Читать книгу The Redemption of the King - Vince McKee - Страница 9

CHAPTER ONE

The Chosen One

LeBron James was born on December 30, 1984. He shares a birthday with other great athletes, such as Tiger Woods and Sandy Koufax. Perhaps this was an early sign that the young man was destined for greatness.

His mother, Gloria Marie James, was 16 years old when LeBron was born, and she raised the young prodigy on her own in Akron, Ohio. In an attempt to find stable work and a brighter future for her son, Gloria allowed LeBron to move in with the family of Frank Walker, a local youth football coach, who introduced LeBron to basketball when he was 9 years old. LeBron was instantly a star on the court, as he excelled playing with the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars in the Amateur Athletic Union, more commonly known as AAU basketball. The team, led by LeBron and his friends, enjoyed success on first a regional and then on a national level.

LeBron chose to attend St. Vincent–St. Mary High School, which was well known for its athletics and high academic standards. He was a star athlete from the first moment his feet touched the gym floor at St. Vincent–St. Mary. In his freshman year, LeBron averaged 21 points and 6 rebounds per game for the school’s varsity team. He led St. Vincent–St. Mary to a perfect 27–0 record and a Division III State Title championship win. In his sophomore year, LeBron averaged 25.2 points and 7.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 3.8 steals per game. A number of the team’s home games had to be relocated to the University of Akron as the demand was so high to see LeBron play, and the 5,492-seat Rhodes Arena would sell out in minutes of tickets going on sale. NBA players who were in town to face the Cavaliers, including Michael Jordan, would drive out to Akron just to see him play. The hype around LeBron grew by the moment, and at the young age of 16, he was slated to be the next big thing in sports. There was demand from alumni, local fans, and college and NBA scouts who all wanted to see LeBron play.

His sophomore year was every bit as successful as his freshman year, and the team went 26–1 for the season and again won the state championship. LeBron was named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball and was selected to play with the USA Today All-USA High School Basketball First Team—the first-ever high school sophomore to do either. As LeBron’s success on the court spread, so did media interest in his talent. Prior to the beginning of his junior year at St. Vincent–St. Mary, LeBron appeared in SLAM magazine, touted as potentially “the best high school basketball player in America right now,” according to Ryan Jones, former editor-in-chief of the publication. Later on in the season, LeBron would go on to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine—the first underclassman high school basketball player to do so.

LeBron continued his dominance as a junior by averaging 29 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 3.3 steals per game. It was no surprise when he was once again named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball and selected to the USA Today All-USA High School Basketball First Team. LeBron quieted any remaining media analysts that had doubts about his talent when he also became the first junior to win the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award. St. Vincent–St. Mary would go on to end the season at 23–4 with a loss at the Division II championship game.

LeBron took his show on the road his senior year, as the St. Vincent–St. Mary Fighting Irish traveled around the country to play a number of nationally ranked teams, including a game against Oak Hill Academy that was nationally televised on ESPN2. Additionally, Time Warner Cable even offered a cable pay-per-view package for dedicated fans to order just to watch him play. LeBron would go on to give pay-per-view buyers their money’s worth, as he averaged 31.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 3.4 steals per game. Once again, for an unprecedented third consecutive year, LeBron was named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball and selected for the USA Today All-USA First Team, and he was named as the Gatorade National Player of the Year for the second year in a row. The remarkable year concluded with another state championship win for the Fighting Irish.

Those in the local media believed that LeBron would soon become the next big thing in the NBA. Ken Carman, night host for Cleveland’s 92.3 The Fan sports radio, shared his insights on LeBron and his immediate impact on the league:

I think because of him, he made mild basketball fans rabid basketball fans because he was just so great. I was still in high school when he debuted, and I even knew he would make a team look so much better, despite how much we all expected that first season. He was doing some remarkable things, and I felt that all the hype over him was real. I knew there would be some growing pains, such as the trouble he had with an actual jump shot and some defensive issues. It’s amazing because we sit there and preach defense all day long because we watch teams like San Antonio, and we use LeBron for a beacon of defense as in his NBA career he was usually on the all-defensive team. But his first couple of years coming into the league, he had no interest in playing defense. It made us as fans and media change how we look at talent and where we put our expectations.

Carman continued about how LeBron’s talent changed the mind­set of the rest of the rookies getting ready to come to the NBA:

I really do think because of his talent it made us change and temper our expectations for what other talent is going to be. We reference to a guy as saying he is not a LeBron but look what else he can do. It has made us better to look back at it and judge the overall talent of what other players can bring. When you have good talent, you have a chance to win championships, but when you have a good system in place with the talent, you have your best chance to win championships. It has changed for some on how they look at the game and judge talent and how they judge the raw ability.

As LeBron continued to dominate high school courts across the country, the Cavaliers were going through their worst stretch of basketball in the history of the franchise. Heading into the previous 2002–03 off-season, many questions surrounded the upcoming season. The media and fans alike discussed teams potentially tanking the season simply to increase their draft position for a shot at the high school phenomena. The Cavaliers really didn’t need to tank anything at that point, as they were already a very low-ranked team. With LeBron being from the Cleveland-Akron area, it seemed like a perfect fit but one that was almost too good to be true to happen for the Cavaliers.

Kenny Roda, legendary Cleveland sports-radio host, knew early on that LeBron would be something special in the NBA one day:

I was one of the first people to jump on the LeBron bandwagon while he was still in high school, after talking with his high school head coach Dru Joyce, as he told me about LeBron’s high basketball IQ. You just looked at the guy physically and mentally, and he didn’t look like a normal high school senior—he looked like a college senior. So physically and mentally, he was ready. I thought he would come into the NBA and become the Rookie of the Year and make an immediate impact!

On July 30, 2002, the Cavaliers traded away their best players, Andre Miller and Bryant Stith, to the Los Angeles Clippers for Harold Jamison and Darius Miles. The move was stunning because it left them without a starting point guard. They would later trade Milt Palacio and sign the free agent point guard Smush Parker. However, none of these players were capable of starting on a regular basis. They had a couple of high-flying scorers with Miles and Ricky Davis, but without a point guard to get them the ball, it was looking like a very long season was ahead for the Cavaliers. This was a clear indication that although the team didn’t need to tank forcibly, they were preparing to do so in order to gain the number-one pick of LeBron James. Even more fuel was added to the fire when it was reported that LeBron was allowed to participate in an off-season practice with the Cavaliers. It was unheard of to let a high school student athlete practice with the pros, and it caused head coach John Lucas to be fined as well as suspended for the first two games of the 2002–03 season. Coach Lucas would later admit that he was in a no-win situation and was doing what he was told to do by upper management within the organization.

The Cavaliers opened up the season on the road against the Western Conference powerhouse, the Sacramento Kings. It was a blowout from the very first bounce of the ball. Sacramento exposed the lack of firepower and lack of ability to move the ball by the Cavaliers, holding them to only 67 points. The final score was 94–67, and the game looked as bad, as the final score demonstrated. And without a starting point guard, it didn’t appear that the Cavaliers would be improving anytime soon. It was a clear indication of how the entire rest of the season would go for the team. They were set up to suffer and prepared to let their fans also suffer as they plotted for the arrival of the Chosen One.

Following that opening night, the Cavaliers continued in their downward spiral with a 15-game losing streak. By December, their record was 6–24, with no improvement in sight. Things didn’t get much better after that, and by the all-star break, John Lucas was fired as head coach. He left the team with an 8–34 record. In just over a season and a half as coach, Lucas barely led the team to a paltry 37 wins. Additionally, the franchise was going through some serious growing pains.

Cavaliers assistant coach Keith Smart took over as head coach, replacing John Lucas, but he didn’t have any better luck, as the team finished the season tied with the Denver Nuggets for the worst record in the league at 17–65. It was the Cavaliers fifth straight season missing the playoffs, and the team had gone through four head coach changes in that same period of time. This instability was very uncharacteristic for a Gordon Gund–owned team, and he was on the lookout for change to arrive quickly.

The silver lining in the dark cloud of that season was the fact that Žydrūnas Ilgauskas played in 81 games—a great sign that he had fully recovered from years of foot injuries and surgeries. Ilgauskas was so impressive that year that he was voted onto the Eastern Conference All-Star Team. He averaged 17.2 points a game, along with 7.5 rebounds. He also led the team in blocks with 1.9 a night. For the Cavaliers to improve, the physical health of Ilgauskas would come to be a vital component of the overall effectiveness of the team. He solidified the frontcourt and served as a key player for a number of years to come. Additionally, the impact of the friendship that Ilgauskas would go on to have with LeBron 11 years later would also prove vital to future success the team.

Equally impressive was the play of rookie standout Carlos Boozer. He played in 81 games, averaging 10 points a night and a strong 7.5 rebounds per game. The dream of Boozer in the frontcourt ripping down rebounds and scoring points looked bright for the Cavaliers, as he was quickly shaping up into a major player that the Cavaliers hoped to be able to count on to be their starting power forward for a long time to come.

The 2003 NBA draft was regarded as one of the strongest in history. The top five picks produced four of the best players currently playing today. Cleveland selected LeBron James with their number-one pick; two picks later, Denver selected future all-star Carmelo Anthony from Syracuse. The Toronto Raptors selected Chris Bosh—one of the top players in the game today—out of Georgia Tech with the fourth pick. The fifth pick went to the Miami Heat, who struck gold with their selection of Dwayne Wade. (The Heat would eventually combine Wade with Shaquille O’Neal and win the NBA Championship just three years later.) The draft was loaded with talent, but it was clear that Cleveland was receiving its top prize.

Opening night for LeBron took place on the West Coast when the Cleveland Cavaliers visited the Sacramento Kings; he scored 25 points against them and set an NBA record for the most points scored by a prep-to-pro player in his debut outing. The Cavaliers lost the game 106–82—the team couldn’t do much to help LeBron and couldn’t stop the high-powered Sacramento attack. Fans in Cleveland and the world over didn’t mind staying up late to watch LeBron’s professional debut. With the final score not in Cleveland’s favor, it was a very promising sign that LeBron was not discouraged and still put together a fine opening-night effort.

Despite LeBron’s playing well, the Cavaliers lost their first five games of the season before winning back-to-back games at home against Washington and New York. As a rookie, LeBron handled the pressure of his position well. The team, however, did not, enduring an eight-game losing streak from late November through early December. Davis and Miles spent their court time hogging the ball when they really needed to find a way to hand the ball off to LeBron. On Monday, January 12, 2004, the Cavaliers hit a new season low of 15 games under 500. It was then that the winning combination of LeBron and Boozer began to form. LeBron showed great improvement during his first year and instantly became the team leader. Without the negative influence of Miles and Davis controlling the team, the other young players were able to grow together and make drastic and encouraging strides in the right direction. The writing was on the wall for Miles and Davis.

The Cavaliers rattled off several winning streaks, including a seven-game clip in early March that put them in the playoff hunt. In a late-season match-up with the New Jersey Nets, LeBron scored a season-high 41 points—becoming the youngest player, at age 19, in league history to score at least 40 points in a game. Not only were the great plays of LeBron helping the team, but a couple of key midseason trades by general manager Jim Paxson helped as well.

In a second-round draft pick, the Cavaliers traded Davis, Chris Mihm, and Michael Stewart to the Boston Celtics for Tony Battie, Kedrick Brown, and Eric Williams. The team later decided to also trade Miles to the Portland Trail Blazers for Jeff McInnis. It was a clear sign that with LeBron leading the team, all selfish ball-hogs had to go—with Miles and Davis at the top of the list. McInnis was a key pickup, as he could shoot and pass while providing instant offense every time he touched the ball. Williams was another important addition who brought a certain sense of veteran leadership to the team.

Despite the added support, the Cavaliers would go on to tire out late in the season and slump through a seven-game losing streak in the final weeks. The team did close out the year strong, however, with three straight wins despite already being eliminated from playoff contention.

Finishing with averages of 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game, LeBron went on to be named the NBA Rookie of the Year for the 2003–04 season—the first Cavalier in history to receive the designation—joining Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in their rookie year. LeBron played in 79 of the 82 games that season, demonstrating his durability as a player despite his very physical style of play.

Jerry Mires, host of The Sports Fix on IHeartRadio, provided his take on LeBron coming into the league:

I sensed when he was in the ninth grade that he would have the impact on the NBA one day that he did. We all knew! He was raised to be an NBA player. He was 10 years old when people around him figured it out and changed the course of his life because they knew what he was meant to become. I don’t think anyone was surprised at his total and utter domination at such a young age of all competition that stood in his path.

Roda wasn’t surprised either with LeBron’s dominant first season in the league:

His rookie year was better than anyone else ever coming out of high school and better than any of us have seen or even expected. He deserved to be the 2003–04 Rookie of the Year. He even exceeded my hopes for him. He went out and did better than anyone’s expectations. It was an incredible thing to witness firsthand.

In the 2004 off-season, Drew Gooden was brought in to fill the void at power forward left behind by Carlos Boozer. He was a former fourth overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. The hopes for Gooden were high after a great college career at Kansas. In 2002, he led the league in rebounds and was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches National Player of the Year. The Jayhawks went 33–4, including 16–0 in the Big 12 Conference play to win against Kansas—its first conference championship since 1998. Gooden had two forgetful years with both the Memphis Grizzlies and the Orlando Magic, and he hoped to turn things around with the Cavaliers.

LeBron picked up where he had left off the year before and started his second season red-hot. He once again led the team in all offensive categories and was good enough to be voted as a starter in the All-Star Game for the Eastern Conference. Sadly, the team couldn’t turn the corner and missed the playoffs again, despite winning 42 games. They also went through an ownership change when Dan Gilbert bought the team from Gordon Gund. Gilbert’s first move was to fire head coach Paul Silas. It was a sign of things to come that Gilbert wasn’t afraid of making changes for the benefit of the team.

The upcoming summer would go a long way in shaping the future of the team. A new coach and general manager were hired, and for the first time, getting to play with LeBron James was used as a bargaining chip to bring in new talent. The only question that remained was the same one that would always stand out during LeBron’s time as a Cavalier: Could the team find the help it needed?