Zakariyah’s Weblog

Lebron James

GROWING UP

Lebron James was born on December 30, 1984, in Akron, Ohio. His mother, Gloria James, was only 16 at the time. His biological father, Anthony McClelland, was an ex-con uninterested in being a parent. Gloria raised Lebron on her own, and to this day he goes by her last name.

Life was often a struggle for Lebron and his mother. Gloria battled personal problems during much of his childhood. Some of those were brought on by the death of her mother, who passed away when Lebron was an infant. Bouncing between retail and accounting jobs, Gloria was never able to land steady work, and she and Lebron moved from apartment to apartment. The pair got to know all the seedier neighborhoods of Akron, a city of more than 200,000 located less than a hour south of Cleveland.

Despite her failings, Gloria worked hard to be a loving mother and shield Lebron from the poverty and violence of the streets. This was no easy chore, and at times made her choice of boyfriends seem puzzling. When Lebron was two, she started dating Eddie Jackson. In and out of trouble with the law, he went to prison in 1990 for aggravated cocaine trafficking. (In 2002, he pled guilty to mortgage fraud and mail fraud.) Nevertheless Lebron formed a bond with Jackson, and Gloria liked having a man around who was willing to serve as a father figure. Her brothers, Terry and Curt, also helped out.

From an early age, Lebron showed tremendous instincts for basketball. Gloria gave him a miniature hoop and ball when he was an infant and he amused himself for hours each day with the toys. Lebron also had the genes necessary to spawn a long-limbed basketball phenom. Though Gloria stands only 5-5, she has relatives who are much taller.

ON THE RISE

It didn’t take long for Lebron and his crew to gain recognition around Akron. They learned the fundamentals of basketball from Drambot and developed tremendous chemistry with one another. Literally and figuratively, Lebron was head-and-shoulders above his friends. By the eighth grade he was six feet tall, could play all five positions and had a sixth sense for the game.

Calling themselves the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars, Lebron and his pals—coached by Joyce’s father—made a splash on the national scene in 1997 by qualifying for the Under/6th Grade AAU National Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah. Two years later they went all the way to the AAU Under/8th Grade final, in Orlando, Florida. The Shooting Stars won their first five games to set up a showdown with the Southern California All-Stars. They lost a heartbreaker, 68-66, but Lebron was the big story with his sparkling play.

By then Lebron, Joyce, Cotton and McGee—the self-proclaimed “Fab Four”—had arrived at a decision. They were a package deal, and pledged to continue their hoops careers together. The foursome settled on Saint Vincent-Saint Mary High School, a parochial school in downtown Akron. Best known for its tradition of academic excellence, SVSM was about to establish a new legacy, with Lebron leading the way.

MAKING HIS MARK

Lebron began the summer after his sophomore year in Colorado Springs at the USA Basketball Development Festival. The first underclassman ever invited to the camp, he broke the festival scoring record with 120 points in five games and was named MVP.

At his next stop, adidas’s ABCD Camp at Fairleigh-Dickinson University in New Jersey, Lebron officially arrived on the national scene. Going into the week, the player attracting the most attention was Lenny Cooke, a 6-8 forward from New York.

Cooke, who was planning to enter the NBA draft, was completely overshadowed by Lebron, who took control of the camp. With a camera crew from ESPN’s “The Life” following his every move and college and pro scouts looking on, he flashed his full offensive arsenal and played suffocating defense. But what blew away everyone were Lebron’s passing skills. Up until this point, most had labeled him the next Jordan. Now comparisons to Magic Johnson started.

LEBRON THE PLAYER

Lebron’s quickness and strength are off the charts, his court vision and ball handling skills are highly developed, and his rebounding and defense are improving with each season. Lebron’s passing ability is nothing short of extraordinary. He not only sees the whole court, but anticipates the movement of team-mates and defenders. Lebron knows he will be double-teamed whenever he egts the ball, so the first thing he does is look to see where the help is coming from—then thinking one or even two passes ahead before the second man arrives. Not surprisingly, he is considered to be one of the NBA’s best passers.

Lebron’s willingness to share the ball and get others involved is one of the things coaches love about him. His unselfishness underscores his innate understanding of basketball and how fully he embraces the fundamentals. Of course, when it is time to take charge and make a momentum-changing statement—or score a key bucket—he is almost impossible to stop.

All of the things he has accomplished is why he is my favorite basketball player.

Well I have always wanted to have my own basketball video so when I came to england my dad promised to make me one. Not just of me but of me and my brother playing a one on one basketball match. It all started when my dad asked me and my brother who was the best between the two of us. We both disagreed in which who was the best at basketball. So to settle it my dad filmed us at Round Wood park at the basketball courts. But first we had to buy some basketball shoes and shorts so that it would be a proper game and we can play to the best of our abilities but because my bro shalmuwn was not as good as me so I took it easy on him. But still he got lucky and beat me by a couple of points, he however cheated. He broke so many rules but I didn’t say anything I didn’t want to break his spirit. So every time he tried to score I would just let him go by me and make the basket. Before we played we practice a little and then we started. When we started I played ruff but as the game went on I eased up so he could have his time to shine. While the game was going my little cousin kept on saying that he was cheating but I told him that it didn’t matter and after he won we went home and live happily ever after.

Zakariyah Hall

August 11, 2008

One of the reasons I think you should play basketball is because it is a fun sport and it is quite easy to play. While playing basketball your main objective is to score and get the most points. When you play this game it is really exciting and it gives you a feeling that your young and in shape because it gives exercise to your body. The reason I play it is because it keeps me fit and I know if you play it will keep you in shape also.

Another reason I think you should try this sport is because it shows you many things such as cooperation. The reason it shows you cooperation is because in this game you have to pass the ball around and cooperate with your team mates. If you don’t pass the ball then your team will lose because they don’t trust each other. So it teaches you to share which I think is a good value for one person to have.

The next important reason I think you should try it is so you can learn team work. Trust me if you don’t have team work your team will never win. In order to win teamwork has to be apart of the team you must pass, listen to your players and do not hog the ball and try to look like a star because that doesn’t show teamwork at all.

Zakariyah Hall

August 12, 2007

The first thing I’m going to say about this sport is that it is fun and easy to play. Every game has an objective and this one is to get the ball in to the touch down without letting the ball touch the ground. If the ball touches the ground then it is considered dead which means you have to get up and start from where you fell. In football there are four downs that mean you have four chances to get the ball to the touchdown.

Also if you carry the ball to a certain distance you get more time to score. Which is a good thing and for each touchdown you get 6 points and then an extra point if you score again without being stopped. All these things I’m saying about the game are that it is cool and stylish at some moments. Now I’m going to tell you about this thing called the NFL the letters stand for National Football League.

It is basically 32 teams that compete for a trophy and something called Super Bowl ring and the only way you get these trophies is if you’re the best team. In the NFL that is what everybody strides to be. Before you get to this league you have to go to college and get noticed by a scout or someone who can get you into the NFL. So when you go to college that’s when you show all of your skill and hopefully it gets noticed.

The main reason people try so hard to go to the NFL is because they pay you to play and the better you are the more money you get so it’s like the ultimate job. The last thing were going to talk about are my favourite players in football and why. My first person is a man called Champ Bailey he is a wide receiver that’s the person who runs out and tries to catch the ball from a distance. The reason I like him is because when he jumps for that ball it looks so pretty and then as soon as he touches the ground he’s off and know one can catch him.

The next player I’m going to tell you about is a man named Reggie Bush and his position is running back. A running back is the person who waits for the ball then snatches it and tries to make a touchdown. The reason I like this player is because he has fennec and he is the fastest player in the league period to me nobody can catch him because he’s too quick. So I have told you about football I told you the rules, my favorite players and what drives people to play it so you take this information and you try it. To me the best football game is this