‘Shooting Stars’: worthy of a King

By MATTHEW PRICE

“Shooting Stars”

By LeBron James and Buzz Bissinger; The Penguin Press (258 pages, $26.95)

Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers has proved his value as the best all-around player in the NBA. He’s also the anti-Kobe — likable, gracious, even humble. In “Shooting Stars,” James, with a big-time assist from Vanity Fair contributor Buzz Bissinger, looks back to his high school days in Akron. You’ll learn a lot about the player and his hard times as the son of a single, working-class mother, but what distinguishes the memoir is how James turns the spotlight on his teammates.

James got all the attention as the star player for St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, and “Shooting Stars” is his way of giving thanks to the supporting cast. Like James, they were hardscrabble kids, some from broken homes, others trying to escape bad neighborhoods. Those kids met on a youth basketball league team and forged a bond. If James was destined for fame, the sparkplug of the team was “Little” Dru Joyce, the coach’s son. Little Dru was small but an aggressive playmaker who never backed down. (He once scored seven straight three-pointers in 10 minutes.)

Little Dru and his teammates joined James at St. Vincent-St. Mary, and the players’ decision sparked controversy: The school was predominantly white, and there were charges that James and his mates turned their back on Akron’s black community. James brushed aside such misgivings, and began a remarkable run with his mates, dubbing themselves the “Fab Five.”

St. Vincent-St. Mary began to get national attention, as did James, who, at 17, appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. But when his mother began driving a $50,000 Hummer (secured with a legitimate loan), folks began to whisper. Was James on the take from college boosters? (He wasn’t.) More controversy ensued when he accepted two free T-shirts from a sporting goods store, leading to a two-game ban. James vigorously rebuts the allegations, and it’s hard to not conclude he was being nickeled and dimed.

None of this deterred James from his desire to win a national championship for St. Vincent-St. Mary. He succeeded, but the victory brought its own bittersweet consequences. “The Fab Five never did play a game of basketball again after winning the national championship,” James muses. “But ... what we ultimately brought to the city of Akron cannot be diminished, nor can the pride.” James now makes millions and is the face of the NBA, but in his soul, there will always be a place for Akron and his shooting stars.