Inevitable Destiny - LeBron James

From Akron, OH, rising senior LeBron James was
the first player ever choosen as a first team
USA Today All-American as a sophomore.

Inevitable Destiny

By Frank Rusnak
With the 2002 NBA Draft having passed us June 26, forget for a moment about any huge foreigners or all-American Duke point guards. Realize that a high school junior could have dominated the night -- if he decided to enter the draft.

Kevin Garnett took the road less-traveled in 1995 when he opted for the NBA Draft and bypassed college altogether. It had been 20 years since Darryl Dawkins made the jump from prep to pros.

At one point, the jump from prom to the NBA was unimaginable. Now the question every year is “how many?” How many of these prep ballers are going to jump from innocence to the land of temptation?

You might be thinking that only one high school player, Amare Stoudemire, was picked in this year’s draft. But before you begin thinking the youth movement to the NBA is finished, realize that the first college senior (Melvin Ely) was taken three picks after Stoudemire at No. 12. While there were three other high school players – Lenny Cooke, DeAngelo Collins and Giedrius Rinkevicius – who declared for the draft, Stoudemire was the only one picked.

Are players being deterred to make the jump from high school because of the lack of success of last year’s lottery picks: Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry? If they are, that would be a huge mistake. After all, up until two years ago critics were using Toronto's Tracy McGrady and Seattle’s Rashard Lewis as examples of why not to make the leap to the NBA out of high school.

What happened with those two after they developed some wind beneath their sails and got accustomed to the NBA, you ask? For the past two years, McGrady has operated to the tune of 26 points and eight rebounds per game as an NBA All-Star and member of the Orlando Magic. Lewis is not far behind with All-Star stature, registering 16 points and seven rebounds per game the past two years as a starter for the Western Conference’s SuperSonics.

In most cases, if a high school player is good enough to get drafted, give him a couple of years to materialize before judging him and you won’t see negative effects of the leap.

NBA general managers don’t disagree, because it’s done and it’s over – the next step has been taken. NBA scouts have high school games scribbled throughout their calendars as much as some colleges. High school all-star games, prep exposure camps throughout the summer, etc., NBA scouts can be found at most of these places, even when college coaches aren’t there. Yes, that’s right, as the NCAA puts restrictions on its coaches as to when they can see a recruit perform, the NBA scouts are free anytime to peruse high schoolers as they please.

So, the question is ... what’s the next step? Whether people want to believe it or not, there always will be someone or something that passes that unpenetrable barrier. The Babe’s home run record -- long gone. Red Auerbach’s championship mark -- all but toasted by the Zen Master as he looks to bring Kobe and Shaq another title.

Well, I’m here to tell you the next step has come in the case of kids going to the NBA and his name is LeBron James. He’s good enough to write his own ticket to any major college in the country. Then why is it that coaches like Matt Doherty, Jim O’Brien and Mike Krzyzewski would find it in their best interests to not waste their phone calls, letters or time on this prodigy?

He has the body and athleticism of his role model Kobe Bryant, the court savvy and passing ability of Magic Johnson and the hype of, well, none prior. Sure, that’s a big statement, but in this media-crazed, tomorrow’s-news-today world that we live in, the profiling of this 17-year-old stretches beyond the barriers of anything in the past.

If you truly are clueless to the name LeBron James, well, I’d like to be the first one to welcome you back from your coma. After all, the Akron, Ohio, native has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Slam Magazine and mentioned regularly on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”

If you truly are clueless to the name LeBron James, well, I'd like to be the first one to welcome you back from your coma.

Everyone made a big fuss when Shaquille O’Neal took in one of his home games -- which are played at Akron’s JAR Arena and draw far larger crowds than the Zips themselves-- when the Lake Show was in town facing the Cavs. But, hey, it’s Cleveland, what else is there to do?

Chicago, on the other hand, is a different story. And there lies the day that made any other living, breathing soul packed into this tiny gym a believer along with myself.

It’s Saturday, June 8, and the NBA is holding its annual pre-draft camp at Moody Bible Institute on the Windy City’s North Side. All the nation’s top college stars and a handful of graduating prep phenoms are in town either playing or getting the mandatory weigh-ins and measurements. What I didn’t know was that there was a theoretical shuttle bus leading from Moody to the small South-Side gym at Percy L. Julian High School.

There they were, scattered amongst the regular folks: Washington draftee Jared Jeffries (Ind.), Cleveland’s DaJuan Wagner (Memphis), Golden State’s Steve Logan (Cincinnati) and many others. Outside of the soon-to-be-pro rookie crop were current NBA-ers DeSagana Diop (Cleveland), Shawn Marion (Phoenix), Bobby Simmons (Washington), Eddy Curry (Chicago), Quentin Richardson (L.A. Clippers), Darius Miles (L.A. Clippers) ... in case you noticed, this list is getting pretty long, and I’m positive I’m missing players.

It’s funny though, the gym also was scattered with its fair share of little kids -- certainly large followers of the NBA -- and none of these superstars were being harassed. But the reason’s simple: Everyone’s attention is glued to the court where the Next Coming, as SI proclaimed him, is operating on the hardwood.

In addition, representatives from the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago’s CBS and NBC affiliates also were in attendance to see James, the first-ever player to be a First-Team USA Today All-American as a sophomore.

Seemingly going through the motions while playing very calmly, he is not affected one iota by the multi-million dollar, future teammate/foe onlookers. Playing with a calm, confident swagger, he brings the ball up the court for his team as the point guard despite being the biggest player on the floor.

With a solidly built 6-foot-8-inch frame, not believing of any teen-agers, he commands the attention of the entire defense. But that’s no worry for him as he is equally happy to give the ball up to his teammates with fancy, no-look, behind-the-back passes perfectly placed. He shows, when he chooses to, the athleticism of Bryant but his ultra-precise court vision and passing abilities still are very noticeable, a la the Magic Man.

Whether his team wins or loses is of no importance to this crowd. The college and NBA players don’t seem to care either -- they just want to get a glimpse of the hype, or possibly begin their scouting on how -- if at all -- to stop him when he plays for pay after he finishes his senior prom. It’s clear that all the ballers’ attention is planted on him as they file in and out between his games.

Any thought of the NBA players and majority of the crowd being there for anyone else but Mr. James was made clear during his third game of the day.

Getting the ball on a fast break, the only thing standing between him and a tenacious throw-down was a defender half his size. With a one-track mind to dunk the ball, James continued toward the hoop with his eyes getting wider and wider. Rising up and extending for the dunk, the ball was at the top of the backboard as James was about to posterize this poor defender.

Failing to get out of the way, the defender instead undercut James and he went down hard. Staying on the floor in agony for a good 15 minutes, the crowd became restless while James was down.

While the defender who undercut James appeared not to make a concerted effort to get out of his way and didn’t look to be attempting for a charge call, the crowd thought it was a dirty play and in turn the defender had ruined the sole reason they came to the game by taking down its main attraction. With the player being yelled at, taunted and even threatened by people from the crowd, event organizer Mac Irvin had to tell the culprit to leave -- for his own safety.

Once James was taken off the court and it was made clear he wouldn’t return, the gym was cleared in the blink of an eye, as the show was done ... for that day. Expected to miss a month more of action with a broken wrist, James will certainly be back, and you can make certain you will hear more about him. Only next time, it will be on a much larger stage and next to NBA commissioner David Stern.

Related article from 7/2/01 ... Click here.