Lebron James

I think the kid needed to get brought back down to Earth. The whole Hummer thing was questionable enough. Gee, I wonder how is mom got the loan for that car?!?! Given that incident, it should have been very clear to him that accepting gifts could harm his eligibility. I think he is a cocky superstar who thought he was above the rules. Well, he is not. For someone who said during an awards ceremony that he had a 3.5 gpa, I have to think he knows what he was doing.

The kid is going to be rolling in cash in a short while, so I wonder how much he even cares. The whole situation is unfortunate.

The kid just lost a lot of people, a lot of money. Lots of tickets had already been sold to see him play. This should be interesting.

Hm. I guess it'd be the same as stopping by a local running store in your hometown where you happen to be a Distance superstar and being offered a free pair of autographed spikes in exchange for a picture.. I have a 4.0 and I'd have problems passing those up :) Just let the man play.. and drive his H2.. The kid has skills.

There IS a right answer, and that is to rule him ineligible like the association did.

The rules clearly state not to accept $$ or gifts based on athletic status or possible/probable future status.

I will agree though, that for a HS kid, it is tough to resist.

morceli1978 wrote:

I think the kid needed to get brought back down to Earth. The whole Hummer thing was questionable enough.

That was my first thought. What in the hell is his mom thinking, buying an 18 year-old kid a hummer (equipped with 3 tv's???). Moms should be trying to keep the kid humble--leave it to his fans and the press to spoil him. What's wrong with black people??? (oops, was that racist...)

Lebron James violated a rule in the Ohio state basketball rule book. What happens when we break a rule kids? We get punished, its as simple as that. Dick Vitale was spot on this morning when he said that everyone around him is afraid to say no to this kid, cause everyone wants to be a apart of him. Someone needs to go to Lebron and say, "Hey you cant do that." Hopefully the rule will be upheld, because if its broken, just for this one kid superstar, it'll set him up for a lifetime of greed. If he is allowed to play again in HS, he will get the notion, that since hes a God, then he'll be able to do whatever he wants, and thats wrong. Alot of people are saying that the media put pressure on him, yes they did, to perform on the court, not buy 2 vintage jerses valued at $850 (or get a hummer). Lebron needs to grow up a little, and start to think things through a bit better.

You definately have a good point, but we do have to realize that this is an 17-18 year old kid and he is probably not as mature as we are. Can we agree that this is maybe a step in the direction of growing up? And as for the racist comment, "whats wrong with black people?" You dont have to be black to make a mistake like that, Hell I'd do the samething given the opportunity! You should see my P.O.S. car!

Lebron James broke the Ohio High School Athletic Association rules and he needs to suffer the consequences.THis kid does not need or deserve a break. I am a principal and athletic director and have become disenchanted with some of what I see in high school athletics. In some of our high school sports, the purity of it has been lost. Thankfully, I am an avid runner and cross country coach so I get to stay grounded with my involvement in the so called "minor sports".

Many people are to blame, as far as I am concerned, with the James saga. How can a school rightfully charge so much $$ to just have his team play at your school? His coaches, mother, school administrators? They are to blame,too. This kid had to be versed in the rules because of all that he had available to him. Maybe I am cynical, but the $$ looked good. So now we have the rest of the team suffering.

Enough.

Just where did Mom get the $50K to buy that tricked out rig? I find this whole situation sad. It's the new slavery. Mama James has already "sold" her son to an agent and is starting to profit from that transaction. The kid will never want for anything after he gets an NBA contract and endorsement deals but, just as he couldn't wait a few more weeks for high school hoops season to end, his mother jumped the gun also. That's just greed and stupidity at work.

Bling, bling.

Oh come on. Give the kid a break. I think they are hurting themselves by not letting him play. What good does it do the school system, fans, and the state for him to be suspended from playing ball. I think he should be commended for sticking it out in the first place! He could have signed a 25 million dollar shoe deal if he had stopped playing nerf ball with these kids before the season even started. It's not like he is actually gaining anything by playing ball with these kids who are obviously so far below his level it would be like us playing against an elementary school team (well, atleast the coordinated among us).

Also, whats wrong with him getting an H2. That car is not that expensive and it is very safe. And anyone these days can get a lone to buy a 50k dollar car. All those BMW suv's and Range Rovers are all more expensive than the H2. The H2 is just really really big and tacky. It's not even a very good car. If you go to any private school around Atlanta be it Westminister, Lovett, Pace, Marist, or even Landmark, you will find plenty of nicer cars in the parking lots belonging to kids. I personally have more of a problem with these spoiled BRATS driving the BMW's and Mercede's than I do with Lebron driving his H2. I mean atleast Lebron is earning it by doing something special. The other kids who get these cars are just loosers with rich parents... Anyways time for a run.

I feel for the kid, it's hard to stay humble if you have 20,000 people telling you you're the future. I mean i almost ruined my eligibility by accepting a bonus from my job( running store) for running in a team race. Sometimes you dont even think about it. I think there's a fairly high probability that this was a set up. Wouldnt it just make perfect sense for another Ohio school to set that up and make the way to the state championships easier. LIke i said, i have no envy for this kid because it seems like this is the first of alot of opportunities in which this kid wil be screwed by people.

does anybody know what the NBA rules are regarding hs kids entering the draft. Does he have to graduate or is it just his class that has to graduate in order for him to be eligible?

the whole thing is a case study in greed. Ironically enough in my case, a good friend of mine is the AD at St V-St.M and I can't imagine the scrutiny they've been going through. Wonder if Lebron will send some $$$ their way when he starts getting paid (above the table).

DIII Coach wrote:

Wonder if Lebron will send some $$$ their way when he starts getting paid (above the table).

Aren't they already making money off of him by moving their games to an arena that seats 8800, and charging people $12-$15/ticket? The whole situation is messed up. This isn't just about Lebron.

calbear wrote:

Aren't they already making money off of him by moving their games to an arena that seats 8800, and charging people $12-$15/ticket? The whole situation is messed up. This isn't just about Lebron.

I think the situation is Ludacris.

Seriously, his HS is making an estimated 200k+ off him this year. They get sponsored by Nike, paid to go to tournaments around the country. What a bunch of shit. I'm sure they're giving all of that money to charity! Either there should be limits to what these teams are given, or people should just say, "Screw it, they've earned it" because all that I see is a kid getting taken advantage of. I know the NCAA bball and football kids get pissed, but students/alums/others are there to watch their teams, not just watch LeBron. In a tournament in LA that had lost money the last several years, they made over 100k b/c LeBron's team played. And don't forget the PPV.

The whole situation is sad.

He broke the rules. It is kind of silly that he gets a decked out hummer, but an $800 jersey costs him his career.

I'm not one to defend exceptions to rules, but this kid has the spotlight all over him. ESPN games, SI covers, National tours with $25 + ticket prices for a high school game; seems like everyone is making something off of him.

It was inevitable for him to do something stupid and slip up, the kid is 18, and his sense of reality is probably very jaded with everyone sucking his c*ck. He needs to pay some reprecussion, but a whole season may be a bit severe. I could see suspending him for a few of games. How many would he get if he had drank a beer instead?

The ironic thing is that James isn't the big loser here. The state of Ohio Athletic association is. Think about all the lost revenues, tickets, publicity, and general excitement about their state tourney. talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Rabbitt, are you serious? Every time I hear about LeBron's shady dealings, I think of Alan Webb's senior year of high school. Should he be commended for "sticking it out?" I am sure that Webb will look back on his senior year and think, "what a great time that was!" He was the toast of the town because of his talents, but he carried his team with him, winning the Penn Relays 4x800m (I think). Alan Webb had nothing to gain by running in HS meets; he probably should have run unattached in some better meets, but he did run in high school meets and that's what people remember him for.

LeBron James' team was ranked #1 in the country, but they will now drop because of the forfeited game due to his breaking the rules. People may have remembered LeBron as one of the best high school players, but now they'll remember him as the greedy SOB (yes, I am implicating his mom) that he is.

I saw the Dick Vitale piece on ESPN this morning (it was on right before the Columbia news broke), and he was right. Lebron has some mighty large coattails, and saying no might mean being dusted off of the ride to the top. LeBron is a cash cow in the making, but he will have money without morals. Why couldn't he have waited six months and bought the Hummer with his own money?

Children with rich parents shouldn't be criticized for driving nice cars any more than children with poor parents should be criticized for not having cars. It's just class-envy. The nice cars are probably hand-me-downs from their parents and the child probably has little say in the matter. All of my friends got hand-me-down cars from parents or sibling (they were station wagons and sedans). As a parent, I wouldn't let my kid pick his own car. I'd give him mine and get a new one for myself or buy a reasonable, safe car, or better yet let him work to pay for part of the car on his own.

I know you're a fast runner, and if your skills were transferred to the basketball arena you'd probably be getting some money to play, but nobody owes you anything because of your talents. If you can't enjoy them for what they are and how hard you've worked to achieve them, then you may be wasting them.

[quote]What Would Alan Webb Do? wrote:

I saw the Dick Vitale piece on ESPN this morning (it was on right before the Columbia news broke), and he was right. Lebron has some mighty large coattails, and saying no might mean being dusted off of the ride to the top. LeBron is a cash cow in the making, but he will have money without morals. Why couldn't he have waited six months and bought the Hummer with his own money?

[quote]

How self-righteous of Dickie-V! He was one of those f*ckers clamping his mouth on LeBron's c*ck. Can't he ever shut his mouth. He provides the hype, so he can make more money then be critical of them. Please.

What morals are involved here? How much crap does Nike give a FootLocker kid? A lot. It's ok b/c it's from Nike?The only reason he played HS ball this year is to win a state title, so I'm sure it upsets him.

If you were going to graduate from college in a few months, and already had a job lined up making,say, $50,000 a year and wanted a new car before starting the job, would that be ok? Yes. Not much different here. It's a loan on his future earnings.

espn has already been making money off of him...college programs make millions off their teams and these guys are supposed to be amateurs? If someone is willing to pay him, he should take it.

This situation is a little different. Lebron has spent most of his life in poverty until he moved in with his coach. The transition from that too being extremely wealthy in a couple of months must be hard. And i agree with you that his mother is exploiting him ( read the espn story about her giving him up until they figured out he was talented) but do not make assumptions about him yet. I know I wasnt the person i am today when i was 18. AS for the webb comparisions they're really not valid at all,all that has been said is this kid is a great teamate that regularly sacrifices for his team. It's just a sad situation.