hour after the Lakers beat the Pacers there. A member of a camera crew that has been following him for the past few years filmed him as he spoke.

>“I wish I could just walk outside,” James said. “I wish I could just, like, walk into a movie theater and sit down and go to the concession stand and get popcorn. I wish I could just go to an amusement park just like regular people. I wish I could go to Target sometimes and walk into Starbucks and have my name on the cup just like regular people.”

>He added: “I’m not sitting here complaining about it, of course not. But it can be challenging at times.”

[Source](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/04/sports/basketball/lebron-james-lakers-record-career.html)

by urfaselol

34 Comments

  1. Yeah it must suck. Wasn’t it Michael Jackson who rented out an entire Target for a while and had friends and family pretend to be shoppers so he could walk around and shop and put things in his own basket?

  2. poverty_monster1

    The money is obviously worth it, but I’ve always thought it must suck to be famous. You can’t even walk down the street without 50 people stopping you for pictures and shit.

  3. Kyrie got my man out here reevaluating his entire life direction

  4. Comfortable_Chain459

    It’s pretty crazy to imagine having that life tbh. He hasn’t had a normal day like most of us since he was probably a teenager

  5. Known_Neighborhood64

    He just wants to be Kwame James sometimes

  6. colantor

    Lebron hasnt been paying attention to what a shitshow starbucks is

  7. irrelephantpark

    > He added: “I’m not sitting here complaining about it, of course not. But it can be challenging at times.”

    cuz i know people arent going to read that far before commenting

  8. Thalassoma

    Cup would totally have “Leeroy” written on it

  9. Sir please take yourself to /r/PublicFreakout and see what we deal with. You do not want this.

  10. embiid0for11w0pts

    Wants to go to Target?! You gonna buy some live, love, laugh signs? Want some of them dollar items at the entry? Sign up for Target Circle?

    LeBron to Minnesota confirmed

  11. langolier27

    I don’t know about all that, I saw LeBron at a Jamba Juice just after he signed with the Lakers, he was just picking up a smoothie like any other asshole.

  12. viking_machina

    “really, I want to know what it’s like to be a billionaire basketball star, if only there was some way we could (at the same time) trade lives with each other!”

    This summer, can lebron handle his biggest challenge yet, 9-5 office job and rent? Lebron James stars in: Traded.

  13. The lifestyle he has to live honestly would drive me crazy…I totally understand where he’s coming from. That lifestyle can be very lonely at times…..there’s always someone that wants something from you and there’s always eyes and cameras on you. It was to get exhausting.

  14. kyriexoxokanye

    I kinda do feel bad for him and other celebrities.

    ​

    As much as some people on reddit try to be a smartass and say “why do people care about celebrities?”, they would be losing their shit if they are standing near 10 ft.

  15. e_a_blair

    wild how many people come into every post like this and have to comment well that’s the deal you make for being wildly successful and famous. can you just let the man crave a little normalcy? he has people gawking and demanding his attention literally every second he’s in public. if you have any empathy at all, it’s easy to see that’s an entirely reasonable and just human thing to desire. and he’s not out here complaining, after an entire lifetime of fame he’s mentioning it offhand after being asked about it.

  16. BloodPressure12

    I mean… nobody recognized him at Blaze Pizza…

  17. ELPWSwastaken

    I know a lot of people are going to clown him for this but dude has only lived a “normal person” life from like 0-16, certain things must suck if your him tbh

  18. tttambourine

    I’m going to start telling the baristas at Starbucks that my name’s LeBron in solidarity.

    Edit: soLeDarity. nailed it.

  19. it’s wild that lebron has been in the spotlight from 16-38 and has stayed true to himself the whole time. What a guy

  20. Honestly LeBron’s a very well-adjusted person for someone who’s every move has been under a microscope since he was 16 years old. A lot of people with that sort of attention end up being kinda nuts.

  21. thatguy52

    It’s challenging in a way that I will never be able to understand or comprehend. I bet that guy can count on one hand the number of times he has been truly alone in the last 20 years. He’s constantly in demand, going somewhere, surrounded by security/team/hangers on, or generally just being hounded for the last 20+ years straight. Sure he’s got money and fame, but his perception of relaxation and mine are different things altogether.

  22. Greyvvolf

    The Last Dance had an interview at the end where MJ basically said, paraphrasing here, he was tired of the spotlight always being on him. Not sure if it was a combination of his age and just always having to train for the season but it was one of the factors for his retirement. We should enjoy Bron while we can ya’ll, just like Kobe.

  23. Eym-Batman

    I’m going to start a service for celebrities that are stalked by cameras everywhere they go. It will be a fake little downtown which they can walk around. The paid commoners will just walk pass them. Or even be rude to them.

    Only $10k an hour. And you too can have your name mis-pronounced at fake Starbucks.

    PSL for Leb-ron!

  24. 9D_Chess

    Being a role playing point guard (< 6’3) would be the best IMO. You still get a multi million dollar salary and get to hoop for a living, retire at 30. But you can also blend in with regular people for the most part, and you’re not so tall that people ask if you play basketball every time they meet you.

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