Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own blog, Hoops Haven .
It’s hard to believe that Lebron Raymone James has been a player in the NBA for 6+ seasons already. I can still see him in the green and white St. Vincent-St Mary’s Fighting Irish jersey plastered all over magazines and ESPN as early as his junior year at the Akron, Ohio school. Perhaps no other player in recent memory has been as hyped and media scrutinized as Lebron.
As a freshman, he averaged 21 ppg and more than 6 rebounds as a starter on varsity, helping to lead the Irish to a 23-1 record and a Division III Ohio State Title. He improved in his sophomore season to the tune of 25+ ppg, 6 assists, and 4 steals as his team again won the state title as James was named Ohio’s “Mr Basketball” and became the first sophomore to be named the USA Today’s All-USA 1st Team. Entering his junior season, the media explosion was just beginning as he upped his stats once more to 29 ppg, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals, in once again becoming Ohio’s Mr Basketball and another spot on the All USA Team, and won the Gatorade National Player of the Year honors. It was at this point the media began calling him “King James.” Yesterday we showed you some vintage footage of Shaquille O’Neal in high school, well check out this footage of King James:
Check Out this great footage of James playing in high school put together by ESPN.
Check Out Some HS Footage of James With Two Dunks in :20 Seconds:
The real frenzy started as James unsuccessfully attempted to declare for the NBA Draft after only his junior season by petitioning the league for an adjustment to their age eligibility rules. He was then thrust onto the covers of Sports Illustrated, Slam, and ESPN The Magazine. His HS practices and games were forced to be moved to the University of Akron because of the thousands in attendance as spectators. Some of the NBA’s elite were regularly in the crowd like Shaquille O’Neal, as the games were nationally televised on ESPN and pay per view.
Then came controversy, as his mother accepted a loan, based on his future earnings, for an $80,000 Hummer. His mother’s indiscresions as well as James’ acceptance of two throwback jerseys of Wes Unseld and Gale Sayers, originally stripped him of his amateur status. A judge reduced his penalty to an individual 2 game suspension and his team a 1 game suspension, which was their only loss in his senior season. As a senior he averaged 31.6 ppg, 9.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 3.4 steals, as his team won another state title as James swept many of the national individual awards like becoming a member of the All-USA Team for the 3rd time, MVP of the McDonalds Game, Jordan Classic, and EA Sports Roundball Classic.
For those of you that are huge Lebron James fans, a great new site is Lebron’s State Farm Site, which has 8 unlockable videos from various different stages in his development from 8th grade to the pros, and even some teasers from his movie, “More Than a Game” and some of his recent commercials.
Here is a sample “Practice” video of James shooting half court shots and throwing down monstrous dunks in HS from the site, which was filmed in 2002:
