I was fortunate enough to recently catch the new documentary featuring Lebron James and his high school teammates. I emphasize the word “featuring” because he is not the primary focus of the documentary. He is obviously a large part of the film as he was the best player on the team, but the film focuses more on the journey that James and his teammates traveled to win a national title.

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The true main character of the movie is SVSM’s (Saint Vincent Saint Mary’s High School, located in Akron, Ohio) head coach Dru Joyce. The movie itself is a fitting tribute to a remarkable man. I think it is obvious given the circumstances and surroundings that James was brought up around that there had to be something that kept him focused and taught him the polish that he displays today. The movie clearly displays Joyce’s impact on a young Lebron.

In addition to the coach, the movie does a good job on illustrating the bond that the players had growing up. A lot of people at some point have been part of a good team whether it be athletically or professionally and that makes it easy for the average person to relate to the extraordinary feat that these young athletes were able to achieve.  The documentary does a great job of chronicling their rise from AAU ball to the #1 team in in the country and the growing pains that are associated with such a feat.

With that being said, there is no shortage of highlights!  They didn’t get all of the press and hype by Lebron executing finger roll  layups.  Lebron James was an absolute freak in high school.  I honestly felt sympathy for some of the kids that played the “Fab 5.”  There is dunk after dunk after alley-oop.  I think  a lot of people have grown numb to James’s athletic ability after 6 years of him taking up two or three spots on ESPN’s Top 10 every morning.  Some of the highlights in the movie are a shocking reminder of how astronomically good he was even as an underclassmen in high school.

If you are a Lebron fan or a basketball fan, you will like the movie.  I also just finished Lebron’s new book “Shooting Stars”.  They are almost identical in content and storyline.  The book should take you about as long to read as the movie (1:40).  The book reads very quickly and seems written by a high school kid, which was a little disappointing.  There are still a couple of mysteries out there that I thought would be brought up somewhere but never materialized, such as Lebron’s girlfriend Savannah.  There is never a mention of her anywhere other than in the credits in the book.  Perhaps she doesn’t like the spotlight.

We are less than a week away to the season opener!  I feel better and better about the upcoming season everyday.  The weather is getting colder, the days shorter, and the leaves are about the disappear, which means the wine and gold are about the head into high gear!

Lets Go Cavs!!

Lee Pozek

Cavs Corner Author / ProFootballinsight.net