I might have the designation, at least in my circle, of being the losingest player against LeBron. I started playing against him in fifth grade in AAU ball and lost like 20 times. I also played him four times in high school. We beat him in football, but never in basketball.In 1998, we went to the Final Four and lost at the buzzer. In 1999, we were 20-0. Then in , LeBron comes along and that was pretty much it for us.
There were probably five or six things we tried to do against him defensively over the years. Then, he went to the pros and I heard Hubie Brown and other NBA analysts talking about the exact same strategies we tried in high school. None of it worked.During practice, we worked hard at breaking St. V’s diamond press. We brought our best players away from the basket so we were able to get the ball across half court. We did a pretty good job, but we couldn’t convert 2-on-1 chances.
There was a moment in the first half where we turned the ball over and LeBron comes down the court for a dunk. I swear he took off near the foul line. My junior guard had a chance to step in front of him to take a charge. My guard was 5-foot-10 and probably 150 pounds. I call a timeout because we had turned it over and St.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association has not sold out a state basketball game since James’s senior season.The eyes of America were looking in on Akron because of LeBron. Even now, he is directly and indirectly a blessing for this area and state. As a senior, James made news for driving a customized Hummer H2, a gift from his mother, Gloria, who had secured a loan for the vehicle by utilizing James’s future NBA earning power. He was briefly stripped of his high school eligibility by the state’s governing body for prep sports for accepting two throwback jerseys. James appealed and the penalty was reduced to a two-game suspension by a judge.