LeBron James & Cigars

A big man with big talents, LeBron James has been the focus of the basketball world’s attention ever since he was in high school in Akron, Ohio. There was never any doubt James would become a star in the NBA, joining the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003 and becoming a “prep-to-pro” rookie of the year. Until he announced in 2010 that he was “taking his talents to South Beach,” James had not reached the summit of the league. In Miami, James also started on his road to becoming a cigar lover.

LeBron James Championship Cigar

The way the story is told, James first got interested in perhaps what a cigar meant when, after the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA finals, James saw that Mavs owner Mark Cuban flew home with the trophy in the seat next to him and a cigar in his hand. Immediately, James identified cigars with winning.

LeBron James Smoking Cigars

James was fortunate that in Miami he had teammates who could assist in introducing him to the cigar lifestyle. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were aficionados and helped James start off on the right foot. James, unlike some other superstars (yeah, you, Michael Jordan) who were a little shy about smoking in public, did not hide his tastes for large ring-gauge cigars like the Cuban H. Upmann Magnum 50 and Cohiba Behike, and Rocky Patel Javas. Early on, James could be seen puffing on Drew Estate Acids.

Wade and Bosh and James enjoyed Camacho cigars after the Heat won titles in 2012 and 2013.

While in Miami, the locally rolled Yaxel Ortiz became a LeBron James favorite cigar. James made the Yaxel Ortiz Torpedo famous when he held it in one hand, a bottle of champagne in the other, at the news conference after James led the Cavaliers to a championship in 2016. James had his then-one-year-old daughter with him. At one point, when James had put the cigar on the table, she reached for it.

“You can’t have that mama,” James explained. “That’s for daddy.”

James has four NBA titles to his name, the most recent one with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. He was MVP in all four finals.

What Cigars Does LeBron James Smoke?

At one point, in addition to those already mentioned, James had re-banded some of his cigars with an image of a crown in gold and black, with his then-number 23 emblazoned on it. They became known as the “King James” cigars. Today, James wears number 6 with the Lakers.

At 38, James might be nearing the end of a stellar career. The Lakers are struggling, and James has diversified interests in other fields of entertainment and business. He has said that he is motivated to keep playing in the hopes of one day playing on the same court with his son, Bronny.