Akron, eighth grade, and a Jordan poster

LeBron picked #23 in eighth grade at Riedinger Middle School in Akron. He has said in multiple interviews — including a 2009 sit-down with NBA TV — that he chose it because it was Jordan’s number and he wanted to be Jordan. The jersey carried over to St. Vincent–St. Mary High School and was the natural pick when the Cavaliers drafted him first overall in 2003.

When LeBron signed with Miami in 2010, the city was already a Jordan town in jersey terms — the Heat had retired #23 in 2003 in his honor without him ever playing for them, on the night of Jordan’s final farewell tour stop at AmericanAirlines Arena. To wear 23 in Miami, LeBron would have had to ask the franchise to un-retire it. He chose #6 instead.

Why specifically #6?

Multiple meanings stack on the number. LeBron wore #6 for Team USA in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics. His four Heat-era teammates wore numbers that paired with it. He has cited the spiritual significance of the sixth day of creation in Genesis. And from a fashion-and-marketing standpoint, the Nike LeBron 6 sneaker silo became a signature of his Miami run.

LeBron also publicly campaigned in 2011 — during the Heat’s first finals run — for the NBA to retire #23 league-wide for Jordan, citing what Major League Baseball did with Jackie Robinson’s #42. The league did not act on the proposal, and Jordan never publicly responded.

Back to 23 in Cleveland, then again with the Lakers

When LeBron returned to Cleveland in summer 2014, he returned to #23. The 2016 championship — the one that ended a 52-year title drought — was won in #23. He kept it on the move to the Lakers in 2018. Then in 2021 he switched back to #6 to honor Bill Russell, the Celtics legend who had worn #6 his entire career and retired earlier that summer (Russell would die in July 2022).

After the NBA officially retired Russell’s #6 league-wide on August 11, 2022 — the first such honor in any of the four major North American sports — LeBron was grandfathered to keep it for the rest of the 2022-23 season. He switched back to #23 in October 2023 and has worn it since.

Background facts cross-referenced with the Wikipedia article on LeBron James and Pro-Football-Reference / Basketball-Reference public records.