To start off my new blog, I had to think long and hard about what my first entry would be. I needed something to blast it off, a topic that involved something great. Who better to talk about, than the NBA’s current star and future legend?Actually, what made me think about Lebron James was in light of unbelievable events that took place in my life not long ago. If you don’t know, I go to a school known for their design majors, students who act weirder than they dress (see movie, “Art School Confidential”). Of course most of these people have absolutely no interest in sports whatsoever. For the few that do, we like to stick together like Hootie and the Blowfish, wait, didn’t they break-up or something?
Anyhow, you get the point. My friend and I were talking in the lounge about the NBA and a topic involving Lebron James; I don’t exactly remember what it was, and it really doesn’t matter. The next few events that took place should shock you. A kid comes up to us and asks us “Who is Lebron James?” At first, we both chuckled because we thought he was joking… Nope, no joke here and our chuckles quickly changed to expressions of shock. How do you not know who one of the most talked about sports figures in the world is? I was stunned, but later on I thought, hey maybe, me being the sports geek I am, I overreacted, so I decided to ask around to people that attend other schools. Their reactions were the same.
To me, not knowing who Lebron James is, is like not knowing who the President of the United States is. You don’t just live under a rock, you live in the dirt below the rock. You are completely oblivious to not only sports culture, but pop culture and the business world. As a result, I felt like it was my duty to pay homage to a person that will someday be well known in villages deep in the Amazon rainforest. So… who exactly is Lebron James?
Lebron James, or as some of us like to call him King James, is a professional basketball player who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Lebron is a 6’8”, 250 lb, 22-year-old small forward. These are the basics.
Now to talk about why he is so important… In his teenage years, while just a Junior in high school, this kid had more media coverage than 75% of current NBA players. I still remember his first cover picture of Sports Illustrated when he was in his green and white high school uniform with the ball held up to his face; the headline read “The Chosen One”. When he finally entered the NBA Draft at the age of 18, he was well known by sports fans across the country. He had never played one NBA game, yet he signed a multimillion dollar contract with Nike (I believe the figures were around 90 million dollars) and people labeled him, “King James”.
Don’t get me wrong, I was upset about crowning a player who never even played one NBA game as much as the next guy. But boy was I wrong… Now one thing you have to understand in the world of sports, whether it be basketball, football, baseball, or hockey, a player usually reaches his prime around the ages of 27-31. Look at these basketball greats and how they preformed in this age range:
Michael Jordan; Age 27; Won league MVP as well as Finals MVP.
Wilt Chamberlain; Age 30; Won league MVP and led his team to become champions.
Larry Bird; Age 27; Won league MVP as well as Finals MVP.
Magic Johnson; Age 27; Won league MVP as well as Finals MVP.
Bill Russell; Age 27, Won league MVP and led his team to become champions.
Shaquille O'Neal; Age 27; Won league MVP as well as Finals MVP.
Kobe Bryant; Age 27; Scored a career-high 35.4 points per game, including an 81-point game that shocked the world. Not to mention he got robbed of the league MVP award.
Lebron is in his fourth season as an NBA player. Let’s take a look at what he has done so far. He was the first overall draft pick in 2003. Stats wise, he has managed to score over 20 points per game in all of his years and he averages 6.6 rebounds and assists per game in his career. In his first playoff appearance last year, he led his team to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and lost to the Eastern-best Detroit Pistons 4-3. He won NBA Rookie of the Year and was in the hunt to become NBA MVP last season. He has represented the United States in international play twice and has been voted to the All-Star team three times. Last year, Lebron was named MVP of the game and this year, he was the leading vote getter with 2.5 million votes.
He is only 22 years old! We still have to wait FIVE MORE YEARS before we witness his greatness. With a resume like that and taking account his age, how could you not call him King? He’s also doing it in the business world; his Nike basketball commercials, “The Lebrons” are some of the best I’ve seen and yes, he has his own shoe. Recently James has announced plans to team with Microsoft in hopes to inspire the next generation of basketball players.
Although he has had a great start to his career, he still has a ways to go in terms of leadership and performing great to allow his team to win games. This year especially, he has allowed his teammates to do a lot of the work. Now this might seem to be a good thing but true great players take the ball into their own hands when the game is on the line. His points per game have dropped by five points since last season and his season high is just 39 points. In 54 games Lebron has played this season, he has only had 16 games in which he scored over 30 points.
Lebron has still played excellent this season and his team is in third place in the Eastern Conference. I just think he just needs to step it up a little more and learn how to take shots and allow his team to win. I do believe that during the playoffs he will step up and do even better than he did last season when he averaged 30.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
So it wrap up this extremely long blog about the future of the National Basketball Association, Lebron James is both significant in the sports world and as a world icon. I believe he will do more every year to expand his image throughout the world and lead his team to multiple championships. I hope that you now realize, if you didn’t already before, truly how great this player is. I sincerely believe that he is in fact “The Chosen One” and one day be listed among the top five greatest basketball players of all time. I just can’t wait until 2013 when we are left stunned day after day by such greatness. Ladies and gentlemen, let the countdown begin!
Sources: ESPN.com, Basketball-Reference.com
Photo: NBA.com
Sports Moment of the Week
While on the subject of basketball, Ron Lewis of Ohio State University blocked what would’ve been the game-winning shot by Wisconsin’s Kammron Taylor with one second left. #1 Ohio State defeated #2 Wisconsin, 49-48, to win the Big Ten title.
