I like LeBron James. He is fast and furious, dynamic and dexterous on the brown hardwood floors. He is the 6'7", 215 lbs. seventeen-year-old basketball phenom who attends St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. The problem is that I know about him. I know too much about him. The problem is that LeBron James is in the midst of a media blitz bigger than Houston Rockets Center Yao-Ming's pants. Message to the media: stop the presses and leave LeBron alone or (as Death says on The Family Guy), "consequences will be dire."
For starters, it is wrong to be massively broadcasting high school basketball games. The media has swooped in on LeBron like vultures going after appetizing prey, or -- in Dartmouth terms -- like an ardent coterie of '06 girls going after the Dartmouth Cords. Time Warner Cable offers each of LeBron's games to its 400,000 subscribers in the Ohio area at $6.95. That is almost twice what the company charges for pay-per-view movies. As President Lyndon Johnson reminded his speechwriters, "let the facts speak for themselves." Let me repeat, Time Warner lets its viewers watch LeBron play for twice the normal price. Some call it premium programming. I call it premium profiteering.
The media blitz is wrong because it capitalizes on something that ought to be off limits from such hyped media attention: high school. High school should be a time when one can be an amateur athlete for once. High school sports are something in which amateurism is supposed to be exemplified, not exploited. If the media does not pull its plug, high school could end up as an eBay of professional sports -- a feeding ground for professional sports franchises, leaving college athletics out in the cold. If LeBron is getting all this attention (not to mention a new Hummer), what is to stop the next teenager from wanting to skip college? In general, these basketball prodigies have little to look up to for advice. They see the pros as a way to escape. LeBron's father figure was wanted on counts of corrupt activity, tampering with records, forgery and money laundering. Turning professional could be the best way out.
Then there is the tennis case. Teenagers often participate in tournaments and often walk away with grand slam titles. These teenagers are at least receiving their portions of the check. In LeBron's case, St. Vincent-St. Mary gets to fill its coffers. The media get to fills its coffers. At the end of the day, LeBron gets zilch. And he is the reason for all the attention! It should be noted that LeBron mysteriously received a $50,000 Hummer, equipped with TVs and video games. After a two-week investigation, Ohio High School Athletic Association Commissioner Clair Muscaro ruled LeBron's mother purchased the car. My statement still stands, albeit wobbly: LeBron gets zilch.
We all want to find the next Michael Jordan, but not at the expense of a seventeen-year-old gamer. It is bad enough that LeBron was sent to Michael Jordan's trainer and orthopedist after fracturing his wrist. MJ's shadow has been stepped upon by many young prodigies: Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett and Kwame Brown to name a few. There is a commonality between three of the four high school athletes that jumped straight to the NBA: they were not very good their first year. Bryant averaged 7.6 points per game, McGrady 7.0 points, and Brown 4.5 points. Garnett, a statistical exception, averaged 10.4 points. History is not kind to the prospect of LeBron's first year success in the NBA.
Just do not mess with kids. From Macaulay Culkin to the youngest son on Home Improvement, the acting field is riddled with child stars turned adult unknowns. Sports has its share of examples as well. Minnesota Timberwolves guard Felipe Lopez once graced the cover of Sports Illustrated as the next big thing. Soon thereafter, he was launched into the orbit of obscurity. Even number one draft picks end up littering the bleachers rather than courts.
If the media does not stop inking LeBron's name and face on practically every sports publication, the consequences may well be dire. Let history be our guide. Let us hope for LeBron's sake, that he does not jump into the valley of the unknown.
