LeBron James Reveals 1st Video Games He Remembers Ever Playing on Nintendo

Los Angeles Lakers superstar and NBA legend LeBron James provided a glimpse into his childhood Wednesday by discussing his beginnings in the world of video games.

Speaking to tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee on Uninterrupted (beginning at the 11:07 mark), James talked about the first video games he remembers playing:

James noted that the original Nintendo Entertainment System was the first console he ever played, and he mentioned Double Dribble, Contra, Super Mario Bros. and Zelda as the earliest games he can recall playing.

LeBron is a longtime gamer who is known for his love of the Madden NFL video game franchise. In fact, he was ranked among the top 100 Madden NFL 25 players in the world two years ago.

While present-day Madden represents a huge graphical jump from the NES, it is possible James wouldn't be the video game fan he is today without playing Nintendo as a child.

The NES was released in North America in October 1985, less than one year after James was born.

While other consoles came out in the years that followed, such as the Sega Master System, Atari 7800 and TurboGrafx-16, there wasn't another that enjoyed the same type of commercial success as the NES until the Sega Genesis in 1989.

Because of that, many kids born in the 1980s like James played the Nintendo before any other console.

Games like Super Mario, Zelda and Contra are still heralded by many gamers today as some of the greatest franchises in video game history, although Double Dribble perhaps doesn't get talked about as much given the stronghold that NBA 2K now has on the basketball video game market.

Double Dribble was the preeminent basketball video game of its time, though, and it is fair to wonder if his experiences playing the game contributed to James' desire to become a basketball player.