I had already heard the talk about the larger than life kid athlete who was still in high school but I didn’t become intrigued until I spotted a few folks with these green and gold, seemingly pewter jerseys while I was at a Pistons game one night; on the front- IRISH 23, on the back- JAMES 23. What in the world? Who wears high-school jerseys? This kid was making noise, LOUD noise, in my neighboring state of Ohio and the noise carried over…nationwide. As my curiosity grew, I researched his stats, I asked my sport fiend friends and everyone about him, everyone knew this kid was something special. I wanted to see for myself and my boyfriend at the time worked with athletes, so he got us two tickets to witness history- The 2003 McDonald’s All-American Game held at Gund arena in Cleveland, OH.
The first time I saw LeBron James I was in awe. This wasn’t a kid, he was huge, very muscular and had the body and face of a grown man, he seemed like an old soul, yet reality was he was a kid and only 18 years old. He walked towards where I was sitting and dapped the man sitting directly in front of me, they shared a few words and he went back to his shoot around. I was in the second row; the man in front of me was Jay Z! I looked at my boyfriend and said, “How does he know Jay Z already?” Clearly, I was floored and the game hadn’t even started yet.
As I watched the game progress, I was impressed by his strength, dominance, athleticism, demeanor and control. There was a certain power about him, you literally felt it while watching, it was nothing short of amazing. I cheered and although there was so much talent on that court that day and there were many young guys playing their hearts out at that game like Michigan State’s Shannon Brown (Lakers), and Wake Forest’s Chris Paul (Hornets), I was focused on LeBron James, though I did make some shouts about Andrew Lavender who I thought was a hustler of a point guard but he never saw the lights of the NBA. LeBron ended the game with 27 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds and was chosen as the MVP of the game. Out of the 24 young men that played in that 2003 McDonald’s All-American game, 13 are currently in the NBA.
LeBron James elected to skip college and take his talents to the NBA, and I witnessed why. As he entered the draft the speculations were wild, will he be able to handle the pressure of the NBA? Will he fizzle out and be an ok player? Or will he be a force to be reckoned with and became the talent that a lot of folks felt he could be? He entered the 2003 NBA Draft, which personally for me, was one of the most exciting drafts ever. He was selected as the number 1 draft pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers over Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, yes, they were all in that draft together, how about that! LeBron didn’t just go and become a dominant force in the NBA, he became an enforcer of the game. He gave Cleveland 7 years of his hard work and dedication averaging 28 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, but after a heart wrenching 7th season and failing to achieve his goal of a championship in the 2010 playoffs, he decided to recolate his talents to South Beach. I watched LeBron check out of the 2010 Playoffs last year and heard a rumor stating that he had some personal issues that he was dealing with at that time. Regardless of what it was, I understood his stance, I may not agree in the process he chose or the way he handled it but I understood he wanted a championship and that he felt he gave Cleveland all he could and wanted a change.
LeBron went to Miami with one intention, to seek and facilitate a championship not a change in scenery. Miami struggled in the beginning of the 2010-2011 season and had people questioning whether this coming together was a good idea but eventually Miami meshed together and started playing serious ball. Miami finished the regular season 2nd (58-24) in the East behind number 1 Chicago (62-20) and above number 3 Boston (56-26). They dominated and ran over everyone in the 2011 Playoffs including Chicago and my favorite, Boston. They got their wish and made it to the 2011 NBA Finals and……….well, since he dazzled us with 24 points and 5 assists in game 1 against the Dallas Mavericks, LeBron has been Missing In Action. King James feeds off of the energy of “The Game” and The Finals has been a great series. The games have been engaging and energetic and yet, King James is M.I.A. and of all places in Dallas!
So where is LeBron? What’s really going on with him? Will he return in Miami tomorrow or just make an appearance? Has he completely checked out again? I had a conspiracy theory that the Godfather of the NBA, David Stern, wants a 7 games series. So I thought that maybe he asked LeBron to fall back, there are politics in sports folks, big time and there’s big money involved but the Mavs are now 1 game away from the championship and I just don’t think that King James will get this far just to watch it slip or throw it all away but how do we explain his scoring slump?? He scored 20 points in game 2, 17 points in game 3, 8 WHOLE POINTS in game 4 and 17 again in game 5, giving the Mavs a 3-2 lead in The Finals. What’s going on here?
LeBron James IS NOT an oh-be-why Kobe Bryant type of player. LeBron James is a consistent player and doesn’t have off or bad days. LeBron James is a force…until maybe he gets to the playoffs…hmmm??? Is he going through another “personal” issue or is the pressure so high that the King is choking? How can this be? Maybe he feels the weight is now on his shoulders. Maybe the promises he made about winning multiple championships in Miami (back to back) is getting to him. Maybe he feels this was too easy, there has to be a catch. Maybe he’s just simply afraid…afraid of not repeating what has seemed to come to quick and easy, with great young teams lurking in the shadows such as Chicago, New York and Oklahoma City. Maybe there are just too many thoughts going through his head and this has him discombobulated. Whatever it is and wherever you are LeBron, it’s now or……….
To check out some of the action from LeBron James 2003 McDonald's All-American game go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmjtL-UXajI
~A2
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