Dreams do not come true in a $37 million mansion. At least not for LeBron James, who is demolishing his recently acquired Beverly Hills residence and starting from scratch. The demolition of a multimillion dollar home is nothing to the NBA superstar, who recently inked a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension with the LA Lakers.

Fans are paying attention, and not in a good way. “Being able to casually knock down a Mansion just because you don’t like the look of it is a next level flex,” and “Hearst Castle pt 2 incoming” are among the chorus of Instagram comments.

The 13000 square foot home was destined to fail from the beginning. He bought the Spanish Mission-style mansion in 2020, but King James never really had any plans for it.

Immediately after buying the 2.5 acre property, which included a pool, a pool house, tennis courts, and one of LA’s largest driveway gates, James began the legal battle to obtain building permits to reconstruct. The interior of the house includes soaring ceilings, four bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and seven fireplaces. A trophy room and a screening room were also present. Views of the Pacific Ocean might be seen through walls of sliding glass windows. The majority of the buildings featured arches, including the breakfast courtyard’s fountain with teal tiles. To the dismay of this IG poster, a full renovation was obviously out of the question: “When I’m sleepy, I sometimes switch the drapes. When Lebron grows exhausted, the entire house has left.

Charles Boyer, a Hollywood actor, originally owned the house when it was first constructed in 1934. It then changed hands and belonged to aviator and movie mogul Howard Hughes, who rented it out to his ex-girlfriend Kathryn Hepburn in the 1950s. Following a change in ownership, The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful co-creators Lee Phillip Bell and William J. Bell bought the home in 1986 for $2.9 million.

The property itself exuded an Old World elegance that obviously didn’t fit with James’s present style, surrounded by cypress trees and bronze sculptures. How therefore would the four-time NBA champion turn his future house into a home run? In his other residences, which include a sleek 12,000 square foot Miami mansion and his principal Brentwood home, a modern house with a wine cellar, an elevator, and a spa with a sauna and a massage room, the furnishings are minimalist all-white. Perhaps his architects will use post-industrial finishes similar to those of Olson Kundig, a Seattle-based architecture firm known for designing the LeBron James Innovation Center at Nike’s Beaverton headquarters. It wouldn’t be surprising if James’ new estate is LEED Platinum Certified given his reputation for embracing sustainability and his investment in a carbon-neutral dairy product company last year; perhaps this is his way of responding to the user who said, “Bad for the environment imo #carbonfootprint.”

James has all the prerequisites for retiring as a Laker with his son Bronny attending college at the University of Southern California this autumn and his dream home in Beverly Hills only a short 30-minute drive away.

For those who are criticizing James’ indulgences in real estate, take note that he does have a charitable side. In his hometown of Akron, Ohio, he constructed the I Promise School public school in 2018, which features a STEM program to aid at-risk children.