LeBron James surprises kids in at Harlem YMCA with bike memberships

Although LeBron James never played for a New York team, there’s still little doubt that the King is the King wherever he is, including the biggest market in the country. But Tuesday, prior to playing two games in New York against the Knicks and Nets, wasn’t about LeBron’s royalty on the court but his graciousness off of it.

James surprised a large group of teenagers at the YMCA in Harlem, where he gifted all of them year-long memberships for CitiBike. An annual membership for CitiBike in New York City runs $169, according to the company website, so it was not a cheap gift. It’s also one that is deeply personal to LeBron’s story.

LeBron surprised a group of kids at a YMCA in Harlem this afternoon. They all got CitiBike memberships for a year and backpacks with supplies. It was pretty cool to see their reactions as he walked in. pic.twitter.com/zgo0qlXF9n

— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) January 21, 2020

As many of you may know, and some of you may not, bikes are incredibly important tools for James. James was often on a bike as a youth in Akron, counting on it to get around and every student at the ‘I Promise’ school in Akron all got their own bike. James told the kids that he still bikes, just not where anybody in the public can see him.

Here’s LeBron talking about the importance of bikes, touching on his days riding in inner-city Akron. James later said he still bikes, though not like he did in his Miami days when he was spotted cycling to games. pic.twitter.com/NTkBVQwe0K

— Bill Oram (@billoram) January 21, 2020

The Lakers have a back-to-back in the city, starting Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks before heading over to Brooklyn on Thursday for a meeting with Kyrie Irving and the Nets.