She refused to give him her phone number, but somehow it worked out anyways.

LeBron James has been in the public eye since he was a high school basketball phenom—and by his side every step of the way has been his now-wife, Savannah James. 

“A person like myself always needs a great sidekick and a person you can rely on no matter the circumstances. And she’s that,” LeBron told Harpers Bazaar in 2010. “She’s got my back, and I love her for that.” 

Added Savannah in the same interview, “I just love him so much. We’re soulmates.”

The couple started dating as teenagers and have weathered plenty of changes, including an ever-expanding family (that includes three kids) and major NBA moves for LeBron (after playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat and the Cavs a second time, he currently plays for the Los Angeles Lakers). What keeps them strong, however, is mutual respect and staying grounded in family.

“He is truly a king to his queen, if you will,” Savannah told Cleveland Magazine in 2018. “He treats me with so much respect—I mean, it’s hard to not love him, with the way that he is with me and the kids and his mom and just everyone who’s around him. He’s a really, really humble guy for everything that he has and everything that he’s done.”

Here’s everything you need to know about LeBron James’ wife, Savannah James, including how they met, how he proposed, when they got married and more.

Who is LeBron James’ wife, Savannah James?

Born Savannah Brinson in Akron, Ohio, James’ wife comes from a big, close-knit family: She’s the youngest of five siblings who played softball and was a cheerleader in high school. After linking up with LeBron, she turned her attention to business endeavors. In 2018, she designed a furniture line, Home Court, and also once owned a Florida store called The Juice Shop.

Savannah is also all about giving back to her hometown: In 2018, she founded Women of Our Future, which facilitates counseling and mentors to girls at her alma mater, Buchtel High School, and hosts an annual I PROM-ise Prom Makeover event for high schoolers in Akron. She also volunteers with the LeBron James Family Foundation, which does a lot of work in the community to help empower and educate families and students.

As she told Cleveland Magazine in 2018, LeBron is certainly an inspiration for her work. 

“He’s super, super passionate about his philanthropic endeavors. He’s super, super passionate about his athletic abilities, doing everything he needs to do to stay in tip-top shape to make sure that he can help his team do what they need to do on the court,” she said. “I just try to mirror that drive in everything that I do.”

How many times has LeBron been married?

LeBron James has been married just once, to high school sweetheart Savannah. Although he’s become an elite NBA superstar and Hollywood power player in the years since they first got together, he’s never forgotten how much Savannah’s support meant to him early on. 

She “was down when I was at my high school, no cameras, no lights,” James told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. “And she was there with me. You wouldn’t be talking to me right now if it weren’t for her.”

How did LeBron James meet his wife, Savannah?

The love story of LeBron and Savannah James resembles an adorable rom-com. She was 16, he was 17 and the couple attended rival Akron high schools: She went to Buchtel and he went to St. Vincent-St. Mary. They met at a football game. Savannah wasn’t overly impressed by his basketball skills—and so when James asked for her phone number via a mutual friend, she kept the ball in her court.

“I’m like, ‘Um, nope. I’ll take his number,'” Savannah told Cleveland Magazine. “One day I’m sitting around—I was probably bored or something—and I’m like, ‘Oh, I forgot! I have this number for this guy that I can call. He seemed interested, so let’s see.'”

 LeBron was indeed interested. After a group hang at one of his basketball games and Applebee’s, the pair had a couples date at an Outback Steakhouse. The rest—including being each other’s dates to prom!—is history.

How did LeBron James propose to his wife, Savannah?

LeBron never does anything halfway. On New Year’s Eve 2011, at a party at Miami Beach’s Shelborne Hotel that also served as a birthday celebration for him (he was born on Dec. 30), he proposed to Savannah with a diamond ring featuring a pear-shaped gem. 

“It felt like a finals game,” James told Oprah Winfrey in 2012 of his decision to propose. “I had been thinking about it for a while, but it just came to me one day and I was like, ‘This is just another part of growth for me.'”

He went on to explain that he realized Savannah was the one. 

“You know, I was like, ‘This is the lady, the woman I have been with through all the good and all the bad.’ She’s been there for a long time, and I wanted her to continue to be there with me, so I felt like at that moment it was time.”

When did LeBron and Savannah James get married?

Despite dating since high school, the couple only tied the knot on Sept. 14, 2013, when she was 27 and he was 28. The ceremony took place in San Diego, Calif., at the Grand Del Mar’s Capella Chapel. Naturally, the event was full of star power, starting with the guest list and entertainment.

According to reports, Beyoncé and Jay-Z not only attended; they also sang “Crazy In Love” for the couple and about 100 high-profile attendees—including fellow NBA superstars Dwyane Wade (and his future wife, actress Gabrielle Union), Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony, as well as musicians Lance Bass and Ne-Yo.

The wedding was clearly worth the wait to LeBron. “When u have someone that’s always there for you no matter the ups and downs in life, it makes it all worth living for!” he gushed on Instagram while sharing wedding photos. “So happy to call u Mrs. Savannah James #MyQueen #Backbone #QueenJames #Honeymoon.”

Does LeBron James have kids?

Yes, LeBron and Savannah have three kids together. The oldest, LeBron “Bronny” James Jr., was born in 2004, when Savannah was still in high school and James was an NBA rookie. 

“I was thinking, ‘What am I going to tell my parents? What’s going to happen to his career?'” Savannah told Harpers Bazaar. “I was very scared. I was bawling. But he said, ‘It’s not going to slow me down, and it’s not going to slow you down. We’re going to keep doing what we have to do.'”

The couple have two more children, Bryce Maximus (born in 2007) and then a daughter Zhuri born in 2014. LeBron, for one, clearly enjoys being a dad.