The Sacramento Kings have honored LeBron James ahead of the franchise hosting the Lakers in an early-season matchup. The Kings prepared various gifts for LeBron as James completed 20 years in the NBA, making his NBA debut against Sacramento in 2003.
The Kings gifted LeBron with a bottle of wine, a pair of Nike’s, and a framed photo of James dunking in his first-ever NBA game.
Set up beside LeBron James’ locker in Sacramento. A little gift for the 20th anniversary. pic.twitter.com/9wxxb7M5fX
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 30, 2023
LeBron made his NBA debut on October 29, 2003, suiting up for his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers who drafted him with the No. 1 overall pick in the ’03 NBA Draft. He faced off against the Sacramento Kings back when they were still one of the premier teams in the West.
James ended his debut with an impressive statline of 25 points, nine assists, six rebounds, and four steals. If people didn’t believe in the LeBron hype over the summer of 2003 after he was drafted, they definitely did after his debut. He’s gone on to have one of the greatest careers in the history of the sport, punctuating his success by becoming the league’s all-time leading scorer last season.
LeBron James Reflects On His First-Ever NBA Points
James scored early in his NBA debut against the Kings and decided to recap how the play went to the Lakers’ social media team.
“Coming off a floppy action. Our coach at the time, Paul Silas, we used to run floppy and that’s like one of the most basic foundation plays. It’s two guards starting underneath, you got the two bigs on the block and you decide which side you want to come off of. So I was able to come off a pin down from our big. So I faded to the corner, took one bounce, and was able to just shoot over the top. I was nervous as hell, I’m not even going to hold y’all. It was my first game in the NBA, something I always dreamed about.”
LeBron’s rookie season wasn’t perfect, but he instantly showed the NBA that he was as legitimate a prospect as we had seen, averaging 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game as a 19-year-old teenager. This is the only season of his career he didn’t make All-Star or All-NBA, with many expecting him to hit No. 20 on all-time appearances for both teams by the end of the season.
New Prospects Not Living Up To The LeBron James Hype
Since LeBron entered the NBA, we’ve seen ‘the next LeBron’ come through in many drafts. Who can forget when Andrew Wiggins was expected to replicate the things James achieved in the NBA? Even greater hype has been put on Victor Wembanyama, who many have called the greatest prospect in NBA history even ahead of LeBron, a notion that Darvin Ham doesn’t agree with.
“He’s close but we’re just at the outset. The young fella is really, really impressive from what I’ve seen so far. For the most part though, he has a long way to go. He definitely has the potential but when you talk about durability, the self-care, the work that’s put in… he has the potential but time will tell.”
Wembanyama is sensational and will likely be the closest thing we’ve seen to a rookie having a LeBron-esque impact in the NBA. But doing what James has done is no small feat, even for the gigantic French center.
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