Friday, March 14, 2008

James has been more than just a prodigy

Sports prodigies can often be a hit or miss proposition. We can always look at athletes in the past for examples of this phenomenon. In tennis, we once saw a young Anna Kournikova take the women’s game by storm. However we soon found out that her looks were driving most of the hype and her game was anything but special. On the other end of the spectrum, Tiger Woods burst onto the scene winning major tournaments and improving his game even more. Woods became a sports icon and remains a prodigy not only just for his success on the course but for his affect on sports businesses.

Like Woods, LeBron James seemed bound to be more than just another superstar athlete. From his senior year in high school, ESPN televised James’s games live while he was playing for St. Vincent-Mary’s High School in Ohio. His name and reputation kept growing bigger as he entered his name into the 2003 NBA Draft, where he was chosen first overall by his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.

James, only 18 at the time, went on to win the league’s rookie of the year award as well as many personal accolades. Recently he also became the youngest player in NBA history to score 10,000 career points, beating the likes of other young phenoms like Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets.

Yet, I was still not sure how LeBron stacks up against other sports prodigies and how much he has impacted the NBA.

Bill Wolfum, a writer and blogger for worldgolf.com compared the impact and hype of James and female golfer Michelle Wie on their respective sports in on of his blogs. “I think the biggest difference between James and Wie are their maturity levels,” Wolfrum told me on Monday. “LeBron has had this natural maturity that he has been able to keep and it has been fun to watch.”

Wolfrum also believes Wie’s inability to handle the media and play well stands in contrast to James. “In Wie’s case, they could have done some things different but it’s really just not living up to the hype,” Wolfrum said. “From day one, LeBron was charming and funny. That just drew you to him. He played the phenom role perfectly because people had a lot of expectations and he has met those and exceeded them.”

In comparing other prodigies in the basketball realm, I spoke to Garrett Nakagawa, a basketball and recruiting analyst for WeAreSC.com, where he covers USC guard OJ Mayo. Mayo unlike James, was playing against high school varsity teams as a seventh grader because of his advanced game and a rule that allows younger athletes to compete against older competition in Kentucky. Mayo went on to play five more years as a varsity player for two high schools in Ohio and West Virginia before committing to USC in 2007.

Despite the obvious connections between each other, Nakagawa is careful to point out that Mayo and James are two different types of players. As a result, he believes the comparisons of being prodigies coming from high school highly favor James because of his abilities on the court.

“They are not very close at all,” Nakagawa said. “Coming out of high school, LeBron was physically mature and ready to play. Mayo just doesn’t have that in athleticism yet.”

Nakagawa also thinks that James is the best basketball prodigy he has seen thus far through the history of the game.

“He is easily at the top because in the very first year he came in (the NBA), he was physically ready to contribute,” Nakagawa said. “In my mind, that makes him the best to come out of high school and make the kind of impact he has.”

As far as that impact, James has not only affected the game of basketball on the court but off the court as well. His uncanny ability to endorse many products has only raised his reputation in the sports world according to Jake Appleman, a SLAM Online writer, who has written about the rise of LeBron James.

“He has the perfect combination of street-cred and PR savvy,” Appleman said in an e-mail interview. “You combine that with an off-court sense that mirrors his play on the court, in that he sees everything a few steps ahead of the game and you've got a marketer's dream.”

Indeed, with endorsement deals with Nike, Coca-Cola and Upper Deck, James has transcended the sports advertising and marketing business by increasing profits and paving the way for other prodigies in the future.

While there are many prodigies that can be compared to LeBron but where does he really rank? That is where many of the sources are divided.

“He easily has to be in the top five,” Nakagawa said. “He is right there in front of Sidney Crosby of the NHL but behind Tiger Woods.”

“On par, LeBron is with Tiger,” Appleman said. “They both do things that nobody has before them and continue to set new ridiculous precedents.”

“I really don’t think you can compare (LeBron) and Tiger,” Wolfrum said. “Because Tiger has taken the golf to a level it’s never been before.”

In the end, the measuring stick for a prodigy is determined at least in part by the media, the public and the fans. In James’ case, he has been one of the most decorated figures in sports today.

At 22, he is still a prodigy because he is able to do things that many players could only dream about at such a young age and accomplish after decades in the NBA. Already, James has been able to carry his team to the NBA Finals, win the Eastern Conference title and be a contender for the league’s most valuable player award. James’ prodigy status is fueled by the massive endorsement deals he holds currently that are easily over $100 million a year which includes contracts for his own sneaker line, Sprite and Powerade campaigns and an exclusive deal with a trading card company.

I believe right now he is the second biggest sports prodigy only behind Woods but ahead of those like Crosby, Freddy Adu from the MLS and Andy Roddick of the ATP tennis circuit. His lasting impact on the game has become a worldwide effect because of the amount of products and reach he has right now. The scary part is that he has now reached his full potential yet because he is so young and should only become better as he gets older.

Still I think the best way to determine the prominence of a prodigy is by analyzing their field of sport. The NBA has never been the same because of James and will continue to advance much more because of his name. But in the world of sports prodigies, James has been able not only to affect the game with his amazing skill set but with his ability to have a lasting effect with his endorsements, visibility and image on the sports industry we know today.

2 comments:

William K Wolfrum said...

Well researched and put together Galo. When you compare James against other phenoms, even like Kobe, you can see where LeBron stands out. Remember, for a couple years there, the Lakers used Kobe as a sixth man. James has been the Cavs main guy since Day One.

And I think Nakagawa's comment that James was able to compete at a high level in his rookie year is a really outstanding one.

Good stuff. If I had one critical remark it would be this - find your voice. In a blog or opinion piece, your voice needs to come out so people can actually hear it. The best columnists out there, you feel as though they are actually talking to you.

But it's a process and you are absolutely on the right track. I look forward to reading more from you in the future,

Regards,

Bill Wolfrum

Anonymous said...

People should read this.