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Editor's note: This is the second of a three-part series that provides a snapshot of the professional lives of three important NBA figures -- Isiah Thomas, LeBron James and Mark Cuban. All three men are vital to the sport for different reasons:
• Part I: If Thomas cannot restore the Knicks to prominence, the NBA will continue to have one of its flagship franchises flounder.
• Part III: Then there is Cuban, a man of ideas, unafraid to share them, whether the league's top brass wants to hear them or not.
In Part 2, James. Popular, handsome and immensely talented, James is at the fore of the next crop of great young talent. His squeaky-clean persona is sorely needed. The sport is suffering from an image crisis not seen since the 1970s, when pro basketball was overrun by drugs and scandal. Now the NBA has seen its fair share of brawls and off-court incidents which have combined to injure its popularity.
James is seen as an antidote. Can James himself resist and avoid the traps that have enveloped other superstars like Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony?
The time with James begins in the bowels of Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena in a city where he is quickly becoming an icon.
CLEVELAND -- So you wait. Then you wait some more. You wait for LeBron James.
His pregame news conference on this chilly winter day is supposed to begin any minute now. But as is often the case, James is late.
The team's public relations person scurries about looking for James. Can't find him. Some of the local media shrug their shoulders nonchalantly. No biggie. They're used to James moving about his own orbit, at his own pace. LeBron does what LeBron does.
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| If you want to interview the Cavs' dapper star, you might have to wait. (Getty Images) |
Indeed, if a list is composed of the gentlemen in all of sports, James' name would be near the top. It is likely he will never be caught sucker-punching an opponent or sweet-talking a hooker, or be booked for driving with a fistful of Bud Light.
"I always try to conduct myself professionally," said James in a brief moment away from a group of Cleveland media. "I grew up watching, as I said before, guys like Grant Hill, who were great role models.
"I respect the game of basketball," he says. "There are a lot of players in this league who are true professionals. We're not all bad guys as some people try to portray us. I think that just by being a professional, that is how you lead and lead by example."
Said Cavaliers teammate Donyell Marshall: "I don't think I have ever seen such a young guy handle so much pressure so well. He could be arrogant or cocky. There are stars in this league who get lazy, but he works as hard as anybody I have ever been around."