Lebron James:Rise of a Star (pg 117-150)

Summary-

Senior year was different from all the other years. The coach scheduled more and more distant away games. He wanted them to face the toughest high school teams in the country. Their tour consisted of traveling to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, New Jersey, and North Carolina. Many people didn't agree with the schedule and the commissioner of the Ohio High School Athletic Association thought Coach was trying to exploit his players. They got the same treatment as a NBA team would have. They got to stay in the top hotels and got to ride in limousines. The Irish basketball team was ranked No. 1 out of all the high schools. Lebron James brought all of the media attention to them. Everywhere they went they got booed by the fans but he players didnt care they were having fun. Lebron loved his fans. One time a boy from Spain sent him a letter and a t-shirt for Lebron to sign. Lebron had alot of press conferences. He gained a lot of hype during his high school career. Many sneaker companies wanted Lebron to endorse their products. Adidas and Nike were the ones to make an offer to Lebron and he turned down Adidas' offer. He signed with Nike and the deal was multi-million dollar deal.

Quotation-
His teammate says "Lebron didn't seem to pay much attention to the criticism of the school, but critcism of Gloria was hard to overlook." (Lee 118)

Reaction-
This quote shows the Lebron only focused on the positives and didn't let the negative thoughts take over his mind. Many people were critisizing Gloria James. That was something that made him upset. The criticism about him and his school he coould take but not about his mother. James led his team to a division title but they didnt win the State Championship. They were upset but they were happy about the progress they made that year. The media surrounded Lebron and many companies made offers to him. He didnt want all the fame to go to his head. He made alot of money through the endorsements.