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Cavs' LeBron James to Make NBA Debut

Posted on: Wednesday, 29 October 2003, 06:00 CST

Eighteen-year-old Cleveland Cavaliers rookie forward LeBron James will make his highly anticipated NBA regular season debut on Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings at the Arco Arena.

The 6-foot-8, 240-pound James, with $100 million in endorsements and sky-high expectations, is expected to become an instant All-Star, and Cavaliers fans hope he can bring their first championship since 1964. Some say James can jump like Michael Jordan and pass like Magic Johnson.

Last in the league in home attendance in 2002-03, the Cavaliers have nearly tripled their season-ticket base and other teams included them in their best ticket packages. Also, Cleveland will be on national television 13 times this season, which is 13 more than the past two seasons combined.

James has also made the Cavaliers fashionably hip, as fans wear his wine-and-gold rookie jersey. About 400,000 have been sold, ranking James just behind Jordan in national sales.

Cavaliers owner Gordon Gund, however, is afraid expectations for James have reached dangerous levels.

"It's concerning to me that people will expect more out of him than is physically possible for anybody," Gund said. "He hasn't gone through what it takes to play at this level. It's going to take time. I think he'll come along fine, but I don't think he'll start out at the level many people are expecting."

The NBA is featuring James in TV promos and on schedules, and Gund has spoken with commissioner David Stern about restraining the hype.

The surge of interest began in May when the Cavaliers won the draft lottery and the rights to pick the Akron superstar.

Gund didn't elaborate on his discussions with the commissioner but said Stern was sensitive to the matter.

"This thing has a mind of its own," he said. "Have you ever seen anything like it? And in that sense it's a little scary for him (James) and the team right now. We're all sensitive to that."

Some of Cleveland's players, however, think the playoffs are within reach, as does Gund. But he's more focused on another "P" word: patience.

"It's going to take awhile for a new coaching staff and a lot of new team members to gel and to start really becoming a team," he said. "There are going to be ups and downs."

Gund is counting on first-year coach Paul Silas to keep them to a minimum.

Silas took the Hornets to the playoffs four times, and Gund thinks the 60-year-old coach is a perfect fit for his young team.

"I feel we're going to play some really good basketball, but it won't be consistent for a while," he said. "That's up to the coaching staff to develop so it's going to take some time. They've done it before so I'm confident we'll do it again." attended by reporters from Japan, France and Malaysia.

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