Too Much Too Soon
In Akron, Ohio there is a 6�8" senior at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School who is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft this year. The guy can play basketball.
That fact alone would be great, but the kid is surrounded by controversy.
LeBron James lives in the projects and drives a Hummer. Why? Because when the shoe companies, like Nike and adidas, started talking about the millions that he would be worth when he began to play NBA, his mother was able to borrow the money to buy him this $50,000 vehicle. It has three TVs and a video game inside.
LeBron has had big boy toys for a while now. Two cellphones, a two-way pager and various plane tickets to Chicago. Why Chicago? Because last summer when he wrecked his wrist he regularly flew to Chicago to be rehabbed by Michael Jordan�s personal trainer, Tim Grover.
The Akron basketball team, ranked No. 1 in USA Today�s rankings for the fourth straight week, was forced to forfeit a win because of a recent situation where James accepted Gayle Sayers and Wes Unseld jerseys worth $845 from a store owner in exchange for posing for pictures to be displayed on its walls. This is in direct violation of the rules of the Ohio High School Athletic Association. The state prep sports governing body said the ruling was based on a bylaw stipulating that athletes lose their amateur status by "capitalizing on athletic fame by receiving money or gifts of monetary value."
Of course he appealed. Of course a judge
reinstated him, just Wednesday night. He has to miss one more game, of the school�s choosing. He has no more home games. The reinstatement is a temporary restraining order against the state athletic association. If the judge rules the case must go to full trial, the temporary restraining order will likely extend past the playoffs and become a moot point. There are four games left before the playoffs in Ohio.
LeBron was back practicing with the team on Wednesday. The school issued a statement saying the suspension is unfair.
Lebron stated that these were congratulatory gifts from a friend for his academic achievements. Interesting to note is James already had the Unseld throwback jersey. When asked to describe what was in his closet, he said, "I just got all kinds of crap in there. Timberlands, Jordans, adidas, Air Force Ones. I got a Julius Erving throwback jersey, a Pete Maravich, a Kenny Anderson from the Nets. I got Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I got footballs, a Joe Namath, a Jim Everett." He did give back the two jerseys which caused the suspension.
So where were the adults in this kid�s life to guide him down the right path? His mother was busy securing the Hummer loan and hawking the free stuff that adidas had given her. His high school coach, Dru Joyce, was busy blaming the media. Adidas� Sonny Vacarro, stating that Nike will most likely sign James, promised happily to drive up the price.
On Senior Night � the last home game of his high school career before he leaps into the NBA � courtside visitors included Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett and a film crew from CBS' "60 Minutes.�
So we have an 18-year-old kid who, by his own admission, has never had much suddenly faced with more than he could ever imagine. With no parents, no coach and no adults to mentor him in restraint and patience, he did what most kids would do. He took what was handed to him.
Let�s hope somewhere down the road he will grow up enough to realize this could all be a fleeting situation. That someday he may blow out a knee and his days on the basketball court will be over.
If he�s smart he�ll have banked all of the adidas and Nike money and possibly learned the life skills it will take to move beyond sport. With the set of adults he has to emulate, he�ll deserve a pat on the back.
�Cause he�ll have done it all on his own.
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