NBA Newcomers ‘Barging Right In’

By: Eddie Sefko
Posted In: Sports

DALLAS- There’s a herd of new thoroughbreds in the NBA.

And the lead horse resides in Cleveland.

LeBron James, the kid who would be king, brings the Cleveland Cavaliers for their annual visit. Though James was a hot ticket as a rookie last season, nothing compares to the mania that has followed him in his second year.

“LeBron has confirmed for me a lot of the things,” says San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich. “He’s got everything, the whole package. And he is very coachable, listens well and can handle criticism.

“On top of that, he’s got that desire, that grit, where he wants to put his foot on somebody’s neck. I mean, the guy has really met ridiculous expectations, and he’s going to keep getting better.”

Statistically, it can’t get much better for James. He’s averaging 26.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.4 assists. He’s bidding to join Michael Jordan and Larry Bird as the only players since 1980 who have averaged at least 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for a season.

And he seems perfectly suited as the anchor of an outrageously gifted group of new NBA stars. You look at James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony and you see a group that is willing and able to ascend to NBA royalty.

And their message to Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady is that they should not get too comfortable on their respective thrones. There are fresher princes waiting for their spot.

“They’re barging right in,” Duncan says. “And they’re more than welcome. Those guys are some incredible talents. And there’s no way to hold them back.”

But are they really that good?

“They are that good, yes.”

Youngest to put up 50

James proved that last week when he unloaded a 56-point game from his big bag of skills. At 20, he’s the youngest to crack 50 points in league history. He’s also the poster child for opponents of the NBA’s efforts to put an age limit on players coming into the league. If such limits were in place, James would be in college this season.

Clearly, that would have been a waste of time for him. And, for the most part, the incredibly bright spotlight in which James constantly stands has not changed him much.

“I’ve pretty much got my life under control,” he says. “Nobody eased me into this league. I did it myself. I didn’t have anybody to baby me.”

The most impressive thing about James is his 6-8, 240-pound body. He came out of high school with such a chiseled physique that Mavericks physician Dr. T.O. Souryal came back from the Chicago predraft camp in 2003 knowing what everybody else would soon find out.

“LeBron was the real deal, physically,” Souryal said at the time.

He is not necessarily the exception anymore, either. When he came out of high school, the 6-10 Stoudemire had a body that belied his age. He was as manly as it gets. His immaturity was a dead giveaway for his age, but in three seasons he’s become an All-Star and a dominant force.

Stoudemire sees nothing but great things for the young guns who are blazing through this season. He even believes this group could be the best ever.

“That’s a tough statement,” Stoudemire says. “But we have the potential to be way up there.”

Many of them already have reached that level. And they are doing so “the right way,” as NBA lifers like to say.

“These guys are superstar-hero types for NBA fans and families,” Popovich says. “They are doing it the right way in the sense that it’s not about being MTV guys. They care about whether their teams win or lose. They respect their teammates. They respect the game.

“A few years ago, there wasn’t that great a number of those young guys, and now there’s a load of them.