LeBron James is one of the most influential athletes in the world, a global icon in the sports as one of the greatest basketball players of all-time. 

James came up from a tough upbringing, though, without a father while his mother provided for a his family in the Akron, Ohio projects. LeBron's rise to the top of the NBA is a story of triumph, with James overcoming incredible odds to achieve his dream and so much more. 

LeBron's now not only one of the most successful basketball players of all-time, but a growing business man who looks set to enjoy a prolific career off the court as well. James and his family are set for life, and he's ready to give his children the advantages he grew up without. 

James, like just about every NBA player born in the last few decades, was inspired by Michael Jordan as he grew up. It was another player, though, that he revered even higher. One that never won a ring, but never backed down from his own challenges. 

Allen Iverson was "the god" in LeBron's eyes, James told Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated. Iverson's story is a complicated one, with AI also growing up with a single mother. He faced significant strife in high school, spending time at a correctional facility as a Senior before Georgetown University coach John Thompson took a chance on recruiting him. 

"He represented what black kids were all about, and he resonated with every inner-city kid in the world who had a struggle. Michael Jordan inspired me, and I looked up to him, but he was out of this world. A.I. was really the god," James told Jenkins

Iverson inspired a generation of basketball players who grew up watching "The Answer" become a cultural icon in the NBA. AI was always true to himself, never pretending to be something that he wasn't just to fit a mold he never cared for.

AI's been a hot NBA topic this summer as Ice' Cue's BIG3 League three-on-three basketball league begins, with Iverson as the unquestioned headline act among a group of retired NBA players that make up the league. 

Iverson's impact on the game of basketball is hard to quantify, with the six-foot-tall dynamo taking the NBA by storm from Day 1. There's never been another AI, one of the mightiest warriors the NBA has ever seen, and the star who proved to kids like LeBron that sometimes the grass really is greener on the other side if you just stay focused on the game.