LeBron James offers heartbreaking Grant Wahl remembrance

Friday night, the sports world was shocked and saddened by the news that soccer journalist Grant Wahl had passed away while covering the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Wahl was arguably the loudest voice in American soccer journalism and was beloved by many of his colleagues and readers.

While he was best known for his soccer coverage, Wahl also wrote some very important and notable articles about other sports. Most infamously, he wrote the iconic Sports Illustrated cover story on a high school basketball phenom LeBron James, who seemed destined to become the next Michael Jordan. Dubbed “The Chosen One,” Wahl’s story on James set the tone for the Hall of Fame career to come.

After the Los Angeles Lakers’ overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, James opened his post-game press conference with a stirring tribute to Wahl.

“I’m very fond of Grant and having that cover shoot — me being a teenager and him covering that, it was a pretty cool thing,” James said. “And he was always pretty cool to be around. He spent a lot of time in my hometown of Akron covering me over the course of time before that cover story came out. And I’ve always kind of watched from a distance.

“Even when I moved up the ranks and became a professional and he kind of went to a different sport and things of that nature over the years, anytime his name would come up I would always think back to me as a teenager and having Grant in our building down at [St. Vincent’s]. So, it’s a tragic loss. It’s unfortunate to lose someone as great as he was and I wish his family, like I said, the best. And may he rest in paradise.”

[McTen]