LeBron James is 30.
He was 17 when he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He was 19 when he won the Rookie of the Year. He was 20 when he scored 56 points in a game. He was 23 when he played in his first NBA Finals. He was 24 when he won his first MVP. He was 25 at The Decision. He was 27 when he won his first title. He was 29 when he wrote The Letter.
As James' life has unfolded in public, millions have watched his accomplishments expand and his hairline recede. Because his life has been defined by stardom and basketball, it is perhaps only appropriate that his birthday falls in the middle of the season.
This means many of James' birthdays have been work days. He's had some great parties and created some lasting memories, but they've often come around games.
When James gets the schedule each year, he zeroes in on late December. Where will he be on Christmas, and where will he be on his birthday?
This year, it's Atlanta, as he tries to shake his Cavs out of a slump -- another challenge to manage as his career marches on, another time to reflect on where he's been.
Third birthday, 1987
This was the worst birthday of James' life. His grandmother, Freda, the rock of his family, died on Christmas morning, and the family was still in shock when their toddler turned three. James' mother, Gloria, didn't tell him until after he opened his presents because she didn't want to ruin his Christmas. As it turned out, the day James lost his grandmother, he got one of the best gifts he'd ever received: his first basketball hoop.
As he played -- he told his mother he wanted the mini hoop moved up to the highest level -- and tried to dunk on the plastic goal, the adults, holding back their tears, couldn't believe how high he could get off the ground.
17th birthday, 2001
By this time, his basketball celebrity was already expanding, and he was getting national attention. On cue, James came up with one of the greatest plays of his high school career, at a high-profile holiday tournament in Delaware in front of dozens of scouts and East Coast media members. He converted an incredible, four-point play in the final seconds that looked like it was going to give his team the win over a talented team from Amityville, a school from Long Island, New York.
He scored 39 points, despite battling the flu, but his team eventually lost when a sophomore named A.J. Price came up with the winning points at the foul line after James' huge jumper. Price, who later went on to star at Connecticut, is now James' teammate on the Cavs.
"It was one of the greatest games I've ever played in because of all the hoopla that came with it. He was the greatest player I saw in high school," Price said. "He brought it up to me in training camp this year. I was shocked he brought it up because he lost that game. I'll never forget that four-point play, but I got the last points."
23rd birthday, 2007
This one he'd like to forget. James was pulled over in the middle of the night for going 101 in a 65 mph zone on the way home from the airport after returning from a loss in New Orleans. It cost him $259 in fines -- but it turned into a good luck charm. After a poor start to the season, the Cavs won nine of their next 10 games.
25th birthday, 2009
One of James' greatest games as a Cav happened on this night. With several celebrity friends in town for a party, he scored 48 points to lead the Cavs over the Hawks. It is still the most points James has ever scored in a Cavs home game. It was the first time he'd ever won on his birthday, after he lost on the first three tries in his pro career.
27th birthday, 2011
Now a member of the Miami Heat, this birthday was spent in Minneapolis, and a win over the Wolves included a near triple-double, with 34 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists. But he had other things on his mind. What was supposed to be a birthday party the next night at a South Beach club turned into an engagement party.
Just before midnight, with his two sons next to him, he proposed to longtime girlfriend Savannah Brinson and presented her a $300,000, five-carat ring. They got married in 2013 in an opulent ceremony in San Diego.
30th birthday, 2014
He's a winner of two titles, a father of three, a winner of four MVP Awards. Three pretty strong decades. His is already one of the most decorated careers in league history, and there are career milestones starting to come into view. Now in his 12th season, he's in the back half of his career. He has admitted he has lost a little, athletically -- a common reality for all 30-year-olds. Almost nothing else in his first 30 years, though, has been normal.