Be honest, did you think LeBron would be this good in 2003

[christian1923]

Actually, yes.

To be honest, I thought he'd be even better. His at times passiveness is the only thing that has ever held him back.

His first televised ESPN HS game he showed all the skills, a passing ability I rarely have seen in players. Incredible ball handling. Stunning athletcism, and a body already built to play pro ball by his junior year. He seemed poised, and intelligent on the court. Dominated his senior year even with intense pressure, and scrutiny.

Then his first NBA game in Sacramento? He still matched the hype. His first year was amazing. Then every year after that he got better, slight regression in 2007, only to make another massive jump from 2008 - 2010.

Yeah I thought he would be better too

[navy]

Nope. I thought Carmelo would be better than him.

[Real14]

To be honest, that's how I see him. I would have respected him so much more for winning a title eventually in Cleveland. I still remember how dirty the kid was in his rookie season. I was surprised of how he as already a borderline all star at 18. I thought his jumpshot wasn't good enough to drop 20+ a night.

Yea I remember his rookie season where Melo got robbed for tha ROTY award and Lebron was a horrible jumpshooter indeed . I never liked his attitude even back in 2002 when I first heard about him in high school when he was junior. Lebron was just blessed by his God given abilities its just too bad that he's a quitter, choker and coward. If I was 6'9 and 260 I would win at least 6 rings out of 11 seasons. No doubt.

[Mr. Incredible]

Absolutely. Did you watch his first game? You knew he would be a star after that.

[Real14]

Nope. I thought Carmelo would be better than him.

Carmelo iz not a roid head tho. Plus Lebron cheated to get wheres he at.

[ralph_i_el]

I only cared about baseball and hockey in 2003. What an idiot I was

[tmacattack33]

Back then i thought that the experts were usually going to be right...so Lebron becoming a super-star wasn't much of a surprise to me.



Currently though, when experts hype somebody up, I know that there is only like a 30% chance he becomes what they hyped him up to be.

For instance, here is the list of the super-hyped up players since 2006:

Bogut
Bargnani
Oden
Durant
Beasley
Rose
OJ Mayo
Blake
John Wall
Evan Turner



I'd say only the bolded reached the level that the experts were saying they would reach.

[SamuraiSWISH]

personally was a little skeptical of his passing ability.

That was the most heralded, hyped part of his arsenal even in HS though? WTF ... he threw brilliant Magic / Bird / Penny type passes. With a willingness to distribute we hadn't seen in the current crop of "get mines" NBA stars.

The most questionable aspect of his game was his jumper. Which is the case for near everyone coming into the league who isn't meant to be a spot up shooter. That ability comes with time, and practice.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

Yea I remember his rookie season where Melo got robbed for tha ROTY award and Lebron was a horrible jumpshooter indeed . I never liked his attitude even back in 2002 when I first heard about him in high school when he was junior. Lebron was just blessed by his God given abilities its just too bad that he's a quitter, choker and coward. If I was 6'9 and 260 I would win at least 6 rings out of 11 seasons. No doubt.

Lol. And yes Melo got robbed, I totally agree

[navy]

Carmelo iz not a roid head tho. Plus Lebron cheated to get wheres he at.

Carmelo needs to get some of them roids then. He was suppose to be neck and neck with Lebron. He's not even close.

Dude got surpassed by Durant all time last year.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

That was the most heralded, hyped part of his arsenal even in HS though? WTF ... he threw brilliant Magic / Bird / Penny type passes. With a willingness to distribute we hadn't seen in the current crop of "get mines" NBA stars.

The most questionable aspect of his game was his jumper. Which is the case for near everyone coming into the league who isn't meant to be a spot up shooter. That ability comes with time, and practice.

I'm just saying I watched a lot of his basketball high school games. A lot of those passes were definitely risky if it was in a better basketball conference. He won championships in Division II in Ohio. I would have loved to have seen LeBron play in a bigger city like Los Angeles or Chicago throughout high school. I felt his level of competition in high school was pretty bad tbh. But yes, his jumper was so inconsistent. Sometimes he was wet for awhile then got cold. I still love the game of him vs. Trevor Ariza in high school. I watch it every once in awhile to see the dominance he showed after Ariza's dad called him out.

[jlip]

Nah. My take at the time was that Melo would be better, for say, the first 5 years, and then Lebron would eventually catch him. I did not consider either player being a GOAT level talent.

[steve]

IMO Kareem is the greatest high school basketball player ever. Dude was filthy in the NYC high school basketball scene. Led his team to 96 wins and a 71 win streak in high school. NYC high school basketball is tight.

Oh, no doubt. Through high school and college Kareem lost exactly two games and they both made legends out of people on the winning end in Morgan Wooten (coach for DeMatha) and Elvin Hayes (the star for Houston). I mean, both of them of them were great in their own right (Wooten had been called the greatest basketball coach by both John Wooden and Red Auerbach and who knows what Elvin Hayes status would be if not for Kareem existing). Both of those games were major basketball historical marks, even not being alive, I've seen the DeMatha/Power Memorial game multiple times just by the virtue of living in the DC area. But he's really the only player who compares to the level of hype put on Lebron in high school (and astonishingly enough, actually meeting/exceeding expectations).

[SamuraiSWISH]

If one actually knew what they were watching at that time in 2003, which clearly many of you didn't or were too young, too fresh to the game. His ability, and potential was obvious. He was a good NBA player AS A JUNIOR IN HS. Let that skink in a minute.

[Milbuck]

To be honest, I didn't..I thought he would be a more athletic pre-injury Grant Hill. Which is still close, but I don't think it entirely captures Lebron's level as a player. He went from a hyped up high school kid, to a potential top 3 player all time in terms of pure basketball talent..haven't seen many players match every shred of hype and expectations put on them the way Lebron has. I'm talking purely about his game..legacy wise he's had his fair share of failures.