With Paolo Banchero becoming the first #1 pick to outscore LeBron James’ debut tally, a look back into the past seems necessary.
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29.10.2003 was a red circle day for all of basketball. For, it was on this day that the “Chosen One” would step foot on competitive NBA action for the first time.
LeBron James arguably was the single most hyped draft pick in the last quarter of a decade at least. The teenage phenom had attained superstar status prior to his debut and had the entire NBA community drooling.
A lot of talk around Paolo Banchero‘s stellar debut and the prospect of seeing Victor Wembanyama seems to have taken the shine away from LeBron’s debut and the significance it held, for younger NBA fans.
Fear not, we are here to serve as a reminder to one and all.
How impressive was LeBron James’ NBA debut?
First things first, to understand how exciting a talent LeBron was, the draft day archives have to be taken out. According to draft profiles aggregator “NBADraft.net”, James’ closest comparison was Magic Johnson.
And it wasn’t even a statement that projected LeBron to be the next Magic Johnson. The draft profile read: “A player with his combination of size, and point guard skills is very rare. The only player to have this in the past was Magic Johnson.”
You see where we are going with this. Before he was drafted, King James was touted to have better court vision than arguably the entire NBA.
Naturally, there was unprecedented hype surrounding his debut. The Cavaliers were a really bad outfit at the time of LeBron’s debut. Naturally, no one expected the team to be competitive immediately, but the NBA’s new poster child’s debut was a national phenomenon.
And “The Chosen One” did not disappoint one bit. 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 9 assists on debut meant that James almost achieved the legendary “LeBron” stat line of 27-7-7 on his DEBUT.
Despite a loss, some tough jump shots and carefully threaded dimes from the debutant stole the show. On that day, a lot of doubters were silenced. The kid from Akron was as NBA-ready as advertised.
How did LeBron and the Cavaliers fare in LeBron’s debut season?
After that promising debut, the pressure arguably rose on young LeBron. James was already dubbed as the savior of a franchise before he had even turned 20.
However, that didn’t seem to faze the young forward. The Cavs led by their young phenom increased their wins tally by 18 from the previous season and finished with a 35-47 record.
Any improvement started and ended with LeBron James, who was absolutely incredible as a rookie, averaging 20-5-5 for the season. It was only the third time in NBA history that a rookie had posted a similar stat line for the season.
The new face of the NBA had made his intentions clear. The King had arrived, and it doesn’t seem like his reign will be usurped anytime soon.
Also read: How Long Has LeBron James Been in the NBA? Charting the 4-Time MVPs Career Path
