April 2003 Basketball Wiretap

James cleared in state SUV inquiry

Jan 27, 2003 1:55 PM

According to the Ohio High School Athletic Association, Lebron James did not violate his amateur status when his mother bought him a Hummer H2 vehicle for his birthday. The Associated Press reports that the OHSAA has cleared James of any wrongdoing.

OHSAA commissioner Clair Muscaro spent the past two weeks gathering information and documentation to determine how James got the vehicle, which has a base retail price of $50,000. Muscaro says James has not violated any amateur athletic bylaws "as they are currently written".

James? mother Gloria claims she obtained a bank loan to purchase the SUV and provided the financial paperwork to the OHSAA. "In working with the attorney for the James family and the OHSAA attorney, I was shown official business records from the bank and the dealership which established that the financing and acquisition of the vehicle were procured by the student-athlete's mother alone," Muscaro said in a statement. "Accordingly, this type of transaction is not a violation of the OHSAA bylaws on amateurism."

Tags: NBA, NBA NBA Draft

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Further Evidence of America's Misplaced Priorities

Jan 24, 2003 2:26 PM

Drew Litton of the Rocky Mountain News makes a good point w/ a cartoon about a recent High School phenom.

Yep, you guessed it Lebron James.

Tags: Denver Nuggets, NBA, NBA NBA Draft

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Lebron Will Never Play for the Cavs

Jan 23, 2003 12:54 PM

According to ESPN, the Cleveland Cavaliers might have opened up a bigger can of worms after the firing of head coach John Lucas.

Monday's move might have damaged relations with high school phenom LeBron James, the 6-8 senior from St. Vincent-St. Mary who is the projected No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.

Citing a source close to the SVSM team, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Thursday that the firing did not go over well with James.

"I tell you what, LeBron will never play for the Cavs after this," the source told the newspaper. "LeBron really likes coach Lucas. He was mad when he heard about it."

James and Lucas' connection goes back to last summer, when James attended a private workout with some of the Cavaliers. The NBA suspended Lucas for two games at this season's start and fined the team $150,000 for a violation of league rules.

Lucas apparently also heard about James' reported feelings about his dismissal.

"I appreciate what LeBron said, but now I want my money back," Lucas told the newspaper, laughing.

James has no control over which team drafts him in June, but if he did not want to play for that team, he has some choices.

A team that drafts a player in the first round owns that player's rights until next year's draft if the team makes the player an offer by July 15. If the player does not sign, he can re-enter the draft and can be selected by any team. James could sit out a year, or according to the report, use the "threat" of not playing as trade leverage.

"Kobe [Bryant] and a lot of other guys have had a say about which franchises they wanted to play for, and this might make LeBron cross the Cavs off his list," the source told the Plain Dealer.

Tags: Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA, NBA NBA Draft

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