Lebron James...

[ELA]

Good post Stan!

 

LeBron James and his mother should have waited until after he graduated from high school, signed the big contract(s) and earned the money. The loan may still be ruled to be a rule violation and if so, all of the games he plays in between now and then will be forfeited and he will lose his high school athletic eligibility. All he had to do was wait a few months.

 

I hope he makes millions with his talent, but I hope this doesn't establish a bad precedent. For every LeBron James in high school, there are hundreds of thousands of young athletes who now dream of foregoing college, asking their mom to buy them a $55,000 vehicle, and signing a big contract with Nike. What happened to the dream of being recruited to play for a D-I college and earning a degree? I think high school and college coaches across America understand what Stan is trying to say. OUR focus should be on both athletics AND education. LeBron will probably be smart enough to hire someone to help him invest his millions, but just in case he loses it all, the college education would have been nice. Money can be made and lost but an education will stay with you forever.

[CHHS72]

I think this stuff about how young a player should be when they go pro is rehashing twenty year old hash. Both sides could make their case by pointing out someone who made it or someone who did not. Different sports have historically done things differently but that does not mean that it will remain that way. Each situation is different. Some guys leave college to go pro in various sports. Some make the right decision and some make the wrong decision. That is life.

 

Right now the issue seems to be if LaBron James is now a pro or an amateur. If the young man wants to go pro that is his right but if he wants to play as an amateur until the high school season is over he needs to abide by the rules. That is not to say that he has violated any rules but it apperars that he may have come real close. Once he goes pro he may receive gifts, money or anything else that anybody else can but until then if he wants to play high school ball he cannot.

 

By the way I do not care what sport it is or where the child is from or what the child's economic background is I think to much pressure is put on way too many athletes at too young of an age.

[jgb316]

just let the kid play

[Stokomo]

What you said about the talk of and education will last foever is "CROCK". Yes an education will last forever, but will the average person be offered 55 million to play next year? No! I agree with any of you that the AVERAGE player needs to go to college and get a free education. But you're not talking about the average. I would love to know how many people would try and discourage Lee Humphrey from playing in the NBA if he was offered millions to play along with a 50 million dollar contract. I bet there would be a lot less skepticism out there. Most would be chanting how he would be the first person from TN to go pro right out of high school. There is so much positive attention given to LeBron James that people can't wait to see something negative so they can talk about it. Still very few people have read my post on LeBron saying he will go to college during the summers. If it was read by you ELA, then your statement of him having to hire an agent to manage his money and would have college to fall back on would not have even been said.........

[QueenBee]

I'll make a bet with you, Stokomo...I say he never goes to college...

[Opperman]

Posted by QueenBee:

I'll make a bet with you, Stokomo...I say he never goes to college...

 

Quite frankly, why should he? I'm all for education and everything, but what's the purpose of college when you've got somewhere around $60 million.

 

That buys a lot of Hummers.

[QueenBee]

chickens...baskets...counting...eggs...all come to mind...

[QueenBee]

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/4968557.htm

[Stokomo]

Thank you for that article. Now I will let everyone know what the most important message said in that article. Two points:

1) LeBron's mother actually got a loan and showed paperwork to the OSHAA, thus clearing LeBron's mother of any wrong doing.

**********And the most important paragraph.

2) LeBron's coach, Mr. Joyce, said "Here we are, about to go to war, about to send a lot of young men to where they lose their lives, and we're focusing on his (LeBron James) birthday gift. It's amazing!"

 

Now, if that didn't sum up what I've been saying about the media, nothing will. Everyone was saying that "this is a loaded gun full of smoke" and other things. LeBron's coach said the perfect reason for all the hype with the Hummer. He stated that because of LeBron is in a certain station in life, meaning low-income, he's not supposed to have it. If a rich person had bought his/her son a car like that, nothing would have been mentioned, even if they signed a scolarship to play at Duke or other high institution.

This comment is for you CHHS72.....I spoke with Skip Brown, my wife's uncle, and he said that any bank would give LeBron's mother a loan and probably would have a clause to where there are no payments for six months to one year. Because the interest on 100,000 will be worth the risk and he more than likely already has an insurance policy on him in case he soesn't make it. You are a lawyer and was ready to right him off before any evidence was brought against him, remember the "smoking gun" comment. Also remember the first "cardinal" law, A person is innocent until PROVEN guilty. I'm not wanting an arguement, I just want people to realize what is really going on when negative reports are given. This has caused him a lot of stress and I believe he was ok to play with the Hummer before the game. He was releasing stress. People release stress different ways. His coach said when he found out, he let it go a little longer, maybe longer than he should. Some people would say well he wasn't focusing on the game. As an athlete and coach, you prepare for the games during practices. IF you don't get it in pratice, you surely can't get it right before a game. Anyway, he scored 50 that night, so there goes that arguement even before it starts.

Best of luck to all athletes from Lee Humphreys to LeBron James!!! .

[Edited by Stokomo on 1-17-03 10:53A]

 

[southernpride]

Defend the action if you want, but he should have waited until he had cashed his first check from Nike (or whomever), then no one would have said anything about it. IT WAS JUST STUPID to go out and borrow the money half way through his senior basketball season. Again, no bank would make that loan on the promise or hope of a contract, unless the contract was already signed. If you can find a normal bank that would do that, PLEASE post their name and address on this website so we can all get our H2's. I need one!

 

A COLLEGE EDUCATION IS THE ONLY IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE THAT AN 18 YEAR OLD REALLY NEEDS! Money, fame, love and all of that will come in time. If he is as great as everyone says he is, and I don't doubt it; the money will still be there and he will be an even better star after college. We should go back to the old rules on this subject!

[Stokomo]

No one is defending LeBron's actions because he made non. His mother was the one who got the Hummer for him. What was he supposed to say, "no mom, take it back?" And your reply that and education is the only thing that matters to an 18 year old is grasing for a rope at best. Take Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company for example. He never received a college education and barely made it past 5th grade. And yet he was a financial successful. Also Bill Gates, yes the Microsoft genius! He is a college drop-out from Harvard. How many people thought he was stupid for leaving? These are just two examples of people who go on their own ambition to be successful. Take Sabhir Bhatia, a computer engineer who worked hard for a software company getting a paycheck every two weeks, like the standard college student. Sabhir was driving and got a call from a friend on his cell phone. Guess what? Out of that conversation, he later invented ehat we know now as "Hotmail." He sold it to Bill Gates, the college drop-out for 400 million dollars. Statistics show that tomorrow's millionaires and billionaires will not have a college education. Why? Because most of what is invented has been invented by college drop-outs that have an idea and go with it. They are not guaranteed millions of dollars. But we want to criticize a player who is guaranteeed to makes millions in his first year without the risk. How does that sound?

Lastly, a study was done not long ago and it was found out that only 1% of Americans that are rich or wealthy have ANY college education. Although I believe one should have an education. I don't limit someone for acheiving their goals and dreams. Very few have that chance in life. Go for it while you can. Doctors or Lawyers can't even make 55 million dollars in their lifetime. LeBron James can in one year.

*******************Hypothetically Speaking****************

I'm offering 55 million dollars to one person with just a high school diploma to write messages on this board for one year. Who's interested? And who will decline it to go to college?

[QueenBee]

Stokomo...the people you mentioned...did it with their brains...not their bodies...I think you proved the point that a few brains goes a long way to success...I hope Lebron is a genius...because the people he is surrounded by...are well...not so bright...