LeBron James is often thought to be too “above” things. He definitely gives that vibe of superiority, which is one of the reasons he’s so despised currently. He said he’d be in the dunk contest, then no-showed. He rarely shows up at “average fan” events, and runs in exclusive circles. He pulls that whole “rock star” life. But apparently he made an exception this weekend.
James showed up at Drew League in California and instead of just hanging out and acting too cool for school, James threw on a jersey and then threw down on everyone. He put on a show and later talked about how the best part was being there for the kids. Maybe most impressive, though, was the impact he made on his teammates and how he actually didn’t big-time them. From Yahoo! Sports:“It was a great experience to just play with a guy like that,” said Casper Ware, a senior guard at Long Beach State who played on James’ team Saturday. “He was still passing even though he was LeBron. He just wanted me to play my game. He told me, ‘Don’t stand around and just throw me the ball. Play your game. I can get mine. Play your game and don’t change for me.’“
He was very cool and down to earth. You could talk to him like any other player.”
via James plays game at Drew League - NBA - Yahoo! Sports.
That’s the kind of James you wish we’d see more of. Oh, and here’s the James we tend to see a lot of:
Sidenote: How strange is it that Baron Davis, the former L.A. movie making star turned contract liability for the Cleveland Cavaliers is the guy bringing LeBron to the stage? That’s an oddly appropriate pairing if there ever was one.
