A man claiming to be the biological father of NBA superstar LeBron James says he’s been wrongly denied access to LeBron and is suing — for millions — to prove it. News of Leicester Bryce Stovell’s lawsuit came just hours before James’ big announcement about his decision to join the Miami Heat on Thursday night. TMZ.com says Stovell, a Princeton graduate and attorney, recently filed documents in federal court accusing LeBron and his mother Gloria James of fraud and cover-up. The 55-year-old says LeBron and Gloria tampered with DNA evidence that would have otherwise proved that he is LeBron’s biological father. Stovell is seeking four-million-dollars citing fraud, defamation and misrepresentation.
In court documents, Stovell claims he met Gloria in Washington, D.C. in 1984 and had unprotected sex with her. He said he later found out she was just 15 years old at the time. He was 29. Stovell claims Gloria moved back to her hometown in Ohio, but returned several months later to tell him that she was pregnant with a boy named LeBron. While he says she never specifically identified the father, he says he remembers telling her, quote, “Well, if he’s mine, make sure he plays basketball.” Stovell says he reconnected with Gloria by phone more than 20 years later in 2007, but she denied ever meeting him and threatened to have him physically harmed.
A few days after the phone call, Stovell says LeBron, through his attorney, agreed to take a DNA paternity test, but the results showed Stovell was not the basketball star’s father. Stovell later began to suspect that the results were tampered with, leading him to file the lawsuit.
Poor LeBron, he just needs a break right now from all the controversy surrounding him.
