Tuesday, March 18 Basketball Hall of Fame asks for LeBron jersey -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESPN.com news services Months away from receiving his high school diploma, LeBron James already is headed for the Basketball Hall of Fame. At least, his gear is. The Hall of Fame has asked James, a senior at Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary, to donate one of his game-worn jerseys in recognition of what has been an outstanding, unprecedented, highly scrutinized prep career. Play the LeBron Lottery You don't have to wait three months to see what happens in the NBA draft -- also known as the LeBron Lottery. Click here to see the odds each team has at getting LeBron and then play the lottery! Matt Zeysing, an assistant curator of the hall, told the Akron Beacon Journal on Monday that it would be receiving a No. 23 St. Vincent-St. Mary jersey, a pair of shorts and tennis shoes for a display that might be showcased by mid-April. "We would have been dropping the ball had we not asked for it," Zeysing said. "LeBron James has been the biggest story of the basketball season and we wanted to be a small part of that ... He has taken high school basketball to a whole other level." The jersey and shorts will be ones James, the likely No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, wore during his junior season, Irish coach Dru Joyce II told the newspaper. "No disrespect to some of the other player of the year awards that 'Bron is receiving, but to me this is the highest honor to this point," Joyce said. "When you play a sport, one of your greatest dreams is to be a part of that hall of fame. "This is something, that no matter what else happens, he can say he was in the hall of fame." While the hall houses memorabilia and artifacts from the professional, college and high school ranks, James' high school jersey would become one of the few displayed in the Springfield, Mass., museum so soon after the conclusion of his prep career. James and St. Vincent-St. Mary play in the state semifinals Friday against Canton South.
My lord, this crap is really getting out of hand. His jersey into the Hall of Fame and he hasn't even been drafted yet? I sure hope he turns out to be everything everyone thinks he'll be, otherwise there's going to be a lot of people standing around looking stupid. Its funny how they compare him to MJ when MJ himself wasn't that good at that level. A LOT of HS players were better than MJ when they were in HS, but couldn't take their game to another level or higher...yet everyone and their dog thinks its an automatic with Lebron. Whatever.
I think this is prudent on the Hall of Fame's part. Regardless of what he does on the pro level, you can't deny the impact he is having on the sport as a whole, and as a high school player this makes him all that more special so that a pice of memerobilia regarding him should be in the hall.
I can't believe that everyone is getting so angry. KG and C-Webb have their high school jerseys at the same place, and their's were retired years ago. This crap isn't "getting out of hand", it got "out of hand" a while ago. It is not the NBA Hall of Fame though, and you can't deny that LeBron, whether he deserves it or not, has raised high school basketball to a new level. You can also argue that Jordan doesn't deserve to be GOAT because he got more exposure than Wilt and Oscar, but that's just the way it is. Don't think too much of it.
really were KG and webber's jersey in the hall before they were even in the league? No. Regardless of what Hype(which is the only thing worthy so far to make him HOF eligible) he's gotten in the past year, it still doesn't guarantee him ANYTHING in the pros. Even if he does live up to most of the hype, what if he gets injuried? It's a little early to be getting the HOF ready for Lebron when he doesn't have a single stat in the NBA yet. I guess its just early planning...in that case there is this kid that is 18 months old , that I KNOW, is going to be a star! Can I donate his rocket logo diapers to the HOF...you know, just to get it ready...
This is a freakin' joke... I really hope LBJ does well at the next level, but come on... I think he's the most overhyped individual this year...
