How good was lebron back in highschool

Calves_fan · Post #21 » by **Calves_fan** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 5:15 pm

The crazy thing is, as hyped as he was, he's absolutely shattered all expectations.

soxfan2003 · Post #22 » by **soxfan2003** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 7:12 pm

Calves_fan wrote:The crazy thing is, as hyped as he was, he's absolutely shattered all expectations.

I'm not so sure he has shattered everyone's expectations. I was expecting him to be a Magic-Jordan hybrid when I first saw him play as a high school jr. He has pretty much just lived up to my sky high expectations. Sonny Vaccaro I don't think is surprised either since I think he was the first well known person to make that comparison. And I doubt Nike is that surprised since I think they gave him a 90 million dollar contract before he played a single nba game.

To be honest, I thought Lebron might even be a little bit better then he was earlier in his career. I didn't know for sure he would have this amazing durability but I thought there was a good chance his perimeter shooting would be better at a young age.

Calves_fan · Post #23 » by **Calves_fan** » Sun Jul 20, 2014 8:04 pm

soxfan2003 wrote:I'm not so sure he has shattered everyone's expectations. I was expecting him to be a Magic-Jordan hybrid when I first saw him play as a high school jr. He has pretty much just lived up to my sky high expectations. Sonny Vaccaro I don't think is surprised either since I think he was the first well known person to make that comparison. And I doubt Nike is that surprised since I think they gave him a 90 million dollar contract before he played a single nba game.

To be honest, I thought Lebron might even be a little bit better then he was earlier in his career. I didn't know for sure he would have this amazing durability but I thought there was a good chance his perimeter shooting would be better at a young age.

You watched a HS player and expected him to be a 4xMVP (and counting)? That's pretty wild imo, expecting a 17 to year old to do that. Putting potential, work ethic, professional mentality together while avoiding injury is never a given, I find it hard to peg a kid for that.

soxfan2003 · Post #24 » by **soxfan2003** » Mon Jul 21, 2014 2:25 am

Calves_fan wrote:
soxfan2003 wrote:I'm not so sure he has shattered everyone's expectations. I was expecting him to be a Magic-Jordan hybrid when I first saw him play as a high school jr. He has pretty much just lived up to my sky high expectations. Sonny Vaccaro I don't think is surprised either since I think he was the first well known person to make that comparison. And I doubt Nike is that surprised since I think they gave him a 90 million dollar contract before he played a single nba game.

To be honest, I thought Lebron might even be a little bit better then he was earlier in his career. I didn't know for sure he would have this amazing durability but I thought there was a good chance his perimeter shooting would be better at a young age.

You watched a HS player and expected him to be a 4xMVP (and counting)? That's pretty wild imo, expecting a 17 to year old to do that. Putting potential, work ethic, professional mentality together while avoiding injury is never a given, I find it hard to peg a kid for that.

I wasn't even thinking MVPs that much since sometimes the best player doesn't win it... Just best player in the NBA game for an 8-10 year stretch as long as he stayed healthy. Health is a question mark for everyone but Lebron had pretty much an ideal build not to worry about. I'm sometimes wrong but in all honesty the only player out of high school or college that I predicted greatness/HOF for who missed was Greg Oden. And I sincerely believe the only reasons Oden missed are health related and perhaps alcohol. But I became convinced Oden had HOF talent when I saw him block a shot against Florida in the national championship game and it looked like he just exploded off of the ground which is remarkable for a player his size. I never expected Oden to be the best player in the game, however. I expected Durant to be great as well but just not quite as good as he has become.

Look back at those Lebron highlights, he is making passes that at his height, I've only seen players like Magic and Bird make. And he is doing with ridiculous athletic gifts that are better overall than Jordan's. Jordan was quicker and more maneuverable but Lebron's size/height more than makes up for that.

I assumed Lebron had some work ethic and love of basketball to get that good and every incentive to try to live up to his potential.

The players who you have to question their love of basketball are the 7ft players who can dominate high school and sometimes college just because they are tall and athletically gifted.

Son Goku 25 · Post #25 » by **Son Goku 25** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 12:22 am

He was always special, you can just tell he understood the game at such a young age and everything was slow for him compared to others. His physical ability to go along with his unselfishness and IQ pretty much makes him the most talented player to ever play the game.

Watchlist · Post #26 » by **Watchlist** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 12:17 am

he shatted all expectations as well

Post #27 » by **TheOUTLAW** » Tue Jul 29, 2014 12:29 pm

Watchlist wrote:he shatted all expectations as well

I'm hoping you mean he shattered expectations because him shatting them would be an entirely different thing.

CodyB_ · Post #28 » by **CodyB_** » Thu Jul 31, 2014 3:18 am

I remember the first time I read about Lebron. I was in hospital with appendicitis and my mother bought me a basketball magazine. I was like "who the **** is this" then I did reading and back then it wasn't like going on Youtube, I had to hunt around on the internet to find miniscule bits of info.

What I saw was a 6'8 guard who could pass as well as he could score and do everything on the floor. Furthermore, he better built than most NBA players. 6'8 and 220-230ibs. Unreal.

Statistically, players have come and gone that might have comparable performances to Lebron in that regard, however, nothing comes close to how NBA ready Lebron was and his understanding of the game from an early age. He could have put up 20,5 and 5 at 16 years old.

OsuCavsfan103 · Post #29 » by **OsuCavsfan103** » Thu Jul 31, 2014 3:40 am

I grew up 15 minutes from him, watched him throughout HS, and even I had no idea he'd be this good.

TheKingofSting · Post #30 » by **TheKingofSting** » Fri Aug 1, 2014 7:41 am

He was a Beast, that is when I fell in love with him.

Watchlist · Post #31 » by **Watchlist** » Sun Aug 3, 2014 9:52 am

he's not as fast as he used to be

Post #32 » by **TheOUTLAW** » Sun Aug 3, 2014 11:39 am

Watchlist wrote:he's not as fast as he used to be

He's bigger than he used to be

Post #33 » by **TheOUTLAW** » Sun Aug 3, 2014 11:39 am

Watchlist wrote:he's not as fast as he used to be

He's bigger than he used to be

big_ticket · Post #34 » by **big_ticket** » Mon Aug 4, 2014 2:43 am

he was the chosen_1 nuff said..i remember he's magazine cover from slam and SI

johnnyballgame · Post #35 » by **johnnyballgame** » Mon Aug 4, 2014 7:56 am

TheOUTLAW wrote:LeBron was NBA ready as a Junior in HS. He had a practice with the Cavs, and dominated them. That kid was unbelievable as a teen.

I think I recall John Lucas talking about this with that dry rasp of his.

B Mac wrote:My favorite LeBron high school memory was his Jr year and the game at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse that Shaq came to when the Lakers were in town to play the Cavs.

I was a Sr. in high school and my high school always had a back to back night where we would play a team and then St. V would play a team after. Since I was a senior I got to sit right in the front row of the student section, which for this particular game happened to be right behind the hoop. LeBron had 2 dunks where his momentum ended up carrying him right into me and I got the "pleasure" of holding up a sweaty LeBron. Pretty gross, but still an awesome story.

This was the game right after LeBron was put on the cover of Sports Illustrated and his buzz was really starting to pick up. There had been rumors that Shaq was coming to watch, but no one really believed it. Ron Harper was there and sitting about 20 feet away from me. In the 2nd quarter all of a sudden the whole arena started buzzing and sure enough in walked Shaq in a full purple sweatsuit surrounded by body guards that he made look tiny. Everyone just froze and watched him walk in, including the actual game itself. Once he took his place next to Harper the game started back up and LeBron really started to show off.

That might have been the last time that LeBron ended up being shown up by Shaq. From that point on LeBron was pretty much always the most famous person in any room.

I was going to post that. You're definitely a very special high school player when a pro like Shaq comes to see you play. This wasn't washed up overweight Shaq. And you know that because he pulled off that full purple sweatsuit. Cool story B-Mac. Did you say "I'm never going to wash my hands" after touching the King? lol yuck

willywazza · Post #36 » by **willywazza** » Mon Aug 4, 2014 11:34 pm

Definitely the most talented high school player of all time.

Watchlist · Post #37 » by **Watchlist** » Tue Aug 5, 2014 11:01 pm

More talented than wiggins?

Vides990 · Post #38 » by **Vides990** » Wed Aug 6, 2014 7:59 pm

Watchlist wrote:More talented than wiggins?

Wiggins is at least 2 notches below what Lebron was as a prospect.

Vides990 · Post #39 » by **Vides990** » Wed Aug 6, 2014 8:00 pm

mshal101 wrote:But overall Melo was better in high school.

Lol no

vct33 · Post #40 » by **vct33** » Sat Aug 16, 2014 11:41 am

He could have been a rotational NBA player the summer after 10th grade.