SEATTLE – Two years ago, in Chicago during an idle night on a Seattle SuperSonics road trip, Nate McMillan wandered across town to take in a high school all-star basketball name.
In particular, McMillan wanted to see a much-ballyhooed player named LeBron James. Unconvinced by the hype – plenty of folks were saying the Akron, Ohio, schoolboy would be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft – McMillan wanted to see for himself.
He left the gymnasium that night knowing he had seen someone special.
Tonight, McMillan gets another look as James and the Cleveland Cavaliers invade KeyArena for a 6 p.m. clash with the Sonics. It is, for Seattle’s coach, a much-anticipated game. For one, his Northwest Division-leading Sonics are taking on the improved Cavaliers, who sit a half-game out of first in the Central Division.
For another, McMillan again gets to glimpse “one of those guys I would pay to see.”
Yes, McMillan is an admirer and for obvious reason. James, who indeed joined the NBA last season to more acclaim than any high school player in league history, has emerged as one of pro basketball’s best and brightest. In just his second season, the youngster – he turned 20 barely two weeks ago, for crying out loud – is putting up numbers befitting a long-established star.
Consider, heading into a game Saturday night in Utah, James was averaging 24.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists. If he can nudge his scoring average up a half-point and keep the others where they are to the end of the season, he would become the fifth NBA player ever to average 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for a season. Oscar Robertson did it six times, John Havlicek twice, Larry Bird once and the great Michael Jordan once.
That James is on the verge of doing it in just his second pro season “is amazing,” said Sonics guard Luke Ridnour. “Especially for a 20 year old. It’s amazing to think how good he can be.”
James, McMillan said, is a tantalizing hybrid of Jordan and Magic Johnson, two of the game’s legends. Like Jordan, James plays above the rim with a dazzling array of offensive moves and shots, including an impossible-to-block fadeaway jumper. And, in the mold of Johnson, James has the savvy to run the team’s offense, both in the halfcourt and in the open floor, often with spectacular no-look passes.
“I don’t know him (personally),” McMillan said, “but with the way he plays it seems like he enjoys the game. It seems like he could play all day, like he doesn’t get tired. Everything seems to come pretty easily to him. … This year, it’s almost as if he’s said to himself, ‘I can dominate this league.’ He has the approach that he wants to take over games and lead his team to the playoffs, and he’s playing with that attitude, that swagger.”
Others around the league are equally impressed. Among them, Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett, last season’s MVP.
“I don’t call him King James,” said Garnett, citing James’ common nickname. “I call him The Gift. A gift for Cleveland and a gift for the league.”
Plenty of NBA players can put up big numbers, of course, and many do so because they play on bad teams. One thing that makes James stand out is the way he has transformed the Cavaliers. A year ago, Cleveland finished 35-47 and missed the playoffs. This season, and without second-leading scorer Carlos Boozer who left for Utah as an offseason free agent, the Cavaliers are one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
“He’s doing everything for us,” Cleveland coach Paul Silas said. “We certainly wouldn’t be where we are without him. To be this young and have the understanding of the game that he has is just unreal. I marvel at him. In two or three years when he learns the game better, he’ll be unstoppable.”
For years, NBA followers have wondered whence will come the next Michael Jordan. There have been several candidates, including Grant Hill, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady to name a few. But all of them, for one reason or another – lack of health, lack of ability, lack of championships, lack of character – have so far fallen short.
Tonight at KeyArena, fans will have the chance to observe someone who might, just might, be that man.
“With as much hype as he’s had, and maybe there were people who thought he didn’t deserve it, he’s lived up to it,” Ridnour said. “And this year I think he’s played a lot better than he did last year. He’s just playing so free and so confident, and he’s such a good athlete that he’s making everyone around him look good, too.”
According to McMillan, there is one more thing to admire about James. At a time when me-first egos permeate the game, James is neither a showboat nor a ball hog. If he makes a great play, he does it in the context of the game and not because he has an itch to be on SportsCenter.
In that respect, McMillan believes, James is much like Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan. Even as young players, he said, “I always felt guys like that we’re going to be good because they had the right attitude. They were all business on the floor. There wasn’t any fooling around and no trash talking. And it wasn’t about the highlight reel. If it happened, it happened, but they were going to play the game the right way.
“I haven’t seen or heard LeBron do anything (negative),” he said. “And I think that’s important. Because as a franchise, if you see that you really know you’ve got something good.”
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