"His high school basketball games were on pay-per-view for $7.95 a pop in 14 Ohio counties and last December 12th a matchup with national power Oak Hill was scooped up by ESPN2." (espn.com). As a sophomore in high school he was the number one prep basketball player in the nation. "As a junior he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and was dubbed "The Chosen One". He has won every national player of the year award possible the last two years. He is also the only three-time winner of Ohio's Mr. Basketball award, and he led his team to the mythical national title as a senior." (sportsline.com). He has already signed a deal with Nike worth more than 90 million dollars, and writers are even asking the question if he is going to be the first athlete to become a million dollar man. The six foot eight super star decided to skip college all together and enter the NBA draft and was selected first over all by the Cleveland Cavaliers; they gave him a three year, $12.96 million dollar contract, and if he decides not play a fourth year they will give him $5.8 million. .
That is more money that most people ever dream of and if he would have decided not to skip college he risked injury that could have ruined his playing days forever. I mean the 18 year old phenomenon was a millionaire before he even signed an NBA contract. A couple years before Lebron came into the spotlight David Stern, commissioner of Basketball, tried to get an age limit of 20 to turn pro. "But why do you need a degree to play pro basketball, any more than you need one to be a plumber or a Web designer or the world's richest man? If a high school player has the goods and if the marketplace is demanding his talent, why shouldn't he go pro?" (bussinessweek.com). That statement right there sums it up I mean Lebron James is a young man with opportunities and choices. "One opportunity is to make millions doing something he excels at.