Two decades ago, former Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James garnered the first rave reviews of his legendary basketball career at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio.
On Wednesday, a tongue-in-cheek attempt at denigrating his performance at the high school level was met with a brief dismissal by one of his former Cavalier teammates, Larry Nance Jr.
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A Twitter account commented on a one-minute video highlight from SLAM.
In reality, the comment was simply part of a series of sarcastic comments by that Twitter user which were directed at past criticisms of NBA legends, with the specific remark in quotation marks. Among those criticisms included were the idea that Allen Iverson had no moves and that Michael Jordan had problems scoring.
James’ high school career was anything but ordinary as he led his school to three Ohio state titles in his four years. During that time, he also won the Ohio Mr. Basketball award as the best player in the state in each of his final three years.
The level of fame attained by James during this period was such that he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated during his junior year. In June 2003, he was selected as the first player overall in the NBA draft by the Cavaliers, the beginning of what’s become a memorable career.
Nance has a unique perspective with which to view James, having grown up in Northeastern Ohio and seeing James play. In February 2018, he then got the opportunity to play with James after being traded by the Los Angeles Lakers. However, after the season, James signed as a free agent with the Lakers.
