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ABJ

2/19/06

on Sun, Feb. 19, 2006
Windhorst on the NBA

It's LeBron's world, welcome to it

Young star only interested in making himself, Cavaliers better

By Brian Windhorst

<!-- begin body-content -->HOUSTON - The All-Star Game is truly a unique event where the rules of the regular and even postseasons are ignored.
This is especially the case when it comes to media access, where the NBA takes the reins off and basically forces the players to sit for long and what surely must be tedious media sessions. During the regular season, players rarely answer questions for longer than five or 10 minutes.
This is paradise for the huge contingent of foreign media that descend on the All-Star Weekend, many of which don't regularly cover the NBA.
LeBron James answered questions for 30 minutes Friday afternoon at a Houston hotel. Here are some of the pearls:
On ever scoring 81 points in a game:
``That's not my kind of game. I like to do more things than just shoot the ball. Nothing against Kobe (Bryant), but I couldn't see myself ever doing anything like that.''
On the improvement in your game this season:
``I have almost everything in my game down, but I can get better at all of it. I think defense is the most important thing and that's what I'm working on.''
On whether he'll watch the World Cup this summer and if he'll root for Italy:
``I haven't watched it in the past. I do know a couple of players. There's Freddie Adu, uh, David Beckham, and, oh, Mia Hamm. Do I know any Italians? Uh, no.''
On hearing about one of his Upper Deck cards recently selling for $10,000:
``I didn't get a cut of it, I know that. No, when I grew up I went to stores and bought cards almost every day. I put them in plastic and protected them. It's big. People love that stuff. I collected Michael Jordan and Penny Hardaway cards when I grew up.''
On how past stars view his game:
``I'm thankful for the older players because they laid down the stones for me. I hope the older players, when they look at my game, don't just see the flash of LeBron James. I want it to be known that I play the game the right way. I hope they respect my game.''
On whether he has to be careful how many parties he goes to during the weekend:
``I'm just used to it now. I don't put myself in situations where it might not be good for me. I know how to handle myself. I'm a big boy.''
On his budding rivalry with Paul Pierce, especially after their double-overtime game on Wednesday:
``I think Paul is one of the guys that bring out the best in me. For one, he's in the Eastern Conference and we play the same position. I don't look on the schedule and circle dates, I just want to compete.''
On the constant talk that he'll someday want to play in a bigger market than Cleveland:
``I get dressed every game and put on a Cleveland Cavs uniform. It doesn't matter if I'm in Cleveland or on the road. I don't listen to what people say LeBron James should do. I will make the right decisions. I've always made the right decisions.''
On his popularity in Asia:
``I'm coming there for the Olympics (China) and the World Championships (Japan). The players over there love my shoe. When I went over there it was amazing to see how much people loved me.''
On what's the best thing about the All-Star Weekend people don't see:
``What you don't see is us being with the guys we don't see every day. I have fun; I don't know if you'd call it party hopping, but I have fun.''
On the potential for breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record someday:
``If my team gets better and my points drop, I'll be great with it. My 30 points a game doesn't mean anything if you're not winning.''
On the first time he played himself in a video game:
``I loved it because I'm a junkie. It was great to play a video game where I didn't have to create myself. I loved that; it was awesome.''
On Shaquille O'Neal:
``He's the father of our league. You need some advice, you go to Shaq. You need some help, you go to Shaq. You need some security, you go to Shaq. He's got that badge now, too. Anything you need.''
On the Detroit Pistons:
``Those guys are like the Transformers. Remember that cartoon? Where there were five Transformers and they all came together and formed one big Transformer, that what's the Detroit Pistons are, one big old Transformer.''
Dribbles
• Every year, there's a stat that seems to be a big topic-starter on All-Star Weekend. This year, it is the uptick in scoring, especially 40-point games. All of last season, there were 64 40-point games. This season, there have already been 61. James has two 50-point games and seven 40-point games.
• Oops, apparently someone forgot to tell James that the new NBA dress code applies to the media session. He was one of several players who violated the new rule by wearing a sweatsuit to do interviews. The league hasn't yet fined anyone this season for dress-code violations, and it's doubtful they'd start with James, Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant.
• Some fans are clamoring for the Cavs to make a trade before next week's trading deadline. Actually, they've already made one this season. It came to light this week that back on Oct. 4, the Cavs traded the Milwaukee Bucks' 2007 second-round draft pick they picked up in the June deal for Jiri Welsch to the Orlando Magic to get back their own second-round pick in 2007. This deal, quite minor, was never publicly announced. In reality, it finalized the draft-day trade where the Cavs traded for Martynas Andriuskevicius. They had originally traded their 2007 second-round pick to the Magic when swapping Tony Battie for Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao in 2004.
• The Cavs are going to try to break a world record for ``most people wearing wigs in a single venue'' Tuesday, when they host the Orlando Magic on Anderson Varejao wig night. All fans in attendance will get a wig and, during a timeout in the second quarter, all will be encouraged to put them on. In April, Detroit Pistons fans set the record by wearing 6,638 wigs on Ben Wallace wig night.
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That is a great article.

He is such a budding star and he is someone that the NBA is going to want as the face of the league.

I think he is going to take the Cavs to some very big things, in his career, and I for one don't think he is going to leave Cleveland anytime in the next 15 years.
 
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I dont think he leaves either, he has family here, and all off-season he was trying to get a better supporting cast around him. It wouldnt make sense for him to bring in all of these players to help the Cavs win, and then for him to just bolt.
 
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ABJ

2/20/06

Posted on Mon, Feb. 20, 2006
LeBron beast for East

Cavaliers forward becomes youngest All-Star MVP

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

<!-- begin body-content -->HOUSTON - LeBron James bit his nails and quickly pistoned his legs while milling in the locker room before Sunday's All-Star Game.
He was nervous, which is not unusual. He always gets that rush of emotion in his stomach before games, especially big ones. Then he usually goes out and does something special. It happened in high school. It happened as an NBA rookie.
It happened again in the mid-winter classic.
It was really nothing out of the ordinary at the Toyota Center, where James added yet another chapter to his fast-expanding resume.
James scored 29 points in leading the Eastern Conference to a 122-120 comeback victory. It earned him the game's Most Valuable Player Award. The 21-year-old James is the youngest ever to win it, edging Oscar Robertson, who was 22 when he won it in 1961.
``The MVP was never in my mind, just winning the ballgame was,'' James said. ``I give thanks to the other 12 guys that were able to help me.''
Last season, James was in position to challenge for the MVP Award with 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists, but he yielded down the stretch to the eventual winner, Allen Iverson, and Dwyane Wade. This time, he grabbed it by the throat.
Wade, who had 20 points, did make the big play in this one, a putback with 16 seconds left to give the East the lead for good. But James owned the night and finished it by defending a Tracy McGrady jumper that could've tied it in the final 10 seconds.
``I got a piece of his arm and a piece of the ball,'' James said. ``I guess it was a great defensive play.''
Making his second consecutive All-Star start, James was masterful. He made the game's first shot, a 20-foot jumper from the right wing, and never looked back. On an array of long jumpers and graceful drives and dunks, he made 12-of-21 shots and added six rebounds and two assists.
It was the most points ever scored by a Cavalier in an All-Star Game, beating the old standard set by Mark Price's 20 points in 1994.
More important than the numbers was the way James put them up. The East trailed by 21 points in the third quarter, and the game was headed toward a yawning blowout. James, with the help of fellow starters Iverson, Wade, Vince Carter and Shaquille O'Neal, mounted a charge.
Led by two of James' four 3-pointers in the game, the East went on a 10-0 run to make it a game again and then slowly cut into the lead from there. James was the standard bearer, handling the ball, finding open men and making a series of jumpers. His best pass came on an alley-oop to Wade, who threw down a dunk. James even added two steals in the quarter.
By the time the third quarter was over, the West's lead had shrunk to three points and James had scored 13 of his points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Then East coach Flip Saunders went to his secret weapon, his four Detroit Pistons starters. Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups came in and started actually playing some defense. That group helped the East take the lead for good early in the fourth quarter and combined for 29 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists in the win.
Then James came in to help finish off the victory and delivered his signature play of the game, a slam dunk off a pass from Iverson.
The night was set up for hometown star McGrady, who earlier this week complained to the media that a series of personal problems was making him not want to even play anymore. His West teammates made sure he got a lot of chances to shine. He took advantage by scoring a game-high 36 points.
But he couldn't deliver like James down the stretch.
``He's a great player,'' O'Neal said of James. ``He's the future of the game.''
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ABJ

2/21/06

SCOUTING REPORT

<!-- begin body-content -->Magic at Cavaliers
Tip: 7 tonight.
Broadcast: FSN; WAKR (1590-AM).
Records: The Magic are 19-32; the Cavs are 31-21.
This season: The Cavs are 2-0 against the Magic this year, including a 102-84 win on Nov. 18.
Notebook: The Cavs are looking to move to 11 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 1998 season.... The Cavs have beaten the Magic five consecutive times.... LeBron James is averaging 40 points in his past three games.... Tonight is Anderson Varejao Wig Night.
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