Shooting Stars

by Lebron James

  Zero.

  WE RAN OUT onto the court mobbing and hugging each other like the little boys we once were. The first emotion Little Dru felt was relief. He had watched time running out and the score getting tighter and tighter and he felt the pressure and he did not want to come this close and let the game slip away. Then the relief became euphoria. He threw the ball into the air and did a lap around the court, giving fans high fives. He felt like it was Christmas Day when you ran down the stairs and got the gift that you had been asking for over and over. He saw his dad, who was in tears. Little Dru knew his father was proud of the Fab Five, and Little Dru was proud of his father, whatever they had gone through. He knew that his father had been the first one to put a basketball in his hands. It was his father who had truly gotten the Shooting Stars up and running and had treated basketball like he was going back to school, reading all those books, watching all those tapes, attending all those clinics, doing whatever he could to be a better coach. Little Dru now knew that all the hard work had finally culminated in something glorious.

  Sian looked over and saw his mother and father and Coach Dru and Carolyn Joyce and his brother L.C. He felt like he was dreaming, but now in a dream that was real with everybody who had been there from the very beginning. He started cutting down the net, realizing there was no one in the world he would rather play basketball with than the other members of the Fab Five, because they were his teammates, because they were his finest friends.

  Romeo felt he was in the best place on earth. He believed most people live lives of dreariness and routine, doing their job, going home to their families, not really ever changing anything. But Romeo knew he had changed something, left a mark. He had won a national championship, and no one could ever take that away from him. He also felt the Fab Five had left a mark on Akron. It might not last forever, but at that moment, Akron meant Dru Joyce and Sian Cotton and Willie McGee and Romeo Travis and LeBron James. It was no longer the city that provoked a first reaction of “Where the hell is that?”

  Willie looked into the stands to find his brother Illya, just to thank him for all the opportunities he had made possible—an existence away from the streets of Chicago, a better life in Ohio, a free education at a Catholic school, a million and one things that had all made Willie the man he was rapidly becoming. When Willie played on his first basketball team, it was Illya who had taken him there. When he first went to junior high school, it was Illya who had taken him there. When he first attended St. V and worried about whether he could handle it academically, it was Illya who had been there to reassure him. As the winning of the national championship sunk in, he couldn’t help but trace it all back to his brother, a full and perfect circle. Willie found Illya, who was in the aisle in the stands about halfway up. He climbed into the spectator section and ran up the steps and gave Illya a hug that seemed to last for half an hour.

  “This is all because of you,” he said. “I couldn’t have done this if it wasn’t for you.”

  Tears ran down Illya’s face.

  “I love you. I’m so proud. You just made me the proudest person in the world.”

  Then he gave Willie words of typical wisdom:

  “This is your time now. It’s not my time. And you enjoy it. We’ll be here. You go and enjoy it with your friends because you’ve earned it. This is your time.”

  I too felt the joy of celebration, and I couldn’t help but think how all of this had started in fifth grade, that little kernel we never gave up on. A lot of people set goals in life but never fulfill them. They give up on them, let go of their dreams—after all, they are just dreams. But we had not. We had accomplished our goal and dream, and as members of the Fab Five, we had done it in the last game of basketball we would ever play together. It seemed like a story made in heaven to me, something that couldn’t possibly have happened except that it did.

  We all went through a gamut of emotions, what Willie later described as a mixture of joy and laughter and sadness and tears. It was hard not to go back in time to what I had been through in my life to get here—growing up without a father, moving from place to place, the wail of the police sirens, being worried to death that my mother would never come home and I would be completely alone. It was hard not to think how lucky I had been to have the love of the Walkers and then find a father figure in Coach Dru. It was even harder not to think how lucky I had been to find a family in Little Dru and Sian and Willie and Romeo. It was hard not to think of all the nights we had spent together at Coach Dru’s house, destroying his rec room with the knee football we played. It was hard not to think how important it was that we stuck together as one when the black community of Akron accused us of being traitors for not going to public school. It was hard not to think how essential our support to one another had been when we made the transition to a school that at first seemed so alien and different, strangers in a strange land. It was hard not to think about all we had learned about teamwork and focus and respect and the potential disaster that can happen when you lose sight of them. It was hard not to think how we had pulled each other through when it seemed like a world of adults was against us and hated us and wanted us to fail. It was hard not to think about the beauty of dreaming.

  But it was also hard not to think that we would go our separate ways in just a few months. We would, as Coach Dru had told us before the game, follow different paths. In achieving our dream, another dream, maybe one even more powerful, had been lost. The Fab Five? It was history now, already a memory as we stood at mid-court in the Value City Arena and received our trophy and were hailed as national champions. Which is why, in the tears that we shed, it was impossible to know where the joy ended and the sadness began.

  16.

  Fab Five

  In the basement of my home, four frames have been carefully placed on the farthest wall. The three largest ones catch your eye immediately as you walk down the carpeted steps. One frame contains the jersey I wore in my inaugural appearance with the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 29, 2003, after becoming the first overall pick of the NBA draft straight out of St. V. Another frame contains a signed jersey from Kobe Bryant. The third, laid flat in the frame with the same kind of care, is from Michael Jordan, with the same number 23 that I now wear.

  It is the fourth frame that is the most precious to me. It’s much smaller than the other ones. Within it is a collage of pictures, ten of them altogether, most of them showing me in various poses playing basketball at St. V. But the photograph at the lower right has the greatest value. It was taken on St. V’s graduation day in 2003. There are five of us in it, and we are all wearing caps and gowns of a bright green only appropriate for a high school whose nickname is the Fighting Irish.

  I am in the center, with an enormous smile on my face. On one side are Sian and Little Dru. They too are smiling, but in very different ways that seem to reveal their disparate personalities. Sian is laughing, with his cap pulled so far back on his head, it’s poised to fall off at any second. Little Dru, with his head tilted to the side, has a smile that is soft and shy. On the other side are Willie and Romeo. Willie’s smile is a Willie smile, reflective and a little bit inward. Romeo’s grin is big and toothy, a little bit out there, just like Romeo himself.

  I love this picture and always will. It reminds me of what the Fab Five did on the basketball court, playing with a purity and joy that I have yet to find in the NBA, with its travel and trades and players moving in and out. I adore the NBA, relish the challenge of it. But it is a business.

  I love this picture because it reminds me of the personalities that meshed together as we were transformed from boys into men—the chip on the shoulder and the lion’s heart of Little Dru, the take-no-prisoners loyalty of Sian behind the fun-loving and sometimes angry exterior, the mature selflessness of Willie in refusing to simply do what was best for himself, the unpredictable say-anything of Romeo, no matter how much he had grown up.

  What affects me the most is not what the picture says about the past
, but what it says about the future. The Fab Five never did play a game of basketball again together after winning the national championship. But contrary to my fears, we have endured. What we ultimately brought to the city of Akron cannot be diminished, nor can the pride. It is a place that we cherish, and we all still live in its environs.

  We obviously don’t see each other as much as we used to. When we do, there is still the same music of laughter and chatter. We sometimes go on trips together during the summer—Las Vegas one year, Mexico another. Whatever my status in the NBA, they still treat me like their brother.

  We are, as Sian put it, “friends for life.” And what can be more important than that? Nothing that I know of. We remain a family, wherever our paths take us.

  We remain the Fab Five.

  AFTERWORD

  Lee Cotton stopped coaching after St. V won the national championship in 2003. He went on get his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Phoenix in 2007 and subsequently a Master of Business Administration from the same institution.

  Sian Cotton attended Ohio State on a football scholarship. Red- shirted his freshman year, he said he lost his incentive. He began to miss practices. He also stopped going to classes and indulged in excessive partying that he attributed to his own immaturity. He fell out of the coaches’ good graces, and spent little time playing over the next two years. He left the school in the spring of 2006. He now attends Walsh University in Ohio, where he played defensive line on the 2008 team and has a year of eligibility left. Now up to 330 pounds, the Detroit Lions, New York Jets, and St. Louis Rams have worked him out, and he hopes to play in the NFL.

  Keith Dambrot served as an assistant coach at the University of Akron, a Division I school, for three seasons before being named head coach in 2004. In 2006-7 he coached the team to twenty-six wins, tying a school record. In the 2008-9 season he led the University of Akron to a berth in the NCAA playoffs.

  Dru Joyce II was named Coach of the Year by USA Today in 2003 after St. Vincent-St. Mary won the national championship. In 2008-9 he led St. V to its second state championship. During his eight seasons there, he has a record of 158 and 42. His teams have won eight sectional championships, six district championships, and four regional championships. He runs the King James Shooting Stars Classic, one of the largest travel team tournaments in the country. More than 550 teams participated in 2008, bringing in $5.4 million to the Greater Akron area. He also helps run the LeBron James King’s Academy basketball camp.

  Dru Joyce III walked on at the University of Akron and played college basketball there for four seasons. He started ten games at point guard as a freshman in 2003-4 and then was a starter virtually the rest of his career. As a senior in 2007, he set the school’s career record for assists with 503. He also joined the 1,000-point scoring list with 1,046. Now six feet tall, he has played pro basketball in Germany the past two seasons in the Bundesliga basketball league with the team Ratiopharm Ulm. In 2007-8 he finished second in the league in assists and led the league in assists in 2008-9. He also played with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2008 NBA Summer League.

  Illya McGee is now a program manager at Oriana House and was the assistant basketball coach at St. V in 2008-9. Willie and Illya’s mother has been drug free for about twelve years after moving to Akron. Their father, who still lives in Chicago and works at a hotel, has been drug free for close to twelve years as well.

  Willie McGee attended Fairmont State University in West Virginia on a football scholarship. He graduated in May 2008 with a bachelor of science degree in information systems. He originally wanted to attend Howard University on a football scholarship, but no money was available. I offered to pay the first year of his tuition, but Willie typically declined. He was the freshman basketball coach at St. V in 2008-9. He is planning this fall to begin a master’s program at the University of Akron in sports management.

  Romeo Travis played college basketball at the University of Akron for four seasons. He was named Mid-American Conference Player of the Year his senior year in 2006-7, and honorable mention All-American. He was the school’s leading scorer in 2006-7 with an average of 14.9 points per game. He set a career record for blocks, with 165, and is the school’s seventh leading scorer of all time, with 1,491 points. He played pro basketball in Spain in 2007-8 and in the midst of the season moved to the same team as Little Dru in Germany. He played there the entirety of the 2008-9 season, averaging 13 points and 5 rebounds per game. He also played with the Cavaliers in the NBA Summer League in 2007 and 2008.

  “Nobody at nine could have told me I would go to college on a full scholarship,” said Romeo. “Nobody at the age of nine could have told me I was going to be a professional basketball player.

  “The lesson is that no matter how gloomy the start is, it can always get better.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  A book such as Shooting Stars is the product of many people and many voices.

  First and foremost comes my family, Savannah and our children Bryce Maximus and LeBron Jr. Words are insufficient to describe the joy you have given me. I love all of you very much, and I cannot begin to tell you how full you have made my world.

  I would like to thank Sian Cotton; Little Dru Joyce (who isn’t so little anymore); his father, Dru Joyce II; Willie McGee; and Romeo Travis for the countless hours they spent in interviews, phone calls, and e-mails to help reconstruct the story of our fantastic journey together. Coach Dru was particularly generous with his time, and it made a lasting difference.

  I feel a great debt to those who have supported me so much, not simply during the writing of the book but during my life, with their friendship and guidance and love. These include Coach Dru; the other members of the Fab Five; Eddie Jackson; Frankie Walker Jr. and his parents, Frankie Sr. and Pam; Brandon Weems; Brandon’s mother, Brenda, may she rest in peace; and of course my amazing mother, Gloria.

  I would like to give a special thank you to my friend and manager Maverick Carter. Maverick, who also is the chief executive officer of LRMR, the marketing and branding company that handles all my business affairs, played an invaluable role in helping to create the vision for Shooting Stars. He was also inexhaustible in helping cowriter Buzz Bissinger whenever he had a question, of which he had many, or urgently needed a phone number.

  The editor of Shooting Stars, Eamon Dolan, did a masterful job. His thoroughness was remarkable, and if there is anyone in the world of publishing who works harder and sleeps less, I don’t know who it could possibly be. Thanks also to Eamon’s former assistant Laura Stickney, current assistant Nicole Hughes, production editor Noirin Lucas, publicists Sarah Hutson and Caroline Garner, jacket designer Darren Haggar, and interior designer Amanda Dewey. Shooting Stars never would have been possible without the support of Ann Godoff, the president and publisher of Penguin Press. Nobody has a better eye for books than Ann does.

  The work of the one-and-only literary agent Morton Janklow and general counsel Bennett Ashley of Janklow & Nesbit Associates was instrumental. So was agent Eric Simonoff. So were the efforts of my lawyer Matt Johnson and Buzz’s lawyer David Colden.

  Many people agreed to be interviewed, but particular appreciation must go out to Lee and Debra Cotton, Keith Dambrot, La’Kisha Lewis, Dale McGee, Illya McGee, John McGee, Makeba McGee, Harvey Sims, Carolyn Travis, De Shawnda Travis, and Frankie and Pam Walker. At St. V, public relations director Patty Burdon worked tirelessly to supply needed information and compile some of the photographs that you see in the book. I also must thank Barb Wood. Both were at St. V when I was there. Because of them, and many others, the school will always have a special place in my heart. I would be remiss in not singling out Coach Dambrot, who did so much to make me the basketball player that I am today. I even miss his yelling at me.

  I give my gratitude to the makers of the film documentary More Than a Game, which is similar in theme to the book. Director and producer Kris Belman and producer Harvey Mason Jr. supplied Buzz with material such as interview
transcripts and tapes of key games. The rest of the crew, Scott Balcerek, Stephanie DeNatale, Brad Hogan, Richard Kimble, Tom Moser, and Matt Perniciaro, could not have been more accommodating. The same goes for Michele Campbell and Richard Paul of LRMR. And I would be lost without my personal assistant, Randy Mims.

  The work of the Akron Beacon Journal writers who covered St. V when I was there, Tom Gaffney, David Lee Morgan Jr., Terry Pluto, Tom Reed, and Brian Windhorst, was indispensable, especially in helping to reconstruct some of the games that are depicted in the book. These include the game against Central-Hower during the 1999-2000 season, games against Oak Hill and Buchtel during the 2000-2001 season, games against Amityville and George Junior Republic during the 2001-2 season, and the game against Mater Dei during the 2002-3 season. Morgan’s book LeBron James, written in 2003, was a valuable resource, in particular in the recounting of a speech given by Coach Dru before a crucial game. As you can tell from the photographs in Shooting Stars, the marvelous work of Akron Beacon Journal photographer Phil Masturzo helped to forever memorialize the world of St. V basketball that existed back then. Photography editor Kimberly Barth took time out from her busy schedule to help locate pictures for use in the book.

  Finally, I would like to thank Buzz Bissinger for his work and devotion in the creation of Shooting Stars. Since Buzz is only five-six, I had trouble finding him sometimes. And he is one serious dude. But I have never met a writer more professional or dedicated, and at this point in my career I have met many of them.

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  LeBron James plays for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. His superstardom is hard to overstate: at seventeen he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated; at nineteen he became the youngest rookie of the year in NBA history; at twenty-three he was named the third-highest-paid athlete in the world (including endorsements), after Tiger Woods and David Beckham. In 2006-7 he led the Cavaliers to their first NBA finals ever and finished second in voting for the league’s most valuable player. In 2007-8 he became the youngest player in NBA history to score 10,000 points and topped the league in scoring. He was a key member of the U.S. men’s basketball that won a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. The Cavaliers finished the 2008-9 season with the best record in the NBA. They lost the Eastern Conference finals to the Orlando Magic, in which James scored 40 or more points in three of six games. He was also named the league’s most valuable player in a landslide. He is only the third man (and first African American) to be on the cover of Vogue. He has hosted Saturday Night Live, graced Oprah’s stage, and appeared on the cover of Fortune.