Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

What does LeBron James dream about, other than sliding that first National Basketball Association championship ring onto his finger and perhaps riding in luxury automobiles with more generous leg room? How about donning a different kind of uniform and becoming a superhero?

“I think everybody, even grown-ups now, today all wish they could be a superhero,” Mr. James, the Miami Heat forward and six-time N.B.A. All-Star, said in a recent telephone interview. “I definitely had that imagination of, like, wow, it would be great to look over a city and take down the bad guys. Absolutely, I had those visions.”

In his latest venture, Mr. James won’t be fighting crime Batman-style (even if he could probably afford it), but he still hopes to bring inspiration to his young fans. He is taking his talents to the Internet in a new Web-based animated series that will revisit some of his best-known off-the-court performances while featuring socially conscious messages.

The cartoon series, called “The LeBrons” and planned for a spring debut on its own YouTube channel and Mr. James’s Web site, lebronjames.com, will revive the characters from a popular series of Nike commercials in which Mr. James played four versions of himself: the youthful and wide-eyed Kid LeBron; the physically adept Athlete LeBron; the smooth and savvy Business LeBron; and an ornery elder statesman called Wise LeBron.

“I’m mostly a kid at heart,” Mr. James said of these manifestations, “and I’m the athlete, of course, that everyone sees. But I also have a business side, a cool side, and I love antique stuff and classical music. I guess that’s the old man side of me.”

“The LeBrons,” whose first season will consist of 10 episodes of five to six minutes each, will center on the world of 16-year-old Kid LeBron and his life in Akron, Ohio, using authentic locations from that city, where Mr. James was born and raised.

Like a latter-day “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,” each episode will convey a message — the value of staying in school, staying off drugs or sticking by your family — while its character design and wry sensibility owe an inspirational debt to “The Boondocks,” the satirical comic strip and television series created by Aaron McGruder.

“ ‘The Boondocks’ is very edgy,” Mr. James said, “but it has some great points, too, and if you can extract yourself from how edgy it is, you can find that point and you can use it.”

Behind the scenes, “The LeBrons” will be produced by Mr. James’s production company, Spring Hill Productions, and Believe Entertainment Group. That company’s founders, Dan Goodman and Bill Masterson, have helped other entertainment figures translate their online popularity into digital shows, including “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy,” a series of online shorts from Mr. MacFarlane, the “Family Guy” creator and star.

Written by Dave Itzkoff  & Full Story here NY Times