LeBron James Talks About His Basketball Role Models Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson

LeBron James is arguably the best basketball player not only in the NBA but also in the world. When asked about who are his basketball role models while growing up, the Miami Heat superstar gave an interesting answer.

In an interview with Chris Broussard that will be published in the upcoming issue of the ESPN Magazine, James said that Michael Jordan was his favorite player growing up, followed by Allen Iverson, whom he described as one of the best finishers to ever play the game.

"I watch Jordan more than anybody, for sure. But I'll watch tapes of AI, too. I don't take anything from AI," James told Broussard. "They say he was 6 feet, but AI was like 5-10½. Do we even want to say 160? 170 pounds? Do we even want to give him that much weight? And he played like a 6-8 2-guard. He was one of the greatest finishers we've ever seen. You could never question his heart, ever, he gave it his all. AI was like my second-favorite player growing up, after MJ."

James pointed out that he admired Jordan for his work ethic and his no-fear mentality. He said that Jordan experienced failures, had bad games during his career, and missed crucial shots before, but Jordan showed that he was never afraid to fail.

"I think the greatest thing about MJ was that he never was afraid to fail. And I think that's why he succeeded so much because he was never afraid of what anybody ever said about him - never afraid to miss the game-winning shot, never afraid to turn the ball over, never afraid," James said.

But despite winning two NBA titles and four MVP trophies, James admitted that unlike Jordan, he is still afraid of failure, which he said is one of his biggest hurdles that he needs to overcome.

"That's one of my biggest obstacles. I'm afraid of failure. I want to succeed so bad that I become afraid of failing," James revealed in the interview.