On This Day in 2003, LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers rookie, LeBron James made his NBA debut against the Sacramento Kings.
James, 18-years-old at the time, poured in 25 points, hauled in 6 rebounds and handed out 9 assists.
The Cavs did lose the game to the Kings 106-92, but James, that season’s Rookie of the Year had an impact on the league and his teammates.
“LeBron was amazing,” Darius Miles, James’ former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate tells Scoop B Radio.
“Just to see LeBron and his maturity, the people he has around him, his family, his friends, the way [he] carried [himself] man, it was a blessing to play with him.”
Added Miles: “I felt like if we would’ve stayed together as a core– I felt like we were a problem. I felt like we were a problem from the get go, because it was like, ‘man, who are y’all going to go at? We can switch everything, we’ve got me, LeBron, and Ricky Davis out there as the guards. I felt like we were a problem for the Clippers, coming in with our youth and our running. And I felt like we would’ve been a problem, too, for them.
Those early Cavs years were fun for everyone by all of D-Miles’ accounts. But Miles believes that that Cavs team was young, but former head coach, Paul Silas was stoic in his approach. “I think Paul Silas– I love him as a man, I love him as a coach, I love his son and his family– he was just a little old school for what we had,” said Miles.
“You know, we had LeBron who was 18, I was 20-21, Ricky Davis was in his early twenties, you had Carlos Boozer who just came from Duke, you had Dajuan Wagner DeSagana Diop. We were a young team but with an old-school-type play. We had somebody that wanted to run and a coach that wanted to run and do some stuff that probably would’ve been a problem, because I played point guard that year. I hated it. I didn’t hate it– I wanted LeBron to play point guard because I felt LeBron was more of a facilitator, I’m more of a slasher-type. I’ve got to go do what I do, and I feel LeBron knows how to slow it down, get people involved, and do all that and I don’t think that was my game.”
