LeBron brings his improved Cavs to Target Center

As the United States team took star turns at the Olympic arena on the outskirts of Beijing, the Chinese basketball fans -- or at least a few billion of them -- embraced Kobe Bryant as if he were an action figure come to life. Alongside teammate LeBron James, though, Bryant looked more like a stick figure.

Bryant became Team USA's matinee idol, Dwyane Wade its energizer and Chris Bosh the most pleasant surprise. But it was James, looking like a pro wrestler with a killer crossover, who quickly became the most imposing player on the world's most imposing team.

Part scorer, part facilitator, part enforcer, James guaranteed a gold medal, then helped deliver it by embracing coach Mike Krzyzewski's pressing defense, often turning midcourt hustle into runaway slams.

James brought that emphasis on defense and teamwork back to Cleveland, and now the best player in Cavaliers history is leading the best team in Cavs history. They bring a 20-4 record to Target Center tonight.

"He's getting more efficient, which is frightening," Wolves coach Kevin McHale told the Star Tribune's Jerry Zgoda. "When he gets more efficient, he gets really, really good."

James has already become the Cavaliers' all-time steals leader, has become the youngest player in NBA history to score 11,000 points (he did it at 23 years, 323 days while Bryant did it at 25 years, 99 days), has already parted ways with an Internet giant.

Whose stock would you rather buy right now, anyway -- James' or Microsoft's? I'll take the 23-year-old vying to become the best player in basketball, who seems destined to be playing for the New York Knicks in a couple of years.

That rational explanation of free agency marks James' closest brush with controversy in a career he has managed as smoothly as a 3-on-0 fast break.

Remember the old lament that kids jumping from high school to the pros would miss out on the collegiate life experiences that would mature them? James and Kevin Garnett skipped the frat parties and became two of the most mature players in the league. "You know, there's not much business that goes into high school basketball," James told the National Post before a recent game against Philadelphia. "It's more about just the love of the game. Of course, I haven't lost that. And people recognize that."

It wasn't long ago that the NBA became branded nationally, fairly or not, as a league for prideless thugs, a league for coach-choking, practice-skipping, defense-eschewing sneaker salesmen.

Players like the charismatic and genteel James have helped alter that stereotype. James and his teammates behaved like goodwill ambassadors in Beijing, bonding with one another, signing autographs, cheerfully performing media and promotional duties, and insisting on marching as a team with their gold medals to the podium for their final press conference.

James brought that mentality home like a souvenir. "Defensively," James said in Philly, "we're taking responsibility."

Now McHale gets to compare James with Bryant, who will have faced the Wolves within four days.

Said McHale, "Isn't that special."