With the NBA Lockout in full swing this off-season, many NBA players have taken to the nation’s top Summer Leagues to put in work and help stay in top shape for whenever the work stoppage ends. Between LA’s Drew League, DC’s Goodman League, and the Dyckman in NYC, some top flight ballers have been on display to the delight of spectators in attendance.
While fans in DC were recently treated to a monster 41 point performance by Wizards 2nd year man John Wall and appearances by Kevin Durant and Ty Lawson, the Drew League has seen a steady stream of NBA stars like Tyreke Evans, Blake Griffin, and reigning MVP Derrick Rose take part in some Summer action.
The OKC Thunder’s high scoring wing James Harden has the high point total for the Summer so far by dropping 51 big ones just a few weeks ago at the Drew.
While those seem like some top notch performances and have a high entertainment value, what occurred this past Saturday in Los Angeles forced security to shut down the tiny gym in the Watts section of South Central for Drew League games because a true superstar and 2 time NBA MVP was in the building.
As the story goes, Drew League director Dino Smiley got a call from one of Baron Davis’ people to inform him that a major NBA star was going to be in attendance for Saturday night games. The news was nothing new to Smiley since the Drew Crew are used to big time ballers and superstar entertainers gracing the hardwood of their prestigious event on a nightly basis. He made sure extra security was in the building just in case things got out of hand.
Late Saturday evening, Smiley got another call to inform him that the superstar was going to be none other than LBJ himself. Word spread quickly as the tiny Leon H. Washington Gym was packed to capacity by the time a black SUV arrived and James stepped out, surrounded by 6-8 of his peeps (including Davis).
To the organizers’ surprise, James didn’t intend on being just a spectator, but wanted to play. They promptly found a #2 jersey (what no #6?), and suited up for a team called the Cheaters II. Lebron was spectacular, dropping 33 points, including a monsterous windmill jam that got the crowd on their feet.
I guess we can add Lebron to the Drew League roster for the supposed Drew vs Goodman League challenge coming up in late August? There’s no official boxscore, but from what I’ve heard and read, Lebron played all 4 quarters. Sorry, I had to do it Lebron.
Check out Lebron’s Windmill at the Drew:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
