LeBron James and Savannah Shower Daughter Zhuri With Love As She Turns 12

LeBron James with his daughter Zhuri James© Instagram/@lebronjames

LeBron James showered love for his daughter in a sweet Instagram story. Zhuri turned 12 on October 22, and her parents made sure the day felt like hers. Savannah James posted online first, and the four-time champion followed with a short note of his own. A few familiar names also left comments, and one of them repeated a message from two years ago. The family has a habit of marking this date loudly, even when basketball schedules get in the way.

LeBron James and Savannah Share Emotional Messages For Zhuri

LeBron James took to Instagram with a message for his daughter: “HBD PRINCESS !! Love you Mama Face!!!” The post paired the words with a photo of Zhuri smiling outdoors in a white collared shirt, her long black hair framing her face. Brown heart and praying-hands emojis finished it off.

Savannah James had already posted a three-photo collage with the caption “Happiest Birthday Zhuri Nova!!!!” It passed 162,000 likes in a short time.

Calling Zhuri a princess is a habit for the four-time NBA champion. For her 10th birthday, the family filled their Brentwood mansion with hundreds of balloons, and James shared a video with the caption “Happy Bday My Princess.”

The loudest tribute came in Philadelphia. Savannah posted a story from Xfinity Mobile Arena, where the jumbotron read “HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZHURI!” with a #6 hashtag during the 76ers game. The scoreboard below showed Philadelphia ahead, and the packed crowd got to be part of it. Six is the number Zhuri wears in volleyball.

Other Wishes Make Zhuri's Birthday Special

Zhuri was born in Ohio on October 22, 2014, during James's first season back with the Cavaliers. Eight days later, he opened the season at home against the Knicks. Twelve years on, he has started his first year in Philadelphia against those same Knicks and now faces Cleveland on her birthday. Two years ago, she turned 10 on the day the Lakers opened their season.

The comments section drew some regulars. La La Anthony wrote, “Happy Birthday beautiful.” A'ja Wilson, the Las Vegas Aces star who won her fifth WNBA MVP award earlier this year, wrote, “Happy birthday friendddd.” It is the same message Wilson left for Zhuri's 10th birthday. The bond goes past Instagram. In June 2025, Zhuri wore Wilson's signature Nike A'One sneakers to a volleyball game.

The family kept Zhuri private early on. “Back when she was born, we didn't show her,” Savannah told Vanity Fair. “No one saw her until LeBron won his 2016 championship.” She sat on her father's lap at the postgame press conference that day. Now she has more than 400,000 Instagram followers of her own.