Let me see LeBron... Bron-Bra-Bron-Bron-Bronn
To give America a glimpse at 17-year-old LeBron James, the media's latest "next Michael Jordan/Magic Johnson/Vince Carter/Felipe Lopez" play-toy, ESPN2 aired a high-school basketball game last night.
Whether a high-school game should be aired on national TV and whether so many people should be putting a lot of pressure on a kid who still needs to ask for a hall pass in order to take a pubbie is a topic subject to infinite debate. However, those of us who played high-school basketball and watched the St. Vincent-St. Mary's vs. Oak Hill Academy game got an unexpected treat: a heart-warming trip down memory lane. I almost forgot what high-school basketball was all about. Thanks, ESPN2, for making me all weepy-eyed and nostalgic while remembering the good old days.
Sure, I played high-school basketball in Belgium, and my graduating class in 1993 consisted of only 100 students. But the game on ESPN2 last night made it clear that some experiences are universal, regardless of the place and time in which you experience them. High-school basketball is definitely one of them. Here are a few specifics that brought back memories:
- The momentum really shifted late in the first half, when LeBron James received an outlet pass on a fast-break and dunked with his head level to the rim. This reminded me of a game during senior year, when some guy on the other team dunked in pre-game warmups and I slapped five with a teammate because it was the first time we had seen anyone dunk in real life other than my teammate Dave, who could dunk a tennis ball if he had a running start.
- Adidas and Nike are already falling all over each other in an attempt to get LeBron James to sign a shoe contract. This reminds me of high school, when I owned a pair of high-top basketball sneakers made by Nike.
- Oak Hill Academy center Byron Joynes is 6'9'' and weighs 300 lbs. This reminds me of high school, when I played center at 6'1'', 140 lbs., because I was the tallest guy on the varsity team.
- Play-by-play announcers Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas and Bill Walton fawned over LeBron James's talent throughout the game, calling him "special," saying he was "playing at another level than the other kids" and positing that James would have been the first pick of the 2002 NBA draft as a high-school junior. This reminded me of halftime at high-school games, when I would often sneak under the bleachers and masturbate to a photo of Bill Walton.
- Vitale, Bilas and Walton seemed disinterested in the actual game, spending more than 95 percent of the time talking about James and his boundless potential to be an NBA superstar. This reminded me of high school, when the other students seemed disinterested in our games and spent most of the time talking about the then 7-year-old James's potential to be an NBA superstar.
- The announcers and other TV sports shows pointed out that all this coverage might be bad for James in the long run, as it puts outside pressure on him to forego college and declare himself eligible for the NBA draft. This reminds me of high school, when there was a lot of outside pressure for me to stop playing basketball.
- It was great to see Oak Hill Academy, the No. 1 ranked high-school team in the nation, play a game. Although they are a great team, they are still noticeably a bunch of high-school kids with a lot of the same problems that affect other high-school teams: immaturity, a tentative grasp on the fundamentals, inconsistency, etc. This reminded me of high school, when our team was plagued by a lack of veteran presence and ended up making a late-season deal with the Phoenix Suns for Tom Chambers and A.C. Green.
