This is the best LeBron high school highlight video I’ve ever seen.
Back in 2001, I used to buy VHS tapes of his games off eBay & search all the P2P sites (LimeWire, Kazaa) for any footage of him. Never found anything this good.
— David Astramskas (@redapples) July 19, 2019
It’s 2013, 11 years since the days of buying VHS tapes of LeBron James’ high school games off eBay. 11 years since I used to record every single ESPN feature about the teenager who was on the cover of Sports Illustrated next to the words “The Chosen One.”
The one that USA Today chose for two straight years to put on their All-American Team. The one international teams were trying to sign while he was still a junior in high school.
Being able to play in professional basketball before your senior season of high school sounds a little ridiculous, but it’s one of my favorite ridiculous conversations to have about LeBron. I know saying he was NBA material at ages 16 and 17 sounds like I’ve been smoking with Bill Walton, but do you think high school senior LeBron would have played any worse than Kwame Brown, Dajuan Wagner, or Eddy Curry during their rookie seasons in the league? Those three prep-to-pro players were USA Today first-team All-Americans, along with a sophomore and junior James (pictured above).
I still think it’s amazing that LeBron was one of the five best players in the nation after his sophomore year in high school!
2 of the other 4 were top 4 NBA Draft picks right out of high school. pic.twitter.com/gqhjzFNyq8
— David Astramskas (@redapples) August 27, 2023
We all know what James did as a high school senior, especially when ESPN started showing his high school games in December of 2002. He dominated teams, highlight reels, and won every award imaginable. And after attending his high school prom, he took his controversial Hummer, a $90 million Nike contract, and game to Cleveland, where he put up 25/9/6/4 in his NBA debut. He followed that up with a near triple-double (21/12/8).
So if he was able to put up All-Star numbers during his first week on the job, don’t you think he had the talent to at least put up “scrub numbers” a year earlier?
Throwback to that time LeBron wanted to sue the NBA to let him join after his Junior Year but the CBA was written in a way that wouldn’t allow it.
Projected lottery pick if not the #1 pick as a 17-year-old Junior in High School.
Jay Bilas “I think he could compete in the NBA,… pic.twitter.com/LEQYYrp4xk
— NBAStatGuy (@NBAStatGuy_) August 10, 2023
Anyways, here’s a cool graphic showing LeBron’s stats from every one of his high school games, followed by some of the best videos of the King during his prep days.
Best Games From His Senior Year
- 52 PTS (21/34 FG)
- 50 PTS (11/17 3PT)
- 46 PTS (19/26 FG)
- 40 PTS (16/27 FG)
LeBron James High School Stats
(via @Ballislife) pic.twitter.com/smMSIr5uXI
— ThrowbackHoops (@ThrowbackHoops) November 13, 2024
LEBRON’S TOP 10 HS PLAYS
LEBRON’S TV DEBUT ON ESPN / FULL GAME
HS CAREER-HIGH 52 POINTS
ESPN DAY IN THE LIFE OF LEBRON
In case you didn’t know, LeBron wore #9 in high school because of FSU great Peter Warrick pic.twitter.com/xOpK5IjMKX
— David Astramskas (@redapples) October 11, 2023