Former basketball player turned trainer Tyler Relph, known to have worked with multiple NBA stars including Derrick Rose and Marcus Smart, recently appeared on the Tidal League podcast. Speaking mainly about his time at the Five-Star Basketball Camp, when he used to play for West Virginia University, Relph talked in detail about facing a 15-year-old LeBron James.
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James, who had been widely touted as the heir to Michael Jordan right from his time at St. Vincent–St. Mary, provided Relph with a brutal reality check during their meeting at the basketball camp mentioned before. Relph talked about how in addition to James, he also saw the likes of Chris Paul and Mike Jones in action during the camp. However, such was James’ enigma that he stood out by a country mile even in such elite company.
“With LeBron, like you see him as a sophomore and you are like, ‘Why is he built like that!’, right? But you are cocky at the same time. You are like, come on man, until you (realize)” Relph said, before talking about how former Five-Star Basketball Camp coach Howard Garfinkel already thought James was going to be the best player in the world.
Asked about whether he had an eye-opening moment at the camp, considering the level of players he faced, Relph once again named James. He talked in particular about a blocked shot, which made him realize exactly why James was being praised as much as he was.
“LeBron. As soon as he punched my shot over two courts I was like, ‘What is this?’ You know coz back in five star, all the coaches were there, you know…I was good back then too…He threw it over three courts I said ‘Oh man, this is what they do?’ You know what I mean?” Relph recalled.
“LeBron obviously was different but I will never forget that moment when he punched it. Like volleyballed it,” he added, expressing the surprise that he felt all those years ago.
While Relph was initially confident about facing anybody, a simple blocked shot made him realize exactly why LeBron was the ‘Chosen One’ to become the best in the world despite only being 15. As a 5ft 10″ Sophomore, Relph was pretty confident about his basketball abilities. But after LeBron James swatted his shot to over a distance that could cover three full courts, the then aspiring hooper realized that he is facing somebody on a completely different level.
LeBron James was hyped right from high school
While James has in the last two decades more than staked his claim to GOAT status, he has only lived up to the expectations that were always placed on him. James was not only a five-star recruit but also led his team to the Division II championship in 2002, before being selected as the MVP of the 2003 McDonald’s All-American game.
James was largely considered to be Michael Jordan’s heir and ended up joining the NBA via the 2003 NBA draft. While the option was there to join a University, LeBron was good enough to make it to the NBA straight from high school, as Relph found out firsthand.
