By David Combs / "The Prognosticator"

I was reading ESPN the Magazine yesterday and I saw an article about high school phenom LeBron James. It's pretty scary to think what's going to happen to this kid. That's right...KID. I am of the opinion that despite what high school coaches who faced Kobe Bryant and LeBron James say, there is no earthly way that LeBron James will be the next Kobe. That's a lot to live up to, but most of it has very little to do with hitting jump shots or making SportsCenter.

Building a professional basketball player is no easy proposition. People who think that Michael Jordan came out of Chapel Hill smoking Cohibas and wearing Armani are sadly mistaken. Most of us remember a young guy with amazing hops wearing a Nike sweatsuit almost everywhere you saw him. Gold chains hanging out? Check the old posters. Michael Jordan, not unlike Tiger Woods or Wayne Gretzky is a corporation, and it took years to build. Jordan is finding out that a few bimbo erruptions can begin to take a toll on that "Wheaties box" image. LeBron James is going to need serious advice about money, image (because it is everything,) the road, the scams. In the vernacular that means: "mo' money, mo' problems, bruh." Kobe Bryant's father played in the NBA and overseas. In fact, Kobe spent time there and picked up a language. He came into the NBA raw, but more mature than Tracy McGrady, Allen Iverson, or yes, even Shane Battier. Living overseas and learning Italian from native speakers trumps a degree in religion from Duke. LeBron is looking to skip from Trigonometry to scheming women on the road with bodies better than a Jay Z video. If you've seen one, you know what I'm talking about. I know men of the cloth that can't withstand that. What makes any of us think that an 18 year who went to a Catholic school will be able to resist the temptation.

Losing. It's something that players who get drafted first are never used to. It's a fact. Look at the aforementioned Battier who won an NCAA title at Duke. His teams won 80% of its games. He has already lost more games and at a faster rate than he did in college. And he hasn't even played two full seasons yet! The LA Clippers, Cleveland Cadavers, um, Cavaliers and the Denver Nuggets do not have consistent winning traditions. They don't have a national following like the Lakers, the Kings or even the Wizards for goodness' sake. Now you see why Kobe's handlers would not allow him to play for the Charlotte Hornets. They understood the marketing dollar. Remember "Jerry Maguire" everybody? Sneaker, soft drink, video game....say it in your sleep until it sticks. Kobe's Lakers lost games, but they already had Shaq, so they were building the perfect beast until his game matured. Who is LeBron going to mature around? Darius Miles? Nene Hilario? Are you kidding me? The dregs of the league are bad for a reason: they are bad. Period. James is looking at losing 60-70% of his games in endless laughers. His teammates may accept him, but do you think that Kobe is going to let this kid gank him for his loot? Kobe's married now and he's got bills to pay. Plus, he's a grown-ass man, dawg!! The NBA stands for no bums allowed, but it also stands for no boys allowed. The refs won't help or protect him either. Ask Allen Iverson whose crossover was a carry until the refs let up on him. If LeBron James can make the Nuggets or Cavaliers glamour teams, I'll be his biggest fan.

Here's the real problem: T-Mac. Forget finding a date for junior prom. Forget that Calculus quiz you didn't study for. Forget your father being upset with that "D" in English. Tracy McGrady is really scary. He's the NBA's new version of the big, bad wolf. He has a chip on his shoulder, and he is drilling everybody in his path. If T-Mac had a better shoe and a championship ring, Kobe might have to come down a few pegs. I never thought I would see a better player than Kobe--and I don't even like Kobe's "like Mike" style---T-Mac is better. On the flip side, though, T-Mac's NBA journey is closely linked with James, but James has had to handle more media scrutiny as a high schooler than any other player in history. The good news for LeBron is that all of this is new. If he's really that good, he will succeed without realizing the pressure that he will be under. His shoe sponsor will be all over him to produce. The zeros and commas on the checks will be all the pressure that he'll need. His "boys" from high school wanting to ride around in his Louis Vitton edition Escalade. Women with bodies like Aphrodite with bottles of Cristal. I don't know which one is scarier: guarding Tracy McGrady or NBA life. Thank heavens I'm an analyst.