January 31, 2003

High school basketball superstar LeBron

High school basketball superstar LeBron James was suspended for accepting sports jerseys, a violation of Ohio high school sports rules. Whether the rule is stupid or not, James isn't the victim. He's a person expected to be the NBA's number one draft pick this summer. Both Nike and Adidas are luring him with a huge endorsment deal just to wear their shoes. James better not claim ignorance (he has a 3.5 grade point average) for not knowing high school sports rules. Someone who's playing Nike and Adidas off one another is savy enough to know what to do to keep his athletic eligibility.

By taking the jerseys and sacrificing his eligibility, James let his teammates down. This season the St. Vincent-St. Mary team has traveled across the country and played before thousands of people. Most were there to see James, but his teammates had some of his lime light shine on them too. Now, who will want to see a LeBron James-less St. Vincent-St. Mary?

Then there's the playoffs. I don't know how good the other players on St. Vincent-St. Mary are, but that team is certainly better with James. If I were one of James' teammates, I'd think it was pretty selfish of him to take those jerseys.

If I were an NBA general manager, James' behavior would make me wary of taking him for my team. Last time I heard basketball was still a team sport. How much of a team player is LeBron James?

"HS Star Ineligible Because of Gifts"
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ESPN's Kevin Frazier considers it a "petty matter."

"No pain for LeBron, no gain for Ohio"
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Sportsline.com's Dan Wetzel calls it "the end of the charade," and makes this great point:

If James could hit a forehand instead of a free throw, he would have long ago been rich. But he wasn't. Instead, he had to stay an amateur until his high school class graduated. That's the system. Even if he was bigger than the system.

It made no more sense than if at age 16 Britney Spears was prohibited from signing a record deal and instead was told to spend the next two years singing in the Kentwood (La.) High School choir. For free. According to her label, Jive Records, Spears sold 19 million albums by the time she would have graduated from high school.

"It's just an odd situation," James told me during his junior year as he mulled that scenario over. "I never thought of it that way. Man, that's just odd."