LeBron James: Evolution of NBA Superstar from High School Prodigy

In the summer of 2003, James put in extra work before his rookie season. At just 18 years old, he has long been considered basketball’s next great hope.

He was the cover star of the prestigious Sports Illustrated magazine while still in high school. He was predicted for years to be the number one pick in the 2003 NBA draft – and he most certainly was. Drafted by his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, rarely has the teenager had such high expectations in his professional debut.

During that summer, James traveled to the Cavaliers practice facility – a 40-minute drive from where he grew up in Akron, Ohio – for an intense one-on-one workout with Bob Donwald Jr., one of the team’s assistant coaches.

After one session, the coach and superstar-in-waiting chatted during a cool-down routine. “I wasn’t great today,” James said. “It wasn’t a great workout.”

“You’ve been good. It’s been a long week,” replied Donwald, who pushed the teenager hard through back-to-back days of hard work in preparation for an 82-game season. “LeBron, I just want you to be great. That’s why I’m pushing you.”

“I’m great,” James replied, his expression straight and serious. “If you want me to be the greatest ever, I’m with it.”

No one was more aware of the future that was written for him than James himself. No one better appreciated the effort required to fulfill that promise.

“Every cut, every shot, every move he made — you’d think it was a Game 7 final, the intensity he went through,” Donnewald recalled of those early one-on-one sessions. “I try to break this kid in practice just to teach him a lesson, and he brings it and brings it.”

“Everybody was tough on him, too — the players, head coach Paul Silas. They were friendly, but they didn’t want to hand it to this kid, and he didn’t want it handed to him.”

James also understood that the highest echelons of superstardom are only reached when one embraces the luxury of elite sport; to create your own myth before selling it to the world.