Lebron James Again

[jgb316]

who cares if he decides to go pro or not cuz did u see what he did tuesday night ..it was off the hook

[Dice1550]

I hate to beat the dead horse, but as everyone else has been saying, I would like to reiterate the fact that even IF James did get hurt in his first season(and that's a big if)he already has his 40 mill for the shoe contract along with whatever else he signs for in the league. Not to mention that he'll probably do other endorsements worth millions, and IF he did get hurt he probably has an insurance policy greater than McGahee's. I don't know, but I think most people could make it through life on 50+ million. As far as the baseball players going pro, they do not make anywhere close to what a doctor or business executive do, they make very little money actually, just going on the dream of one day playing in the majors, yet no one says anything about them. People just talk about the guys who want to go make the millions for some reason, doesn't make much sense to me.

[MaryvilleRebels]

I posted a thread the other day that was a good thread, but my computer screwed up before it actually got posted, so I am going to try and restate what I was saying. I don't think that James should be getting this much attention as a high school senior. Some high schoolers, and younger, have attracted attention, but not on their high school teams. You mentioned baseball players and tennis stars, well Venus and Serena never had their high school tennis matches on television, Randy Moss never had his high school football games on television, they are powerhouses in their sports, but they don't get the same respect, the same awe as this basketball player!? Why!? Sure he's the greatest thing since sliced bread, but the first time Babe Ruth touched a baseball bat he was 8, he hit a home run, was that widely acclaimed? Hank Aaron, PeeWee Reese...were they on televison in high school? Both Oak Hill Academy and De Le Salle are powerhouses in high school sports, but have you ever seen their games, before Lebron, on national television? Why? They have numerous players year in and year out that will be division 1 in college and later maybe professional stars, but they get no credit through television. The McDonald's all star game should be the first time the kids get to shine, it should be their first real television experience and they should somewhat cherish that, it shouldn't be a regular game. And about the money...what if LeBron James stupidly spends that money over the course of say 10 years and finds himself suddenly broke? A huge house, nice cars, but broke...in debt. Was he educated enough in high school to make it into college and get a decent career to support himself? A pampered athlete can slip by on hardly learning his own name, did LeBron James learn enough to make it through college...as a regular student? I don't mind that he didn't go to college, but personally I don't like that the NBA is taking away from college, without the NBA we have players striving for the college level. They don't make money, but they play for what counts...wins, team mates. They play with what counts...heart, they play to win they play to show that their team is the best. Thats what made/makes college so great; however, this is slipping away. The players that go to college use it as a stepping stone, or for more publicity, not because they want to win with a great University, or because they want to play against harder competition, but because it will help them develop themselves for the NBA. Therefore the college game is losing the players that used their hearts, along with skill, to take their team to victory. When a loss in the tournament ment more than life itself. Sure it still means a lot, but now cutting down the nets is just a formality, and going home just means that you're another year close to the NBA. The NBA has no heart, it is just a big show, its wrestling without scripts and nasty outfits! The players play to win, but thats just because they want everyone to notice that they're a great player, they want publicity, they never play with heart, they never play for the good of the dynasty...just themselves. Around playoff time the heart comes back, some, but not enough. Enough to make the playoffs bearable to watch, but still not exciting enough to cling on every single game! Well those are my points in another looong post...muh bad!

[Stokomo]

Maryville...you can talk about heart and playing for the love of the game. Face it, the NBA is a BUSINESS that is out to make a profit. That's the plain, hard, and gruesome truth. And there are players out there that will take a chance to go straight to the NBA to help his family get out of a bad life. I'm almost sure you have a nice family that doesn't live in the projects. If so, then take a trip to the East side of Knoxville in the projects near Austin East. See how they live and the bad situations from where they come. Then tell me why LeBron James shouldn't go and get the millions. See, it's like a person playing the lottery, he hits the lottery for 53 million dollars and says "no thanks, I'll go to college and get my degree and work for it." Sounds stupid huh? But you are saying that LeBron James should do the same with his earnings he will make next year alone. I would normally agree with you on the subject of high school athletes going PRO but LeBron is in the perfect situation.

Another thing...don't blame anybody but the media for the hype on LeBron James. They are always looking for a way to make money. People must like it and read about him or they would not cover him. They only cover LeBron James for the profits. LeBron said in an interview with Sports Illustrated that he wishes he didn't get the attention he's getting. But do you want him to lessen his skills or quit all together? The way things are is because of the American Way. You can make an enormous amount of money if you know how to market yourself. In LeBron James' case, the media has made the market for him, along with his talent. Take advantage of EVERY opportunity you can. Life will pass you by.

[Edited by Stokomo on 1-9-03 5:59P]

 

[goldenboy]

That dunk was bad. I predicting his first he'll win the slam dunk contest.

[Dice1550]

Ok Maryville, say he does get hurt in his very first year and he has his 50 some million(maybe more, insurance policies and what not), and he spends 5 million every year with no returns, no interest from the bank and doesn't make any investments or anything he might be in trouble. I think it'd be pretty hard to spend 5 million in a year personally, and to keep that up for 10 years straight is pretty unbelievable. Whereas you're basing your arguement on these outlandish "what-if's?" that are hard to even imagine, we're basing ours on what is best for the individual, and what is most logical.

[MaryvilleRebels]

Hmm...not that outlandish really, think about the two twin towers, the World Trade Centers, when they were built every single what if was planned for. What if a hurricane came through, a hurricane in new york(not often), what if a tornado came through, they took hundreds of what ifs and tested them all to see if the building could withstand it, it did. They even mathmatically tested planes hitting the towers; however, they didn't account for the planes hitting where they did, and they didn't account for the planes hitting them with full tanks or the planes being as big as they actually were. So what would have happened if the architects of the WTC's had looked at those what ifs, would those thousands of people be living today? Humans don't plan everything out...that is why there is failure! 5 million dollars a year is probably pretty easy to spend. First off he will probably buy a multi-million dollar house, as many great cars as he can get his hands on, and then as many "toys" as the world can offer. He then pays utilities, and taxes. In his first year alone he will spend more than 5 million, if you have money, why not spend it? Stokomo, I am not blaming him for all the publicity, I never did. I also never said that I wanted him to be a failure, I said that if he turned out to be mediocre it would be amusing. The world is stunned by a high school boy with amazing skill, who turns out to be just another player. Nothing wrong with being just another player, especially if he earns 53 million dollars doing it. He's already earned all the hype he needs, he's already earned a great shoe deal, why does he need to live up to his potential? To me...he already has, he's probably exceeded it. Now if you are a complete failure in life and have potential, then its quite a sad story yes, but this kid would earn plenty, he wouldn't exactly be some bum if he turned out to be just an average NBA player. Also, no I don't come from the ghetto or a hard part of town, but I know my father lived in a farmhouse in Cumberland County, had his own pig when he turned 5, earned his way through college selling pigs. My dad was 2nd the the FFA National Small Livestock Judging competition his senior year, his team won state that year. My dad could have been a pretty darn good farmer, he'd done it all his life, but you know what he chose to do? Go to college, work hard through college and get a better career. He now earns 100,000 dollars a year working for Denso as a manager, he went from a one story house with a barn to a three story house with a pool. My dad didn't exactly have it easy as a kid, farm kids usually don't, same with kids from the ghetto. Difference is, my dad worked for his way out of there, some of these kids do the same, but most just fall back into it. There is a rule of physics that says if one full generation changes then every generation after that will change as well. So if someone lives in the ghetto and they want a better life for themselves and their kids, they need to get everyone on the ghetto to stop fighting, and live a "normal" life, they need to instill principles back into themselves and their kids. Once that one whole generation in that area changes to a better way, so will every generation after it. One generation started that ghetto, stopped putting principles of god into their kids and something turned wrong, it was easy to start, so why wouldn't it be easy to stop. Simple...they don't want to. Do they want a better life, they say they do, but are they willing to try and get others to help them, or are they just looking for an easy quick fix? What about the kids that live in the ghetto that aren't athletic? How do they get out of the ghetto? Well...they can't because they don't usually try academically, no one makes them try academically, and they fail and another generation of ghetto inhabitants is formed. Now I think that colleges should be able to pay the players that have a family income below a certain level. Not to come to their school, but a set amount for every college. Not a whole lot, but enough to where the kid can get an education, play basketball, and support his family. Thing is, they would also have to give money or scholarships to academic students from the ghetto. I don't disagree that the NBA is a business...why do you think it stinks!? I think thats why most every professional sport stinks, because its a business, not a game. When it stops being a game, it stops being fun, when it stops being fun it stops being interesting, when it stops being interesting it stops me from watching it, when I don't watch it I complain about it. I didn't mind professional sports until they started taking the college level down with them, they started taking the game out of college, they made it a phase and not a game. Thats why sports are starting to get increasingly bad. Now that the NBA has taken a chunk out of the college world, they are getting some of the high school too. That really makes me mad, they are taking the PURE game and making it another phase, a step, killing the sport. Thats really what I'm mad about, nothing against LeBron James, I'm just mad that he is being used to kill basketball. Okay sorry...another long post where I babble on with my opinion!

[Stokomo]

Maryville...I will agree that leaving high school to play PRO sports is killing the atmosphere of college baskeball. But you still didn't answer my question....What would you do if you could go to the NBA and make 53 million dollars the 1ST, the 1ST now, year of his career no matter what happened after that. On another note, read on of my first posts in this thread....LeBron James said he will go to college during the summers of his career in the NBA. Let's see....HMMMM.....get 53 million and still go to college. Really ) what would you or any person of sound mind do? Not saying it is best for the game, but the world is not fair. Everyone has to do what is best for them and their family.

[Dice1550]

Thank you Maryville for saying some of the stuff that I've been trying to tell you this whole time. It's hard enough to get out of the ghetto, so why should this man risk it by going to college? He gets hurt his first year in the NBA and he can still take everyone he knows out of that situation. He gets hurt in college and he might get to take his immediate family out, that's about it. I agree it's hard to get out of the ghetto, but please think about the stereotypes you're laying out. You probably don't know much about it because of the type of family you've come from and how you've been raised, but to make blanket statements saying that kids from the ghetto don't try academically and sports is the ONLY way out is pretty stereotypical. It's not like all you have in the ghetto's is these little kids dreaming of growing up to be these gangsters and skipping school. Lots of them hate it and want to bring everyone they know out of that situation. There are a lot of people from the projects that have made it, and Lebron is one of those people, the difference is he gets to bring all of his loved ones with him. And that was possibly the worst analogy I've heard in my entire life(the one with the Twin Towers). And no, it wouldn't be too easy to spend 5 million every year for 10 years, there's only so much you can spend. And IF you are dumb enough to do that, you're too dumb to make it through college anyways so.....all in all it's not a likely situation.

[23sMom]

~yawn~...are we done yet?

[KevB1990]

http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2003/0113/1491984.html

 

Has LeBron received this from the NBA team that wants to make him the 1st pick?

[Stokomo]

I'm pretty sure he got the car from someone who is good at going around the "loop-holes" of the law. Getting the loan was probably the smart way to go about it, but why take a chance. This kid will be rich 1 minute after the last game his high school team plays this year. If it is so, his mother should be the one to blame and not LeBron. She is the one who "got" the loan. If anything did happen, it probably wasn't a pto team, because no one knows who the first pick will be.