When 17-year-old LeBron James was a star on his high school basketball team, he noticed 16-year-old Savannah Brinson, who was a softball player and cheerleader at a rival school. They first talked at a football game in 2002, where LeBron invited Savannah to one of his basketball games.
Although LeBron was a big deal in Akron, Ohio, Savannah didn’t know how popular or talented he was. She wasn’t really into him at first but took his number anyway. One day, out of boredom, she decided to call him. They chatted on the phone, and LeBron invited her to another game. This time, she went and saw firsthand how popular he was.
After the game, they went to Applebee’s with friends and later had a one-on-one date at Outback Steakhouse. Despite what some people think, Savannah’s interest in LeBron didn’t grow because of his fame. While she was surprised by how the crowd adored him, she still wasn’t that impressed initially. Their first conversation was pretty basic, but LeBron eventually won her over, and they started dating.
Various NBA teams were scouting LeBron, and he even appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, labeled as the future of basketball with unmatched athletic ability. Savannah noticed all the attention he was getting, but she wasn’t convinced of his talent. She told Harper’s Bazaar, “I just thought he’d be a hometown hero for his era, and it would be over.” LeBron proved her wrong by becoming the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. He joined the Cleveland Cavaliers while Savannah finished high school.
During her senior year, Savannah found out she was going to be a teenage mom. “Oh, hell, here we go!” She knew she wanted to keep the baby but worried if having a child so young would affect LeBron’s career. When she told him the news, his reaction surprised her. He said, “It’s not going to slow me down, and it’s not going to slow you down. We’re going to keep doing what we have to do.” Despite LeBron’s commitment to stay by her side, Savannah had many other challenges to face.
Gossip magazines were quick to accuse her of getting pregnant on purpose to trap him with a baby. In October 2004, LeBron took a break from basketball to escort a pregnant Savannah to her senior prom. She gave birth to their son, LeBron Jr., and their second son, Bryce, was born in June 2007. By then, everyone was wondering when the couple would finally tie the knot, especially since they had been together for five years and already had two kids.
Savannah told Harper’s Bazaar she wasn’t pressuring LeBron to propose. She quoted the famous line, “If you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it.” She added, “We’re really comfortable with the way things are now. It’s not up to me. When it happens, it happens.” LeBron also chimed in, saying, “Just because Savannah doesn’t have my last name doesn’t mean she’s not an essential part of my life. She’s got my back, and I love her for that.”
It’s worth noting that this all happened during a time when the media often criticized sports figures and celebrities for having children out of wedlock. We previously talked about how Orlando media outlets even called Shaquille O’Neal a bad role model for having a child with his then-girlfriend Arnetta Yardboro without immediate plans to marry her.
Despite everyone constantly asking when they’d get married, LeBron and Savannah stayed focused on their relationship and family. LeBron had promised Cleveland a championship, but before he could make good on that, he decided to take his talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat in 2010. Cleveland was left stunned.
Cavs fans were furious and burned his jerseys. Savannah wasn’t too happy about the move to Miami either. She told Harper’s Bazaar that while Miami was great for a vacation, it would be a big adjustment to call it home. Still, she was willing to make that sacrifice for LeBron’s career, saying, “Whatever LeBron feels comfortable with, I’m with him. I just love him so much.”
Savannah might also have been worried about Miami’s reputation for bold and aggressive groupies. Shaq’s ex-wife, Shaunie O’Neal, once said that during Shaq’s time with the Miami Heat, women would show up to games in their underwear. She also mentioned that her marriage to Shaq wasn’t strong enough to withstand that kind of temptation.
In 2010, LeBron James was spotted lounging in a pool with Beyoncé, her cousin Angie, and Solange’s son, Daniel Jr. In the photo, LeBron and Angie look quite cozy, and of course, Savannah was nowhere in sight.
Then came June 2011 when a Houston radio DJ claimed that Savannah was getting involved with Rashard Lewis of the Washington Wizards. Savannah allegedly said, “Two can play this game.” Rashard denied the allegations, stating he never even met Savannah.
Six months later, at that year’s New Year’s Eve party, LeBron told his then-teammate Dwayne Wade that he was going to propose to Savannah and asked Dwayne to hold on to the engagement ring. Right when the ball dropped, LeBron asked Dwayne for the ring. Dwayne asked him, “You ready?” LeBron responded, “If you don’t give me this ring right now, I ain’t going to do it.” He popped the question, and Savannah said yes.
Unfortunately, many saw his proposal as a calculated move. At the time, LeBron was still hated by Cavs fans. Additionally, more and more influential athletes were getting caught cheating on their wives, including Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods. A writer for Miami New Times wrote that LeBron’s engagement was a good way for him to be seen as the nice guy. “It was a good way for him to repair his image after everything that went down in Miami and after all of the cheating allegations that were thrown his way,” the writer added.
So, as long as LeBron didn’t freeze up the week of the wedding and call it off, he just received a bit of an image boost. But was LeBron really ready to leave the other women behind and commit to Savannah 100%? Hell no to the no no no, hell to the no!
While out in Miami, LeBron James reportedly met video vixen Carmen Ortega at a nightclub. Carmen shared with Bossip that LeBron sent his friends over to her table to get her number and invite her and her friends to join him. Not knowing who LeBron was and being in a relationship, Carmen declined. However, by the end of the night, one of Carmen’s friends gave her number to LeBron anyway. “Girl, stop lying! You know you gave that man your number, lying ass!”
The next day, Carmen received a text from LeBron. Despite her repeatedly telling him she had a boyfriend, LeBron continued texting her until she told him to stop. After her relationship ended, Carmen reached out to LeBron. They were both in LA, and he invited her and a friend to dinner in a private room at a restaurant. During dinner, LeBron’s attempts to get close made Carmen uncomfortable. She told Bossip, “It was offensive to me, him having a girl and doing that in front of his friends. It made me feel terrible.”
“Why were you there in the first place if you knew he had a girl?” Carmen had also heard about LeBron’s engagement, which he denied. He invited her and her friends to his hotel to hang out, but Carmen, unable to confirm his engagement status, declined. “Okay, girl, you might not be as bad as I thought.”
They stayed friends, and Carmen admitted she sent LeBron a screenshot of his engagement announcement, asking him to explain. His alleged response was, “Don’t believe everything you read.” In an interview with Bossip, Carmen shared her belief that Savannah was aware of LeBron’s infidelities. “I almost feel like Savannah does know. He made some comments before. I asked him straight up, ‘Just tell me what’s your situation.’ He was like, ‘I’m not on lockdown. It’s not even like that.’ Even though I was interested, things never got physical between us.”
A month before LeBron and Savannah’s wedding, Carmen lost her phone while on vacation, and the text messages between her and LeBron were leaked. “Oh, what a coincidence! Girl, you know you leaked those messages!” LeBron seemed to respond to the allegations in a cryptic Instagram post: “Whenever you’re happy and in a great place, in anything, someone or something will try to put a virus in it to make it all unravel.” Carmen replied, “Ninja, you put the virus in it!”
LeBron and Savannah got married in September 2013. Unfortunately, not long after their wedding, rumors about LeBron’s wandering eye made headlines again. Four months after getting married and after winning his second NBA championship, LeBron and his Miami Heat teammates were invited to meet President Barack Obama at the White House. According to NBC producer Stacy Klein, shaking hands and chatting with the president were the only things on his agenda.
In a now-deleted social media post, Stacy shared a collage of photos from the Miami Heat’s visit to the White House. Her caption read, “The Miami Heat gave a POTUS Jersey to the head honcho, and I watched LeBron ask a girl for her number right in front of me. He just got married in September. Messy, messy, messy!”
LeBron returned to the Cleveland Cavs in 2014, earning some points with Cavs fans. That same year, Savannah gave birth to their daughter, Zuri. Everything seemed perfect for the James family until April 2016, when new rumors surfaced. Damn it, LeBron, not again!
A woman named Rachel Bush exposed LeBron by sharing a screenshot of a DM he allegedly sent her that read, “Hey, what’s up?” Although the message seemed innocent enough, what was LeBron doing in another woman’s DMs? That’s the real question! How does he have time to be on Instagram all day messaging women? Log off, LeBron, log off!
This wasn’t the only time he was caught creeping online. Instagram model and hunter Heidi Hoback (yes, her last name is Hoback, how fitting) also revealed a DM from LeBron that read, “Teach me how to hunt, and I’ll teach you how to play ball. Deal. LOL.” “LeBron, go teach all your teammates how to play basketball. That’s what you need to do.”
Scandalous Rumors Swirl Around LeBron James Amidst Lakers Signing
When LeBron James signed with the Lakers in 2018, it didn’t take long for cheating rumors to hit the web. Is it really cheating if Savannah doesn’t care? Allegedly, in May 2020, Urza Halid, wife of Denver Broncos tight end Nick Vannett, accused her former friend Sophia Jamora of hooking up with LeBron. Urza shared a now-deleted Instagram story featuring a photo of LeBron at the free throw line with the caption, “Am I the only one that’s not a fan of LeBron? I’ve never been a fan of guys who cheat on their wives, especially with Sophia Jamora.” Drama, drama, drama!
Sophia, who was dating New Orleans Pelicans star Jackson Hayes at the time, responded by deleting several courtside photos of herself at Lakers games and posted a since-deleted tweet saying, “People don’t recognize how much words can actually hurt.” LeBron and Savannah chose not to address the rumor.
But the controversy didn’t end there. Just a month later, in June 2020, LeBron’s alleged escapades made headlines again. During an episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Drew Sidora claimed that she was at a restaurant when a certain NBA King sent her a drink. She mentioned that they went on a few dates and he even flew her to his games. These alleged encounters reportedly took place before Drew’s 2014 wedding to her then-husband, Ralph Pittman. Drew quipped, “Look, Ralph, she ended up marrying a cheetah anyway, allegedly.”
It seems drama continues to follow LeBron, on and off the court!
Though Drew didn’t name LeBron outright, the clues she dropped made it obvious. LeBron, who loves his social media, responded on Instagram with a tribute to Savannah. In his post, he gushed about how much he appreciated her and ended it with, “All I need in this life of sin is me and my girlfriend, AKA best friend, AKA wife.” This led to a flurry of reactions, including a blunt comment: “Shut your ass up, LeBron!”
For a couple of years, things were quiet for the James family. But in October 2022, everything exploded again. On her “Sophia with an F” podcast, Sophia Franklin claimed that LeBron had cheated on Savannah multiple times throughout their relationship. She also said he threw parties with lots of women and made everyone sign NDAs to keep his antics under wraps.
Then in December 2023, while in Las Vegas for the NBA Cup, LeBron celebrated the Lakers’ win by hitting the casino. A fan spotted him gambling in a private room at the Wynn Hotel. When the fan approached with his camera on, a security guard quickly blocked his view, revealing LeBron sitting at a table with a mysterious woman. And it was clear—the woman wasn’t Savannah!
“You’re nothing but a liar, a cheater, a deceiver, a heartbreaker!” Despite the drama, LeBron and Savannah have stuck together for 22 years, showing that nothing can tear them apart. Savannah told The Cut that she handles all the rumors by simply not reading online comments. “Ignorance is bliss, baby. Just because you don’t read them doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”
When talking to Essence magazine, Savannah made it clear she’s always there for LeBron. “If he needs someone to listen to him, if he needs to talk, or if he says, ‘Hey babe, I’m tired, can I take a nap?’ I’ll say, ‘Yeah, baby, take a nap,’ and I’ll keep the kids busy.” But some people are skeptical, saying, “Girl, what? What are you talking about? You don’t have a nanny? If you’re staying for the money, just say so.”
LeBron James truly appreciates Savannah for standing by him from the very start. He told The Hollywood Reporter, “Savannah was with me back in high school when there were no cameras or lights. She supported me when no one else did. I wouldn’t be here talking to you if it weren’t for her.”
“So, you need to remind yourself of that, because if she ever realizes and leaves you, well, let me just mind my own business.”
Despite all the warning signs we’ve seen, we genuinely wish LeBron and Savannah the best. “Girl, are you really going to drag LeBron and then wish him well? Oh, okay. You all are so messy, and I love it!”