LeBron James is always in protective dad mode, especially when it comes to his only daughter, Zhuri James.
In addition to their 11-year-old daughter, James and his wife Savannah also have two sons, LeBron “Bronny” James Jr., 21 and Bryce James, 19.
Despite a busy schedule, the NBA star is a hands-on dad, and he proved it again by taking his daughter to school as she approaches a milestone year.
In a Sept. 1 post, James shared sweet photos of his “princess” and her look for her first day of sixth grade.
But the post sparked a debate on whether one part of her outfit was age-appropriate.
In the eight-part carousel, James started off posting several photos of Zhuri in a school uniform and shared videos of them jamming to music together in the car.
The proud dad wrote the caption, “My Baby Z first day of 6th grade today! Man o Man!! Ammo is fully loaded and I ain’t playing about my Princess LOL.”
He then wished his daughter a great school year and told her to “have fun and continue to be YOU! It’s always ENOUGH! Love you.”
Zhuri looked adorable posing in photos before going to school. On the car ride there, she and her dad rapped the lyrics to the 1997 classic “Phone Tap,” from The Firm.
She wore a white polo shirt and a navy pleated skirt, paired with a matching sweater. Her long, curly hair was pressed out, which completed the overall polished look.
Similar to her mother, Zhuri got a little creative with her nails. Her oval-shaped nail set featured a glossy pink base with playful blue-and-white designs, including polka dots, stripes, and tiny monkeys on two nails.
It’s not clear whether the nails were press-ons, acrylics, or stickers, but they were short, likely to accommodate Zhuri’s volleyball schedule.
Zhuri’s nails seemed to upset some fans, who felt, “Them nails is not appropriate.”
Another said, “I never get why parents allow their kids to get tips at such young age my daughter wasn’t allowed to do any of that crap until high school prom/graduation. And thank God she’s only into short French very demure she’s cute tho.”
Other fans came to Zhuri’s defense.
“This is cute. I typically don’t like the idea of nails for little girls like long acrylics, but these do seem like marketed little girl nails,” said one.
Someone else typed, “It’s monkeys on her nails what is inappropriate about that.” A third person commented, “Yall so jealous lol the nails are fine!”
Neither James nor his wife, Savannah, has responded to the debate.
The NBA legend has spoken about the difference in how he approaches being a girl dad, and admitted how he’s gentler with her than his sons.
Back in February, he spoke about it in a postgame interview after his then-team, the Los Angeles Lakers, beat the Golden State Warriors.
He said, “It’s special, it’s special, it’s definitely softened me up over the last 11 years. I had two boys to begin with, but it’s special to have her.”
He further explained his version of “love” as a girl dad compared to his boys.
“It’s a different type of love between girls and boys. It’s tough love when it comes to my boys,” said James. “I yell at them and stuff, whatever. You know, they take it, they know how to approach it. It’s different, a little softer when it’s my daughter.”
James wasn’t the only one who had a heartfelt reaction to Zhuri getting older.
Savannah also shared two photos of her baby girl in uniform. In the caption, she admitted feeling both emotional and excited as she watches her daughter grow up.
“The girl started 6th grade today,” Savannah began. “Am I okay? Not really. Did I cry about it? Yes. Am I so proud of her and excited to see her continue to grow into an amazing young woman? Absolutely 💯 Go be great Baby!!”
LeBron and Savannah James have watched Zhuri grow up in the spotlight, but they don’t seem interested in letting outside opinions dictate how she expresses herself.
As their youngest child gets older, the reality of her growing independence has started to sink in. For her parents, that means giving her room to develop her own style while still guiding her through each new stage.
