Victor Wembanyama’s hype has reminded NBA fans about the chatter that surrounded LeBron James in 2003. An 18-year-old coming straight out of high school, James was regarded as the best Draft prospect ever before getting picked #1 by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Among many attributes, James’ athleticism and leaping ability were highly raved about. In fact, former Cavs star Carlos Boozer drew similarities between a teenage LeBron James’ bounce to the likes of Michael Jordan and Julius Erving.
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Michael Jordan and Julius Erving are two of the most athletic players in NBA history. Despite facing competition much taller than them, both the superstars dominated the paint back in the day. Over the span of numerous years, several players have been unfortunate enough to get posterized by Jordan and Erving. Till today, they remain to be two of the most creative and emphatic dunkers in NBA history.
Merely after one practice session, Carlos Boozer ended up comparing an 18-year-old LBJ to these two legends.
Carlos Boozer joined the LeBron James hype train
Carlos Boozer wasn’t a huge fan of the fact that an 18-year-old was being dubbed the best player on the Cavaliers squad without even playing a single minute in the NBA. However, the $60,000,000 worth star’s opinion would quickly change after a practice session with Bron.
During a podcast appearance on DaWindyCityFS, the former Duke Blue Devil narrated a tale from LeBron’s initial scrimmage during the Cavaliers camp. Apparently, James jumped over Milt Palacio during the practice stint, leaving everyone impressed. From that point onwards, it was clear that the teenager was the best player on the roster. Take a look at Boozer’s conversation in Coach James’ tweet.
“We get him (LeBron James) on campus to get him to practice. He got the ball, he drives down to the baseline, he jumps over Milt Palacio. Like leaped over him, spread his legs, laid the ball in and I had never seen that before in person.
I heard stories about MJ, I heard stories about Dr. J. But I’m witnessing an 18-year-old kid jump over a 6’5 Point Guard and lay the ball in and he took off from outside the paint… Right away we knew that he was our best player… He made the game so much easier and so much fun to play with.”
“I heard stories about MJ & Dr. J, but I’m witnessing an 18 yr old kid jump over a 6’5 point guard & lay the 🏀 in & he took off from outside the paint…right away we knew he was our best player.”
– Carlos Boozer’s favorite story about Rookie LeBron.
🎥 @DaWindyCityFS pic.twitter.com/VR0duzrL3z
— Coach James 🇭🇹 (@JamesEdrick3) July 5, 2023
The rookie would go on to lead the Ohio side to their best campaign in over six years.
Cleveland players didn’t initially buy the hype surrounding LeBron
After all the hype, the Cleveland Cavaliers front office decided to draft Bron with their #1 pick. A prospect like never before, James was expected to turn the franchise back to their glory days. However, the players on the Cavs’ roster didn’t believe that a young James could be as impactful.
Carlos Boozer, who later did rave about the youngster, initially stated that there were better Small Forwards than Bron in the team.
“We have better players than him in his position already on our team though,” Boozer said, in an interview at the time.
Smush Parker and Darius Miles believed that asking an 18-year-old to lead the franchise was a bit far-fetched.
“I don’t really think you can bring in a high school player in and really think your team will turn around like that.”
Little did they know that this kid would go on to win the franchise its first-ever Championship and be widely accepted as the GOAT.
