With his NBA debut last night, 18-year-old Cooper Flagg became the youngest player to play in the league since LeBron James’ rookie season in 2003. Flagg is also the most heralded prospect to come along since James, but he had a tough time in his first game, finishing the 125-92 loss to the Spurs with 10 points and 10 rebounds after a scoreless first half.
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LeBron also lost his first game way back when, though he acquitted himself better with a stat line of 25 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals. Still, Flagg will more than likely be just fine, as there was nobody on his team that could stop the Victor Wembanyama show last night. He’s been pegged as a future All-Star, and while that probably won’t happen right away, Mavs fans should still be thrilled to witness his development.
LeBron didn’t make the All-Star team as a rookie, but he did win Rookie of the Year against a loaded class that included Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony. After his rookie season though, he’s made 21 consecutive All-Star Games, an NBA record that could be in jeopardy if he misses an extended stretch to start this season.
Paul Pierce was one of LeBron’s chief rivals during his playing days, as his Celtics would often clash with LeBron’s Cavs and later his Heat in the playoffs. On a recent appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast, Pierce said that the hype for a young LeBron was so massive that some suggested he could fit right in at the All-Star Game when he was still a 17-year-old senior in high school.
“I feel like LeBron been the face of the league since his second or third year,” Pierce said. “We was calling him “the King” from Day 1. I heard about him in high school. NBA cats was flying to his games.”
“I was in the All-Star Game in Philadelphia, I’ll never forget this. We were in the locker room ’cause we all congregate, both teams, East and West. They were like, ‘There’s a kid right now that could play in the All-Star Game today,’ and I was like, ‘Whaaaat?’ They was saying that in an NBA All-Star locker room while this kid was in high school. That’s when I heard about him,” he added.
LeBron has obviously lived up to the immense hype surrounding him, a fact which Pierce admires because he said that no player has ever been criticized as much. “The pressure that was on him … Under these conditions, with the social media, and to be able to live up to it. You look at all the great athletes all through time,” asserted the former NBA champion.
Pierce and LeBron had many memorable 1-on-1 battles on the court, but even though they were always fierce competitors, Pierce doesn’t want anybody to use that to fuel a narrative that they don’t get along. “People will say I don’t like LeBron. That’s not true, I have much respect for LeBron,” he said. “LeBron is the reason I am who I am. I became a better player playing against him,” he admitted.
In the end, Pierce gave LeBron his flowers, saying there is nobody in the history of the game that’s been as hyped and has managed to live up to it. Pierce is also in awe of how LeBron has carried the weight of his own legend on his shoulders, be it politically, athletically, all while constantly living under a microscope. “Like, he has no blemishes,” Pierce concluded.
He then compared LeBron to some of the other greatest athletes across all sports, pointing out run-ins with the law, scandals and other problems that they faced. LeBron has stayed out of trouble while being married to his high school sweetheart and raising three kids, an accomplishment as impressive as anything he’s done on the court.
