A blistering (and hilarious) editorial from Jeff Schultz of the Atl. Journal-Constitution...

Quote:I'm watching SportsCenter and the lead story is about a kid's shoe deal. I'm reading about the $90-plus million Nike gave an 18-year-old to outbid Reebok, adidas and PF Flyers (a darkhorse candidate). I'm thumbing through the full-color, 96-page Beckett Basketball Card Collector's Edition Tribute To LeBron James, thinking, I don't know what they paid to produce this, but my guess is they didn't expect him to sign with Topps.

LeShoes. LeCards. LeBron. I'm sorry. I think I'm LeSick.

I'm sorry. I know, that's twice I've said that. But I'm already LeBurned out and the kid hasn't stretched yet. What happens if he misses his first shot?

Three of the NBA's top players stepped in straight from preps. Kobe Bryant. Kevin Garnett. Tracy McGrady. I suppose that should be a good omen. But the hype and dollars surrounding this kid dwarf anything we experienced with those three. They dwarf any player, any era, any sport, save, perhaps Wayne Gretzky (but those were Canadian dollars).

There have been shoe bidding wars for LeBron since Gloria James was in her third trimester. (James said in a statement, "Nike is the right fit." Yeah, whatever. How come nobody just says, "I'd like to thank the company that offered me the most money"?)

James will go first in the draft come June 26 for two reasons: 1) He has the most upside of any player; 2) He will sell tickets. Whether he turns out to be the best player is debatable. Talk about talent all you want, but there's no way to predict what happens the first time he drives the lane against someone whose greatest concern isn't finishing their biology homework.

LeBron James is not a first-year med student stepping into brain surgery, but the expectations lead you to believe he is whatever is the next closest thing for sports. Magic's gone. Bird's gone. Jordan's gone, again. Now John Lucas says James is the only player in the draft who can do what they did.

"He can carry a league," Lucas said.

Carry a league?

Nobody is in James' corner more than Dru Joyce, his high school coach in Akron. And even he wonders.

"The thing that brings down LeBron, if anything, won't be between the lines," said Joyce (unknowingly violating my copyright). "It'll be the lifestyle.

"He doesn't truly understand what will be thrown at him."

Gentlemen, start your turnstiles.

I'm sorry. No money-back guarantees.

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A classic from a classic, John Wooden: "I was walking through the hotel lobby at the Final Four in Atlanta when LeBron approached me and introduced himself. We talked for a minute and I said I hoped he would finish school. LeBron assured me that he would. Later, I thought about the exchange, and I smiled. I was thinking college, and he was thinking high school."

<a href='http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/columns/schultz/index.html' target='_blank'>http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/c...ultz/index.html</a>

"The thing that brings down LeBron, if anything, won't be between the lines. It'll be the lifestyle".


Unfortunately, I think this is the truth. The kid is talented and will probably be able to handle his own in a few years......but how will he handle the off-court pressures?

Do they have a lifestyle in Cleveland?

rickheel Wrote:Do they have a lifestyle in Cleveland?

When you have 90 million dollars, there's lifestyle coming out of your arse!

Quote:LeShoes. LeCards. LeBron. I'm sorry. I think I'm LeSick.

And he's hundreds of miles from Cleveland. Imagine picking up your sports section and seeing each of LeBron's attempted shots charted in a graphic.

This is the LeBron section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Web site:

<a href='http://www.cleveland.com/hssports/lebron/' target='_blank'>http://www.cleveland.com/hssports/lebron/</a>

The Cavs were happy last night, but I'm betting there was more than a little "celebronation" going on at the Plain Dealer last night, too.
Happiest sports dept. in the country this a.m--now they have something to cover in the NBA. :rolleyes: