Shortly after the Lakers’ 133-122 loss to the 76ers on Friday night, LeBron James discussed former Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl, who died earlier Friday in Qatar while covering the 2022 World Cup.
Wahl wrote the iconic SI cover story “The Chosen One” that published on Feb. 18, 2002. It was James’s introduction to the national stage as a high school junior.
Since the cover story and upon James’s No. 1 selection in the 2003 NBA draft, the four-time NBA champion has ascended up the ranks in the basketball world, now being known as one of the greatest of all time.