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What was the hype of Lebron like back in the early 2000s? (alien.top)

submitted 11 months ago by Lawrence1705@alien.top to c/nba@nba.space

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To be honest it’s crazy seeing Lebron dominate at this age as of now. What was the hype back then like in the early 2000s up until his draft in 03. I was born in 2000 lol. What are some thoughts or stories you guys had back then of Lebron coming up?

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[–] Lick_Scrote_6969@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

The most hype around a pre-professional athlete in modern times, perhaps ever. He was on magazine covers. High school games on ESPN. Arenas packed not just with students, parents, and scouts, but every day basketball fans that had zero stake in Akron basketball. People paid money to fly to Akron just to see a high school basketball player.

Just think about what the corporate entities thought about him, not just pundits and basketball aficionados. Nike sat down an 18 year old high school student two weeks before he'd walk to accept his high school diploma and gave him a piece of paper promising 87 million dollars with a blank line underneath it. Gloria walked into a Hummer dealership with poverty level income and no assets and bargained for a $70,000 Hummer H2 with... her sons potential. Everyone knew what was happening, not just the basketball community.

The closest we've ever come (and no, Sebastian Telfair does not count) was Zion, with a close second probably being Wiggins up until Wemby's hype recently. There was nothing like it. You'd turn on ESPN after one of his high school games and boom, leading story. Then he did something more insane, he lived not only up to that hype, but above it. Way above it. It was a spectacle, for sure.