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<< Front page Sports October 31, 2003
 
Is LeBron James the real deal?

We’ve all heard the hype. LeBron James this and LeBron James that. Barely out of high school, he signed multi-million dollar deals with both Nike and Sprite. But before all of the LeBron fans in Gund Arena, as the Cleveland Cavaliers took the floor against the Milwaukee Bucks in their preseason home opener, there stood not the god that Cleveland paid for but a boy playing a man’s game. And on the back of his jersey — for which I assure you he did not pay $50 — was the name James.

So the question that everyone wants to know: is LeBron really as good as everyone thinks he is? Or perhaps better yet, is he as good as he thinks he is? And the answer: not this year, but just maybe one day.

After watching LeBron for the entire first quarter I found myself still waiting for him to make a single drive to the basket. After the game had ended, my wait was over and yet it had still not happened. Where was the superstar everyone had talked about? Where was the superstar whose jersey three quarters of the stadium was wearing?

Playing a total of 29 minutes, LeBron’s statistics were less than impressive in the 88-81 loss, shooting a below average 4 for 14 from the field (including an air ball and several that just barely grazed the rim) and 0 for 2 from three-point-land. At the same time the Bucks were leaving him wondering where his jock went as they juked him right out of it on their way to the basket over and over again.

On the other hand, with his six assists, perhaps this is the new and improved LeBron James. Six assists was certainly not what I had expected from the arrogant young athlete as he consistently made play after play happen for the Cavaliers while he still had energy. There were several amazing passes made by LeBron that could have resulted in many more assists but alas, they were too amazing for his teammates to hold onto. This unselfish behavior seems unusual for a young man who was quoted by ESPN as saying “One day I hope it [his jersey] hangs from the rafters too.”

Offensively LeBron is a young player who needs time to mature. He likely will never touch the pedestal to which players such as Michael Jordan have risen, but if he maintains his team-player attitude, one day a Magic Johnson skill level is certainly attainable. Confidence seems to be what he will need most in order to do this, however, due to the simple fact that he isn’t in high school anymore. Gone are the days where he could just walk to the basket and punch it in. On more than one occasion he lined up one on one with a Buck player only to change his mind and pull it out, passing it off to someone else to go one on one to the basket.

As for his defense...well, let’s just say that it’s a good thing that LeBron went to a Catholic school because he will need God’s help for this side of his game. Not once did he make any kind of effective defensive stand against the Bucks’ offensive onslaught. He was head-faked, dodged, run by, and run over throughout the time he spent in the game. Some of this was likely simply due to his physical shape — he was obviously exhausted after half-time. Players would run away from him, receive a pass and score while he stood there with a look of guilt on his face. Or was it laziness? Hopefully some physical maturity and coaching will be able to at least bring his defensive game up to par with the rest of the NBA before it’s too late.

All in all when it comes down to it LeBron James is not what everyone, and certainly not what he, thought he would be. He lacks the confidence to go to the basket, the skill to play good defensive basketball, and the moves to go one on one. Is he a great player? No, not a chance. But if you were to ask, is he a great rookie, then you’d be getting somewhere, because the fact is that a rookie coming into the NBA straight out of high school and snagging six assists as well as six rebounds is something special. The potential is certainly there, but I don’t expect to see nearly as many James jerseys during coming games, seeing as how half of the fans left in disappointment after the third period while booing at LeBron’s performance.