Good for Lebron! I dearly hope that they do find that the Hummer breaks the rules and Lebron has to sit the rest of the season. Then, he won't risk injury and can sit pretty until the draft, accepting gifts from anyone with impunity. He can get his multi-million dollar contract and start living the life he should be living right now. As it now stands, Lebron is being severely exploited by his school and the whole Athletic Association who are getting lots and lots of money on a lot of work Lebron is doing for free. That isn't right. And, honestly, he doesn't need them anymore. He could be kicked out of school altogether and still be a lock to die a multi-millionaire. The way they exploit Lebron is wrong and I hope he sticks it to them good.
Juan, I usually agree with you, but I disagree with the spirit of your post. You are absolutely correct, economically, but in terms of what's good for this little kid and his vastly swollen head (see "King James" on the seats of his ride), I think you're wrong. If he doesn't even get a highschool degree, then what's he going to do after he flops in the NBA -- and I think he will be a complete flop if he doesn't check his head. Plenty of "the next great thing"s never pan out, and it's really sad that the insatiable sports hunger of the nation is devouring this kid, filling him with fantasies way ahead of schedule.
B-Bob, it is too late for Lebron. He's already got a big head and there's no turning back now. He has gone to the dark side. And, honestly, there is no way that a kid with as much talent as he's got at his age is going to not get a big head. Just as there is no way he was going to not be exploited. But, given his talent and his position, even if none of his games were televised and you could sit in the stands for free, he'd still know that he is far-and-away the best player at his age anyone has seen in quite some time. It isn't the high school basketball business or the NCAA that drives this kind of egotism. It is the existence of the NBA, the demand for the NBA, and the salaries in the NBA. The only thing I can see to temper his ego is if he were in the league right now and playing with competition that was on par with his abilities.
I agree with everything but the quoted statement. If, by "quite some time," you mean 3 to 5 years, then I can agree. This is what all the hype has done: obscure that there is no way to compare him to Kobe in high school, LaBradford Smith in highschool, etc. Scouting is NOT better now than it was when James Willoughby was told he would be a sure-fire star in the NBA. Just our growing obsession with fans thinking they can be talent scouts is creating this phenomenon.
