Surprise, surprise. LeBron James, everyone’s favorite high school basketball star, is in the news again. And for the second time straight, the attention isn’t on what James did on the basketball court.
I thought James was in the clear when the Ohio High School Athletic Association cleared him of any wrongdoing in “Hummergate 2003” during the beginning of last week.
How I was mistaken.
Just four days after being cleared, James again found himself in the middle of a scandal, this time as he had reportedly accepted over $800 in throwback sports jerseys from a Cleveland area store.
Unlike Hummergate, the evidence of wrongdoing piled up on the young 18-year-old star’s shoulders. So it came to almost nobody’s surprise on Friday when the OHSAA ruled James ineligible for the remainder of the season.
While James has said he is going to appeal his suspension, he probably won’t win and should begin gearing up for his next endeavor — the NBA.
But who should be blamed for this mess? Should we blame James, who knew he was in hot water with the OHSAA after Hummergate? Or should e blame the owners of Next Urban Gear and Music Store for jeopardizing the amateur career of a still naive high school senior?
Both are to blame and then some.
The brunt of the blame should fall directly on James. Sure, while he is only 18 years old, he definitely knows right from wrong. Even when I was a high school senior playing baseball, I knew you could never accept gifts, especially ones that retail for over $400 a piece.
But what makes James even more responsible is his sheer stupidity. As if getting a Hummer, albeit a legal one, for your birthday wasn’t getting enough attention, James thought he could toe the line again when walking out of the Cleveland store with two jerseys. While he eventually gave the jerseys back to the store after the original story broke, James would have been better off waiting a few weeks in order to let all the attention die down before trying to walk out with the clothing. Sure, if I was offered free clothing, I’d probably take it. But James should have known that he was under OHSAA’s radar.
James isn’t the only one who shoulders the blame. One finger should be pointed at the owners/managers of Cleveland’s Next Urban Gear and Music Store. Sure, most store owners probably don’t know the OHSAA bylaws by heart or are even aware of the bylaws. But with all the attention James got for his Hummer, what made store owners think they could give James the jerseys?
If that wasn’t bad enough, one of the store employees broke the golden rule of freebies: Don’t tell anyone. Instead of keeping his mouth shut, the employee decided to tell anyone who would listen that the store gave James the gifts. That was the smoking gun the OHSAA needed.
But you can’t stop there. Along with James and the store itself, additional blame needs to be dished out. Everyone from his coaches and “advisers” to his lawyer need to take partial blame in this. All of these people were caught up in the King James whirlwind. Instead of looking out for James and his interests, all of these people were looking out for themselves, just hoping they could have a little piece of James and whatever money he makes in the future. If these “friends” of James were truly looking out for him, they would have taken him aside and told him to just enjoy his high school years.
Sure, James isn’t going to be hurt by this latest controversy. Come June, James will hear his name called No. 1 at the NBA Draft and he will probably turn out to be one of the game’s next superstars.
But if he doesn’t stop listening to his so-called friends and start looking out for himself, this latest controversy could just be the beginning and James doesn’t deserve that.
Matt Duval is a junior in journalism and The Lantern sports editor. While he agrees taking the jerseys was wrong, he appreciates James’ taste in getting the Gale Sayers’ jersey. He only wishes he could walk into a store and walk out with $800 in clothing without being arrested. He can be reached at [email protected].
