Keith Dambrot Praised By Former Player LeBron in Post-Game Press Conference

After Tuesday night’s playoff win over the Suns, LeBron James took some time out of his night to recognize three of his former coaches who shaped him into the man he is today, including his former high school coach and current Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot.

“I think about them every day,” James said. “When I am thinking about basketball, there’s not time that goes by that Frank Walker, Coach Dru Joyce, and Keith Dambrot doesn’t come to mind. They basically gave me the whole DNA and the blueprint of how to play the game of basketball both as an individual, how to work hard, how to be selfless, how there’s no I in team, and without the greater of all of us then, you will not get the reward that you are actually looking for at the end of the road.

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A message from the 👑 on the impact @CoachDambrot has had on him.#GoDukes https://t.co/E6fzmPPnUd

— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) May 26, 2021

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Dambrot coached James in his freshman and sophomore years of high school at St. VIncent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio, before accepting an offer to become the head coach at the University of Akron.

“They’re like my big three, when it comes to basketball,” he said. “Frank Walker, Coach Dru Joyce, and Keith Dambrot.They gave me all the tools from when I started playing at nine all the way until I was 18. Playing in little leagues, to middle-school leagues, to AAU ball, to high school ball, travel leagues, and things of that nature. I wouldn’t be the player that I am, I wouldn’t be succeeding the way I have in the best league in the world, the NBA, without the influence of those few guys.”