Enraged by the $150,000 suspension of the Cavaliers coach, young LeBron James dominated an NBA workout that was deemed “illegal” before the suspension

Up until he joined the Miami Heat in 2010, LeBron James nearly single-handedly led his teams to basketball triumph, essentially remaking the careers of the basketball coaches he played for. Though it wasn’t his fault, James once managed to get a basketball coach suspended. Prior to the 2003 NBA Draft, John Lucas, the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, made the decision to invite LeBron James, then 17 years old, to a workout with professional and collegiate players in order to assess his talent. Lucas was then fined $150,000 by the NBA and suspended for two games the following season for having an underage player workout with him in violation of league regulations.

It is pretty accurate to say that LeBron James has been hailed as the most exciting NBA prospect in league history. James fundamentally altered public perception of high school hoops and demonstrated his ability to positively impact a city’s economy. After taking home the Ohio Mr. Basketball title from The Associated Press as a sophomore in high school, the Akron native gained national attention. But in his junior year of high school, the young prodigy truly started to shine.

Following a “illegal” session in which LeBron James excelled, the Cavaliers coach was suspended.
In his first two years at St. Vincent-St. Mary, LeBron James led his high school to consecutive State Championships, signaling his presence on the national basketball scene. But just before James’s junior year of high school began, the media frenzy surrounding the adolescent sensation peaked when he was hailed as “The Chosen One” in his solo feature on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

A few months later, John Lucas, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ coach at the time, invited James to an optional session at Gund Arena. A 2002 ESPN article on the event states that Lucas’ son and a few other local college players were there at the exercise in addition to several free agents. LeBron ultimately dazzled everyone in attendance with his legendary dunks and on-court heroics. But shortly after, the NBA fined coach Lucas $150,000 and suspended him for two games in protest of the agreement, which was against league policy that forbade NBA pros from interacting with players who were not eligible for the NBA Draft.

The following season, the Cavaliers fired Lucas, which infuriated James. The New York Times Editorial Staff’s public biography of LeBron James states, “Earlier this winter, news reports suggested that James was not thrilled with the Cleveland Cavaliers after they fired Coach John Lucas. In 2002, Lucas volunteered James to participate in a workout with the Cavaliers.

In the midst of uncertainty surrounding the firing of Lucas and the Cavaliers players’ lack of interest in LeBron’s enormous potential, James would be selected by a failing Cleveland team. But the Rookie of the Year for 2004 would eventually transform the team into a postseason contender on his own, even taking them to the NBA Finals in 2007.

The anticipation for James before to his 2003 Draft
Victor Wembanyama, the first pick in the 2023 Draft, caused a media frenzy that made people nostalgic for LeBron James’s high school days. James gained attention during his first year of play after guiding the Fighting Irish to a 27-0 record and the Division III championship.

James’ explosive athleticism on the court was becoming more and more popular, and by his sophomore year, St. Vincent-St. Mary was playing home games at Rhodes Arena, which seats 5,492 people at the University of Akron, to accommodate the growing number of fans. The next few seasons saw a meteoric rise in the popularity of the Akron Hammer.

Indeed, ESPN2 aired the Fighting Irish’s 2002 matchup with Oak Hill Academy live to a nationwide viewership. During James’s final year of high school, Time Warner Cable even offered pay-per-view access to St. Vincent-St. Mary games. Surprisingly, James would surpass the enormous anticipations of his hype from high school and emerge as the best player of his generation.