LeBron has lived up to hype, lifting city, league, says Stern

[stevo]

LeBron has lived up to hype, lifting city, league, says Stern

12/10/03

Mary Schmitt Boyer
Plain Dealer Reporter


LeBron James has proven NBA Commissioner David Stern wrong.

"I thought the expectations for him were so outsized and that he couldn't possibly live up to them," Stern said yesterday afternoon during a conversation with Plain Dealer publisher Alex Machaskee and editors and reporters at the newspaper. "I was wrong.


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"He's doing very well on the court, and he's doing very well off the court. He represents himself well. He speaks well. He carries himself well. He comes across as a nice young man with a sense of himself and a sense of humility as well. That's hard for an 18-year-old kid to pick up. It doesn't happen too easily."

The success of the Cavaliers rookie from Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School and the rebirth of the Cavs franchise were just two of the topics Stern covered in a wide-ranging discussion that lasted more than an hour. The commissioner also met with reporters covering the game between the Cavs and Toronto Raptors last night at Gund Arena and dropped in at WTAM during his daylong visit, the latest in periodic stops he makes around the league. After taking in the Cavs-Raptors game, Stern returned to New York on a charter flight.

But he made it clear that Cleveland is now a top NBA destination.

"It is becoming a hot place to be," Stern said. " Dateline Cleveland' is now an origination point on a global basis."

Stern likes to make it clear that the James phenomenon was not orchestrated by the NBA. In fact, he says he has spent considerable time and effort trying to downplay the expectations placed on young players like James and Denver rookie Carmelo Anthony. On the other hand, he says, the league is happy to take advantage of their popularity.

"To me, LeBron is significant for two reasons," Stern said.

"No. 1 is we've now seen the power of the media. The so-called vaunted NBA marketing machine had nothing to do with the fact that LeBron James was the best-known draft choice in our history. It was as a result of the media focusing attention on this young man, who, it turns out, has quite a bit of game and is a nice young man as well. So that's great.

"No. 2, I know that Gordon Gund has wanted to bring a more exciting team to fill up Gund Arena. He has done a lot for this community. He very much would like to make this the place that is a hot place to be. To the extent that LeBron has greatly contributed to that, we're happy with that. I'm sure LeBron is happy with that, and I know Gordon Gund is happy with that. . . . It's amazing what hope and a little talent can do. It's great for us. It's great for LeBron. It's great for the Cavs and the city of Cleveland. It's terrific to see."

What most impresses Stern is that the impact James has had off the court and outside Gund Arena. It is almost as if the young man has put Cleveland back on the sports map and boosted the city's sports self-esteem.

"It has been interesting and gratifying in a way to see the way fans and people in Cleveland have latched onto the LeBron phenomenon," the commissioner said. "He's become very much a rallying point for the community. I think that's great. I think that's what sports does. . . . It's a unifying force in a very democratic way. It doesn't matter where you come from. If you've got game, you're going to play. And whether you sit up in the nosebleed seats or at courtside, your opinion is just as good as the next guy's. It's a nice thing to see when it's not just a good player and a good kid but a unifying force. It is the best of sports."

Stern acknowledged that James' popularity, combined with the ever-expanding globalization of the NBA, make the Cavs a likely participant in some of the league's activities overseas . . . someday.

"We're wrestling with it now," Stern said. "We probably have a two- or three-year time frame. . . . Let them get a little time under their belts with this team and stabilize it. We wouldn't be pushing them. Although, who knows? We might be."

Stern said he thought the league would have a franchise permanently located in Europe by the end of the decade and named Milan, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona and Paris as the most likely sites. It's the next step for an organization that now boasts a record 73 foreign players on its rosters.

"The international opportunity is extraordinary," Stern said.

Stern also is pleased with things on the homefront.

"It has been a great season so far," he said. "Attendance is up. Our [television] ratings are up. Our sales of merchandise are up. Generally, our business seems to be moving in a very positive way."

The commissioner admitted the league had a "lousy" summer with regard to players in trouble with the law, and he said he worried about the world situation in general, and its possible impact on his teams and players.

But overall he sounded as upbeat as a Cavaliers fan on draft day.

"I've been doing this 20 years and I'm still having a ball," he said.

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[jjgold]

Stern trying to pump him up to save league

Lebron right now is at best an average NBA player