Posted Friday 10/16/2009 8:00 AM in Articles by Jesse Brukman
By 14 he was dunking. By 16 he was facing down reporters. Now the greatest basketball player in the world is 24 years old-and he's just getting started.
So you first dunked when you were in junior high?
It was during a warmup game when I was in middle school. Every year we had a teachers-versus-basketball-team game in front of all the students. I got one in during the warmups, and then I actually did it during the game.
Was it on a teacher?
No. I wish! I wish it was on the teacher who gave me a C-minus; I would've definitely dunked in his face.
If there was one guy on the planet you could dunk on, who would it be? That teacher?
If it doesn’t have to be a basketball player, George W. Bush. I would dunk on his ass, break the rim, and shatter the glass.
This month's documentary More Than a Game—about all the hype surrounding you and your high school teammates—doesn’t really show how you dealt with the groupie situation that comes with being a star at such a young age.
None of that stuff happened. That's all a facade. When people talk about girls coming up to their hotel rooms at 16 years old, that's a fantasy.
Do you kind of wish it happened?
At 15, 16 years old? Nah, I was focused on basketball...wink, wink.
As one of the biggest names on the planet, have you ever met anyone who made you feel starstruck?
The first time I met Michael Jordan. I was a sophomore in high school, and it was an unbelievable experience for me. It didn't even feel like he was on the face of the Earth. This guy was more like an angel, like an alien or something.
Why does basketball seem like the one sport that hasn't been rocked by steroid scandals?
It's something that's not done. I think it’s hurting baseball, because it wasn't banned and now it is banned, so it's hard to flush out completely. It's just something in the NBA that hasn't been done, so no one’s going to start. I wouldn't expect to see anybody taking steroids in the game of basketball. That would be kind of crazy.
http://www.maxim.com/sports/articles/84635/icon-lebron-james.html
