LeBron James has been in the NBA for so long that players who grew up idolizing him are now his opponents in the league. Entering year 23 in the league, James has seen generations of talent pass through the league.
It must not be surprising to him anymore that rookies and young players almost every second season talk about how they grew up watching him play and idolizing him as one of the greatest players of all time, if not the greatest.
Twin brothers, Ausar Thompson from the Pistons and Amen Thompson from the Rockets, recently opened up on how they grew up wanting to be like LeBron James. In a sneak peek social media post on a segment of the Old Man and the Three podcast’s latest episode with the Twins, they said they had beds with 69 written all over them because they wanted to be as tall as James.
“We wanted to be tall, but our parents, my mom’s like 5’6″ and my father is like 5’11”. So we wrote 69 all over the bed because that’s how tall we wanted to be. I think looking back, it looks kind of weird,” said Thompson.
“It is weird, no apostrophe, nothing,” responded his brother. And it was all because they thought LeBron James was 6’9″, so they could manifest being as tall as him.
Now, 13 years after they did that as nine-year-olds, Ausar Thompson is reportedly 6’6″, while Amen Thompson has grown to be 6’7″, which shows that their manifestation nearly came true. As a cherry on the cake for Amen Thompson, NBA scouts have said he resembles a young LeBron James early in his career.
In 2024-25, Ausar Thompson averaged 10.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists for the Pistons. Amen Thompson, on the other hand, averaged 14.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists for the Rockets.
Meanwhile, James is still playing at a top-tier level in the league and even made it to the All-NBA Second Team in 2024-25. He averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds in the season.
James was particularly impressed with Amen Thompson after a game against the Rockets. He also made sure to give Ausar his flowers in the process.
“They ain’t like the rest of us. I’ve been able to go against some dudes in my career, and those two guys, man, they’re just pure athleticism,” said James on the Thompson twins.
Ausar Thompson and Amen Thompson became the highest-drafted twins in NBA history when they were picked fifth and fourth overall, respectively, in the 2023 NBA Draft. While the league has seen over 10 sets of twins in its history, these two seem to be the most talented set to join the league.
