TFD: Was the LeBron James we saw 8 years ago the same LeBron we all saw last night?

Forgive today's shameless attempt to try to understand what happened in the NBA finals through our own personal history. We just find it strange that we've come into contact with so many of the characters from these finals in our work life (and this doesn't even include the Cavs-Mavs game we attended in Dallas in 2006 for no other reason than we were in Dallas on an assignment with a day to kill. The Cavs and LeBron blew a huge lead and lost that night. You're welcome).

We'll end the day with a look back at the 1,800 word opus we wrote for the paper back in January of 2003, when LeBron was a senior in high school. We traveled to North Carolina to see him play on Martin Luther King Day. We wrote the story back in Minneapolis between bursts of sickness that we still don't know for sure involved the flu or food poisoning (a couple of ticks in the food poisoning column: the day before the night that we became violently ill, we consumed two meals: one involving goat meat in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and later an undercooked hamburger).

In any event, we saw LeBron more than 8 years ago. He was brash. He was talented. He was altogether self-aware and oblivious at once. He was a spectacle. And we wondered if it was all doomed to fail. Obviously LeBron, on many levels, has not failed. He is a tremendous talent. An all-time great basketball player with a nearly unrivaled skill set. And we also think the hand-wringing over the notion of "lost innocence" can be overblown. It all depends on the individual and how they handle it.

But we still can't help but wonder: Were some of the warning signs from 8 years ago on display Sunday night? When you have so much so soon ... when so much is expected of you ... how do you learn to handle adversity -- the times when your enablers can't help you, your talent isn't enough, and you have to dig deep for something else? Even if Michael Jordan wasn't cut from his high school team, as the popular myth goes, he did at least have to handle playing JV as a sophomore.

One of the quotes that didn't make the story, from LeBron: "It's real fun for me. When it stops being fun for me, I'll just go home. . . . And you all will, too." We might have busted this one out before, but again it felt apt today. If you have the inclination, have at it. If not, we'll try to be an NBA-free zone tomorrow (which does not mean everyone gets free NBA).

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Gloria James waded through dozens of media members and curiosity
seekers Monday with one simple request: She wanted to give her son
a hug.

Asphyxiated by the chaos, the lights and the heat in Greensboro
Coliseum, where the 6-8, 240-pound senior had just scored 32 points
to lead his team to an 85-56 victory over North Carolina power R.J.
Reynolds High, LeBron James retreated to the sanctuary of his
locker room.

"I need a towel," he said.

Something to mop up normal human perspiration. A towel like the
one you dry off with before heading to the office.

But you cannot be like LeBron James, and LeBron James cannot be
like you. Going to get a towel leaves people hanging, leaves
Sharpies drying out and adds, in some way, to the growing legend of
a teenager.

He turned 18 on Dec. 30 - the same birthday as Tiger Woods. He
wears No. 23 - the same number as Michael Jordan, who invited James
to his private workouts. Jordan is among the mega-celebrities on
James' cell phone speed dial. James drives a $50,000 Hummer H2 - a
birthday gift from his mom, a single parent. Its purchase raised
some eyebrows.

James is a big-money sensation. His team, ranked No. 1 in the
nation by USA Today, has played a national schedule this season,
crisscrossing the country to play before huge crowds and rake in
five-figure appearance fees. Adidas and Nike are fighting to be the
company that signs James to an estimated $25 million endorsement
deal as soon as his high school career ends.

In Greensboro, 16,220 people - a record for high school sports in
North Carolina - paid between $7 and $25 each to see the Scholastic
Fantastic Hoops Tour, a five-game showcase on Martin Luther King
Jr. Day. There were maybe 1,000 people in the stands for the first
and fifth games. Everyone was there for the third game to see "King
James," as it says on LeBron's mouthpiece and the headrests of his
new vehicle.

More than 100 credentials were issued for the event (six to Nike
representatives). Among those attending was Bob Gibbons, a pioneer
in the now substantial business of prep recruiting magazines. His
job - aside from providing information - is to build hype. And he
has seen enough.

"I've been doing this for 25 years, and nobody has had this
exposure or coverage," Gibbons said. "The hype bothers me. It's
just like how Kevin Garnett started the trend of going from high
school to the pros. Now every kid will want to be the next LeBron
James. This is just the beginning."

Gibbons says James is a "creation of sports marketing." Others
say he is a once-in-a-generation player with talent to match the
attention he's getting.

.

The game

Wearing his green NBA headband, James ambled onto the court for
warm-ups Monday and slid a dribble between his legs. After he made
small talk with a few cheerleaders from R.J. Reynolds, the
three-time defending Class 4A champion in North Carolina, James
launched a couple of 35-footers.

Swish. Swish.

The crowd "oohed" in unison. The show was on.

In a move straight out of professional wrestling, a local radio
personality tried to ignite the many R.J. Reynolds backers by
saying over the public address system, "Let's send LeBron James
home with a loss." James stood with his arms folded and scowled
throughout the national anthem. He couldn't take revenge by hitting
somebody with a chair - but he can make an opponent look silly with
his crossover.

There are two other Division I players on his team - guard Dru
Joyce III, son of coach Dru Joyce II, and forward Romeo Travis -
but James, a guard, leads the Irish in scoring (29.9 points per
game), blocked shots, steals and rebounds. He is a dazzling
dribbler with uncanny vision for his age and size. He was Ohio's
Mr. Basketball as a sophomore - and junior - and the legend grew
from there.

James was matched up early with Reynolds forward Reyshawn Terry,
a University of North Carolina signee. He held James to four points
in the first quarter before foul trouble sent Terry to the bench.
Terry called James "a little overrated," then retreated.

"He's an excellent player," Terry said. "I wish him the best of
luck in the NBA."

James started the second quarter with a step-back three-pointer
on his way to 15 points before halftime. One man - a member of
James' traveling posse - shouted "platinum" every time the teen
launched an outside shot.

"The crowd didn't like us," James said. "But, when they went
home, they knew they saw a good team."

James scored 32 points before sitting out much of the fourth
quarter. That sent fans streaming to the exits. Only two of his
baskets came from more than 10 feet away - then again, he hit 11 of
16 three-pointers in his previous game.

NBA scouts rave about James. Each game, he does something new,
Coach Joyce said. How good can James get?

"That's up to LeBron," Joyce said. "You just have to have the
attitude to get better every day."

.

Some have pondered whether the promotion of such a young athlete
borders on exploitation. But that question became an afterthought
in our society a long time ago, replaced by a different one: Is
there a market for it?

With our morals neatly folded into wallets, anything that draws
crowds seems to be fair game.

"The exposure is great. The travel is great," said Jeremy
Treatman, who promoted four of James' games this season, including
the one in Greensboro. Treatman was an assistant coach at Lower
Merion (Pa.) High when Kobe Bryant played there. "I haven't heard
one bad thing come out of this. I don't understand what would be bad."

Placing teen athletes on pedestals is nothing new. The high
school-to-NBA players who preceded James - Garnett, Bryant, Tracy
McGrady and this year's rookie sensation, Amare Stoudemire, among
others - had their share of hype before cutting a check. Such
sports as gymnastics, figure skating and tennis thrive on athletes
who draw big crowds before they can vote.

"Some people might think, `Who the hell is this guy?' " said
Peter Roby, director of Sport in Society, a national institute that
monitors the sociological impact of sports. "But this is what our
society has become."

James will get paid, of course. As the No. 1 pick, he would have
a guaranteed $10 million contract from the NBA. He is coyly playing
his endorsement deal, wearing Adidas shoes some days and other
days, such as Monday, going with Nike Air Jordans - "because I'm in
North Carolina."

The kid already knows how to play the game within the game.

"It's a market economy. Nike and Adidas feel like it's worth the
investment," said Roby, formerly a college basketball coach and
executive at Reebok. "It's a great country, America."

.

Innocence lost

But this has stripped away James' sense of normalcy and left a
different identity. He gave up football his senior season - he was
a two-time all-state wide receiver - because of injury risk. He has
referred to himself in the third person. He has reportedly balked
at the firing of Cleveland Cavaliers coach John Lucas, saying he
would never play for the lottery-bound local NBA team now.

"I saw him in his age of innocence, just after his sophomore
year. I thought he was the best player back then," Gibbons said. "I
also saw the evolution, when it all changed - when he changed. He's
acting like [Allen] Iverson now, like [Stephon] Marbury. But all of
this around him - how can it not affect him?"

Gloria James, too, will escape her poor economic background and
be rich - if she isn't already. She bought LeBron the Hummer with
money she said she obtained from a loan. The Ohio High School
Athletic Association is investigating the gift. The Cleveland Plain
Dealer also recently reported Gloria James has opened a bank
account typically reserved for balances higher than $500,000.

Sitting in the front row Monday, Gloria James declined interview
requests, as she has done since the Hummer story became public. She
cheered loudly and wore her " LeBron's Mom" jersey, showing
unconditional love to her only child.

The drawback is simple: She has to fight through crowds to
attempt to hug her son.

James then told his posse to "push through" the crowd. Out he
went, soon to board a plane for Ohio as the present and future
continued to move at warp speed toward one another.

"What worries me," Gibbons said, "is this: He's been on the cover
of Sports Illustrated. He's had ESPN and national television.