LeBron's New Hummer

[The Jays]

AKRON, Ohio -- LeBron James drove his Hummer toward the basket, made a hard left near the baseline, spun around some cheerleaders and brought it to a screeching stop.


Under the bench.


LeBron James doesn't seem worried about the attention his Hummer, which is definitely bigger than the toy one he played with before the game Tuesday night, is generating.



While his teammates warmed up two hours before a game Tuesday night, James, whose recent acquisition of a luxury sports utility vehicle has led to a state investigation into his eligibility, toyed with the controversy spiraling around him.


Sitting on the floor at midcourt, the nation's top high school basketball player, smiled as he steered a remote control Hummer around the floor of Akron's James A. Rhodes Arena.


''OK,'' he said. ''Here's my real Hummer.''


When a basketball nearly crushed his four-wheeled camouflaged gadget, James yelled, ''Hey, you almost hit my truck.''


Guess he's not too worried about things.


On Monday, the Ohio High School Athletic Association began an investigation into how James, the expected No. 1 choice in the NBA draft this year, acquired a 2003 Hummer H2 vehicle.


State officials are concerned that James, a senior, might have violated his amateur status by accepting an improper gift.


Clair Muscaro, commissioner of the OHSAA, said Tuesday the inquiry was continuing and that he was still in the process of gathering information.

James certainly had his game in overdrive Tuesday night, scoring a school-record 50 points to lead the nation's No. 1-ranked team to a 92-56 rout of Mentor.


Beside breaking his own school record for points, James made a school record 11 3-pointers before sitting out the final 6:27 just a few seconds after draining his final 3.

"'Bron was in a zone,'' said his coach, Dru Joyce. "It doesn't happen to often, and his teammates recognized it and got him the ball. Hopefully, he saved some of that for the next game.''


''I was in the zone,'' said James, whose lone flaw could be his outside shooting. ''I felt like I was at practice. When I'm in the zone there's nothing anybody can do. I don't need to show anybody anything. I got the whole package.''


James, who finished 19-for-25 from the field, didn't answer any questions regarding the Hummer or the state's investigation during his postgame interview.

“ I was in the zone. I felt like I was at practice. When I'm in the zone there's nothing anybody can do. I don't need to show anybody anything. I got the whole package. ”
— LeBron James, after scoring a school record 50 points and hitting a school record 11 3-pointers Tuesday night.

Dru Joyce was asked if he's worried James might have violated his eligibility.


''I'm not concerned,'' Joyce said. ''That's out of our hands anyway.''


Muscaro said he had been in contact with St. Vincent-St. Mary officials and that the school was in the process of sending him documentation.


The OHSAA has asked the school to provide written evidence about how the SUV was bought and financed. If it is shown to be an improper gift from an outside source, James could forfeit his amateur status and his school would have to forfeit its games from the time the 6-foot-8 sensation acquired the extravagant vehicle.


James, a senior, reportedly got the Hummer -- with a base retail price of $50,000 -- as an 18th birthday gift from his mother, Gloria, who has told school officials she obtained a bank loan to finance the vehicle.


Gloria James has refused to comment on the situation.


One of the OHSAA's bylaws says an athlete forfeits his or her amateur status by ''capitalizing on athletic fame by receiving money or gifts of monetary value.''


''We have parents buying cars for their kids all the time,'' Muscaro said. ''We just need to know that everything was done properly and within the rules.''


Muscaro said he hopes to have the case resolved by the end of the week.


James' case is believed to be unprecedented in Ohio, which has made enforcing any rules more difficult, OHSAA spokesman Bob Goldring said.


''It's been a challenge,'' he said. ''This is new ground for us.''


James' SUV is reportedly outfitted with three televisions, has seatbacks embroidered with ''King James'', and hookups for computer games.


License plate tags on the platinum-colored Hummer show it was purchased at 310 Motoring Automobile Specialists of Los Angeles, which caters to a celebrity clientele.


On its Web site, <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.310motoring.com">http://www.310motoring.com</a><!-- w --> the dealership boasts to have among its customers actor Denzel Washington, singers Jennifer Lopez and Janet Jackson, NBA superstars Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Gary Payton and NFL stars Ray Lewis, Keyshawn Johnson and Warren Sapp.

... What happens if the OHSAA find the transaction goes against the rules?

... do you feel it is ok for an amatuer to take gifts? I mean, many people are making money off of Lebron's star power now... his team gets to fly everywhere, his games are televised and even sold on PPV, tickets go for four time a usual ticket goes for, with 10,000 people in attendance... why should he not get some of that money that everyone is making off of him?

Personally, I think he should not be accepting gifts until he is a professional athlete... it is in the widely accepted definition of an amateur athlete that amateurs do not get paid for the sport they partake, because an amateur plays the sport for the love of the game... sports are in their purest form when they are played for the sake of playing the sport... Lebron is still playing high school ball, amateur basketball... until he declares himself a pro, he should respect the sport he is playing and abide by the rules.... and hopefully, he has abided by them.... as an amateur, you play to be the best simply for the sake of being the best... as a pro, you play to be the best, but part of the reason for being the best as a pro is to make more money...

[criticslovesnatch]

i think he probably could've waited till next year, when he'll be able to afford more hummers than the U.S. army.

[GonzoStyle]

do you feel it is ok for an amatuer to take gifts?

No.

It's ok since Lebron hasn't been an amatuer since he picked up a ball.

I agree with lupica.

If countless people can make money off him by putting his face on espn, sports magazines, sneaker promotions, newspapers, etc. Why can't the kid accept a gift for his talent?

Amatuer is just a coprorate sports term for 'explot them because we can'.

He's making money for his school, for the city, it's a ripple effect.

It is very easy to sit there on the other side of the fence and judge. But it is no secret that these kids get money, gifts etc. When you come from nothing and all of a sudden someone offers to help pay the bills and give you all the things you dreamt of, you don't turn it down. It's easy to judge when it ain't your bills to pay.

All these people who say these kids should finish college instead of going pro. So they have something to fall back on? They're making millions a year. Yeah he should turn down making a few million so he can get a degree that will sercure him a 60,000 dollar a year job when he's done making his millions.

Like they even pay attention when they do attend school, they just coast through.

[Teenweek]

Who wouldnt give someone a loan for an expensive hummer that everyone knows will be a multimillionaire as the number 1 pick after June. I don't have a problem with it. The school is making a ton of money charging college prices for games and getting espn 2 to televise some games.

[LyricalGomez]

Like they even pay attention when they do attend school, they just coast through.

Acctually student/athlete might just be the toughest job on the planet. Yes they are given some leeway, but they still have to make their grades if they want to play. The days of winking and passing an athlete are far less common than they used to be.

Which is the problem with the whole thing, student/athletes basically kill themselves for 4 years for no money and sleepless nights, god-forbid they are any good and get national coverage and have to do interviews and so on. It's easy to see why a kid would go from High school to the pros, why kill yourself for 4 years and get a degree, when you can go to the NBA, get used to the game while making big, big money?

[Teenweek]

more players are going from high school to the pros because of the rookie cap for the first 3 years. Going to college just takes time away from making big money.

Lyrical, did you hear Maurice Clarett's comment after his friend died and could not go home to the funeral. He was saying things like I did not come to Ohio State for an education, I came to play football. That shows, if you are good enough, people will find a way around passing your grades.

[LyricalGomez]

I'm not saying it's totally gone, but it doesn't happen as often, if I had the choice between college and going to the pros, I'd take the pros each and every time, because if you're smart about it, get some good people around you and don't squander your money you will live off of it for the rest of your life.

Take Shaq for instance, he invested in an auto-body place, and because of his status he gets a ton of celebs to drop huge money on him to customize their cars, that's a smart investement.....LeBron James will get a huge contract, and will have sponsers lined up around the block wanting him to sign with them. It would be a dumb move for him to go to college, because those 3 or 4 years will only give him a chance to get injured and never get to the NBA.

[The Jays]

It's ok since Lebron hasn't been an amatuer since he picked up a ball.

I agree with lupica.

If countless people can make money off him by putting his face on espn, sports magazines, sneaker promotions, newspapers, etc. Why can't the kid accept a gift for his talent?

Amatuer is just a coprorate sports term for 'explot them because we can'.

No. Amateur is a word that is used to describe those athletes which participate in specific type of sporting competition. Dictionary.com defines it:

An athlete who has never accepted money, or who accepts money under restrictions specified by a regulatory body, for participating in a competition.

I know that the OHSAA and the NYHSAA has the restriction that only amateurs may play in high school sporting competition. I believe that every single state high school athletic association includes this same restriction.

I am not using the word amateur to describe how Lebron James plays basketball. He plays basketball "like a professional would", because most great basketball players are professionals. He does not play "like an amateur would", because the overwhelming majority of amateurs are not good basketball players.

I am using the word amateur to describe what Lebron James must be in order to play high school basketball. He must not receive any compensation for playing basketball, or else he would be a professional basketball player, thus, his team forfeits all of its wins, and Lebron will not be allowed tp play at the high school level.

Does he want to play in the NBA? Of course. Yet he is not eligible to play in the NBA yet. Does he want to sit around and wait until he is eligible. Of course not, he wants to play basketball for his high school. But he has the choice, and he is choosing to play high school ball, and however much it sucks that everyone but him is making money off of his basketball, he must abide by the rules and play as an amateur if he wishes to play basketball for his high school.

... Most high school kids are playing because they simply like playing basketball, and they know most of them won't be playing it on the college or professional levels. Are they not going to play basketball because of that knowledge? No, they love the game, and want to play, and this is their chance to play, because they won't ever see it again. The beauty of amateur sport is no matter if you're the next #1 pick in the NBA draft or if you're a scrub, everyone has the opportunity to play basketball. This is why high school sports have regulations on which athletes can play.

[GonzoStyle]

Acctually student/athlete might just be the toughest job on the planet. Yes they are given some leeway, but they still have to make their grades if they want to play. The days of winking and passing an athlete are far less common than they used to be.

I seriously doubt it, there is too much money involved. I went to school with marbury and he was as dumb as bricks, yet he had above an 85 average. He barely atteneded classes and when he did, he did nothing.

I know several others who attended school with atheletes, I'm not sayin they do nothing but it's much easier for them.

[HollywoodJewMoses]

do you really think that allen iverson kept up with all the work he would get at Georgetown?

he showed up to class put his walkman on, and read newspaper articles about himself

[GonzoStyle]

Are you trying to insinuate that allen iverson can read?

[LyricalGomez]

If it's ever on again, watch the special on MTV where they follow around potential heisman candidates. I think it will shed a bit of a different light on the whole subject.

[HollywoodJewMoses]

oh yeah, they all live large...

[LyricalGomez]

Huh? I was arguing that Student/Athlete sucks and isn't as much of a free ride as people think it is. That special shows how much work student/athletes do for practically nothing

[HollywoodJewMoses]

i know, didnt you see the rolling sarcastic eyes?

[GonzoStyle]

Yeah cause people always act normally for TV cameras.

[LyricalGomez]

Yes, I'm sure professors want to act up infront of the camera

[GonzoStyle]

You are gullible if you think they don't. The cameras will always change the way people act, people will always act differently. It's their 15 seconds of fame, the same way people always drop names cause it's their little claim to fame. "I met so and so one time, he was so cool".

[LyricalGomez]

I've had two roommates who were athletes and students, I know the work they put in. It's not an easy ride which you all seem to think it is. They get up before dawn to head to work-outs, afterwards they have their classes and more practice in the afternoon. They in no way, shape or form "coast" through college, if you think so you are the one who is guillible.

I'm not sayin they do nothing but it's much easier for them.

What's easier? Passing a class? Or Life? Life for a student athlete (which is what I've been saying since the beginning) is a thankless job.

[GonzoStyle]

I know that they put in a lot of work for their sport. But it is their classes that they coast through. I am not talking about joe schmo on the basketball team. I am talking about the people like LeBron, Iverson and others. Stars not the supporting people who have a 1 in a million shot of making it but the ones who are a sure thing.

Iverson, LeBron, and many others like them have a much easier time. Working out and honing your sports skills is something they will do now and as long as they play the game, no matter what Iverson says about "practice".

But yes people play to the cameras, everyone always says "so and so was such a smart athelete and person" Cause they want to be close to greatness since they will never achieve it.