Lebron James: Currently the Best Player in the Game (part 1)

The two-time champion shoots like Jordan and watches the floor like Magic.

Lebron James isn’t feeling up to par these days. Having recently lost the 2015 NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors took a serious toll on the two-time NBA Champion. Like Kobe Bryant before him, Lebron had his turn at being called the “air apparent” or next Jordan, but he hasn’t achieve nearly as many accolades as Jordan did when he was 11 years in the league.

• St. Vincent had to move their home games to the University of Akron
• Lebron made the cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine in high school
• Lebron was the youngest player to average 30 points per game

One shouldn’t take too much pity on Lebron because he has earned his share of glory and has made U.S gambling news. Having won four NBA MVP awards, two NBA Finals MVP awards, two Olympic gold medals, a scoring title and NBA Rookie of the Year Award, Lebron has definitely made his mark in the NBA. Let’s look at how the current most prolific player in the game found his way to the top.

Lebron’s bad ass high school career

Lebron James was born in Akron, Ohio in 1984. His mother, a teenager at the time, raised Lebron as a single parent. After much struggle through unpleasant living conditions, Gloria James made the decision to let Lebron live with a family under the care of Frank Walker. Walker, a youth basketball coach, introduced Lebron to the sport when he was nine. During his childhood, Lebron played for Amateur Athletic Union (AUU) basketball.

His team, the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars, was successful locally and nationally. Lebron and his teammates, Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III and Willie McGee were called the “Fab Four” and made pact to enroll at the same high school. They together decided to enroll at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, a private catholic school that was predominately white. In Lebron’s freshman year, he averaged 21 points and six rebounds a game for the varsity team.

The team finished with a perfect 27-0 record and won the Division three state title. The next year, Lebron increased his average to 25.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Lebron drew so much attention that St. Vincent had to move their home games to the University of Akron’s Rhodes Arena in order to appease the ticket demands by alumni, fans, college and NBA scouts interested in Lebron. With only one loss of the season, James led his team to a repeat state championship.

James made history and possibly gambling news by becoming the first sophomore to be voted Ohio’s Mr. Basketball and was selected to the USA Today All-USA First Team. Lebron appeared in Slam Magazine before the beginning of his junior year in high school and during the season he became the first underclass high schooler to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine.

Lebron’s average when up to 29 points and 8 rebounds per game as he led his team to the state finals but failed to win. Although he won the same accolades as he won before and the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award, Lebron was frustrated from his loss and felt he was under a great deal of pressure. Lebron contested the NBA to enter the draft early, but was denied and told he would have to graduate from high school first.

James moves from high school to pros to adulthood.

As a senior, Lebron team toured the country playing select teams, one of which appeared on ESPN2. St. Vincent games were also offered on pay-per-view through Time Warner Cable. When Lebron entered the 2003 NBA draft, it was perhaps the most anticipated entrance of a high school player into the pros. As the obvious first round draft pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lebron started his career by setting a record for the most points scored by a player coming in the NBA directly from high school.

He also would become the youngest player to score 40 points. Unfortunately, Cleveland failed to make the playoffs. The next season Lebron became the youngest player to score a triple double and be named to the All-NBA Team. Once again though, Lebron’s team failed to make the playoffs. The following season he would be the youngest player in history to win the All-Star MVP award and to average at least 30 points a game.

Averaging 31.4 points, 7 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game, Lebron finally led his team to the playoffs where he made a triple double against the Washington Wizards. Although Cleveland won the series, they would get defeated in the next round against the Detroit Pistons. After the season, Lebron signed a three-year USD 60 million contract with the Cavaliers.

Having the opportunity to get more money, Lebron signed the contract under the condition that he could sign a new contract with a new team as a free agent in after the third year. This move would change Lebron’s future in the NBA. At the same time, Lebron’s friends Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh also made similar contracts with their teams. If punters only knew about the events that were to transpire, sports betting would be forever changed.