AP Photo/Mark Duncan
Cleveland Cavaliers
rookie LeBron James looks up at the scoreboard late in
Cleveland's pre-season loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct.
13.
AP
A group of children
sport LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers jerseys during a
pre-season game against the Milwaukee Bucks Oct. 13 in
Cleveland.
Advice for
rookie superstar LeBron James
LeBron
James will be getting plenty of advice this season. Here's
a few pointers from athletes and psychologists:
"You
became a star by becoming a good basketball player. Don't
forget that. Focus on your craft."
--
Austin Carr
former
Cavaliers star
"He
needs to do his basketball work, learn, stay focused on
the game. His off-duty time he needs to keep a low
profile. It's enormously difficult; there are many
celebrities that run into this same problem. They manage
to keep a low profile."
--
Dr. Steve Edwards
psychologist
"If
you go by the philosophy that nothing good happens after
midnight, you can make things as easy as you want or as
hard as you want.
"The
easiest thing in the world is to go home after a game, go
into your apartment and shut the door behind you. The
problems come when you put yourself in a position where
trouble is able to find you."
--
Jody Gerut
Cleveland
Indians rookie outfielder
"Just
for him to be LeBron. I don't expect him to do anything
else but be himself. Go out there and play the game."
--
Carlos Boozer
Cavaliers
forward
"He's
an 18-year-old kid going against grown men. They're going
to bang him around a little bit. But it's going to work
out for him. He just has to be patient and let it
happen."
--
Tim Couch
Cleveland
Browns
quarterback
"LeBron
James chose this. He has to understand that this was his
choice. He has to remember when he gets there and starts
to get down that he chose this."
--
Dr. Richard Lustberg
psychologist
"He's
only 18 years old. He's going to be in the league for at
least 15 more years. It's not necessary for him to come in
and be an All-Star right away."
--
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Cavaliers
center
By
The Associated Press
|
Austin Carr remembers being overwhelmed with
attention his rookie year with pro basketball's Cleveland Cavaliers.
Everywhere he went there was someone who
recognized the team's No. 1 overall pick of 1971. Carr knows that
the problem is magnified for LeBron James.
"It's kind of difficult to compare
because the hype is so much more than when I came out of
college," Carr said.
The pressure on James is unprecedented for an
18-year-old athlete. A $90 million Nike contract and other
endorsement deals are riding on every pass and shot, and James faces
the expectation that he's the heir to Michael Jordan.
Although James has gone straight from high
school to his first season with the Cavaliers, he doesn't seem
fazed.
"There's no pressure for me," James
said after his first professional practice. "I feel like if I
keep doing the things that I've been doing, everything will take
care of itself."
Dr. Sally A. White, a psychologist and former
consultant for the U.S. Olympic Committee, said no one with the
amount of pressure James is facing can expect to remain completely
composed at all times.
"In this particular situation, with the
media hyping him up as the next Michael Jordan, the athlete's
expectations have gone through the roof," said White, dean of
the college of education at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.
"You're talking about this concept that is incredibly difficult
to manage for even your most mature, experienced athlete."
White said it's essential that the Cavaliers
put a support system in place to help James, a two-time consensus
national player of the year.
Cavaliers general manager Jim Paxson said the
team has a player development group led by Dr. Charles Maher, the
team's psychologist, who will meet regularly with James and other
players.
Maher, who has served for 20 years as mental
coach to professional baseball, football and basketball athletes,
said he could not discuss how he will counsel James and the other
young Cavaliers.
Off the court, James will be faced with
hangers-on and people in every NBA city wanting his time.
"We don't have to look any farther than
Kobe Bryant to see the pitfalls of that lifestyle," said
psychologist Dr. Steve Edwards, referring to the sexual assault case
against the Los Angeles Lakers star.
Carr, who cried when the Cavaliers won the
right to select James, led Cleveland to the playoffs three times and
averaged 16.2 points a game in his nine years with the team.
Much like James, Carr joined Cleveland after
a dismal 15-67 season, the Cavaliers' first in the league. Soon
after he was drafted he heard people referring to the team as
"Austin Carr and the Cavaliers."
"It made me realize something, people
are expecting me to perform at a high level every night," Carr
said.
James seems to understand that.
"During high school, sometimes you can
just relax, but in the NBA you have to play every second like it's
your last," he said. "That's the most key thing I have
learned so far."
James said he feels physically ready to play,
but Cavaliers coach Paul Silas knows how long and grueling the
season can be.
"I think that at some point in time,
like all rookies, he's going to hit a wall and he's going to wonder
why he's so tired," Silas said. "It comes with the
territory. It's a natural thing."
But if James is truly destined to dominate
the NBA like Jordan did, the pressure might only make him better.
"Most elite level athletes, not only do
they not shun that responsibility, they look forward to it,"
said Edwards, who works with athletes at Oklahoma State.
"That's one of the things that motivates them. Those challenges
aren't particularly a bad thing."
Originally published Sunday, October 26, 2003
