Relive the dawn of greatness with LeBron's 2003 NBA Summer League highlights
NBA Summer League is irresistible to hardcore hoop-heads, but virtually unknown to the casual fan.
It's where touted rookies first dip their toes into the pro game and where career journeymen seek to impress scouts in hopes of landing one more contract. Even LeBron James was once a teenager learning the professional ropes for the first time.
Summer League is where the NBA's current stars got started, and where today's rookies are trying to begin developing into tomorrow's stars.
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James, of course, is a legend. He leveled up in NBA lore by leading the Cavaliers to an upset NBA Finals win over the Warriors this June. To connect all these dots, the NBA released a highlight mix of James' 2003 NBA Summer League highlights Monday morning.
Enjoy the trip back in time -- we'll break it down a bit more after the embed here.
It's all there: The freakish athleticism, the unselfish play and the unstoppable drives to the hoop that make LeBron the force he is today.
But there's no headband, no receding hairline and the James isn't quite as buff as he is now.
At the time, James was fresh out of St. Vincent - St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio, and had just been selected first overall by Cleveland in the 2003 NBA Draft.
The rest, as they say, is history.
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Sam Laird is Mashable's Senior Sports Reporter. He covers the wide, weird world of sports from all angles -- as well as occasional other topics -- from Mashable's San Francisco bureau. Before joining Mashable in November 2011, his freelance work appeared in publications including the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Slam, and East Bay Express. Sam is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, and basketball and burritos take up most of his spare time. Follow him on Twitter @samcmlaird.
