Another one: Tashaun Gipson leaving Browns for Jacksonville
March 9, 2016Cavs sign Jordan McRae for rest of season, with team option for 2016-17
March 9, 2016Wednesday night may seem just like another regular season game for the Cavs, blah midweek matchup against the Sacramento Kings, but it will be a special one for LeBron James. No. 23 will be playing his final game in Sacramento’s Sleep Train Arena, the place where he made his NBA debut on October 29, 2003.
LeBron is the only player from that game still active in the NBA.
The Kings are opening a new arena in downtown Sacramento next season, making the 2015-16 season the final one in Sleep Train, which was called Arco Arena when LeBron made his debut 12 years ago. Per cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon, James had plenty to say at Wednesday’s shootaround about playing his last game where it all began.
“I had less tattoos and more hair. And my jersey was a lot bigger at that time, I had less weight.”
Then still a kid from Akron, LeBron was making his professional debut just months after being drafted No. 1 overall out of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. The 31-year-old James remembers quite a bit about his debut as an 18-year-old. He remembers his first NBA basket as well as his first stat line.
“Fadeaway baseline jumper right over there by our bench…I think it was 25 (points), nine (assists), and five (rebounds) or something.”
While his memory served him wrong — he had six rebounds, not five — the fact that James still remembers the details 12 years late is indicative of how important his debut was and is to him. He recalls getting his first pro dunk and passing on a chance for a second to set up his teammate, the immortal Ricky Davis.
“I got back to back steals. We started myself, Ricky, D Miles (Darius Miles), Booz (Carlos Boozer) and I believe Z (Zydrunas Ilgauskas). It was just my unselfish ways. I had already gotten my fastbreak dunk and our scorer at the time was Ricky, so, you know, let’s try to get him in a rhythm.”
The Kings wound up winning the game, 106-102. LeBron says he has since watched the game several times. He remembered his rookie self like an eager young pup — and made his veteran self sound like an old head in the process.
“Just seeing how for an 18-year-old kid there really wasn’t much I could tell him at that point. He was just excited to be on the court, and he was just having fun. This was before social media and all that (sort of thing), so he didn’t really have to worry about anything, just go out and play and live with the results, live with whatever happened, and he’s continued to do that.”
While he still has many more years before he hangs up his own kicks and retires, James reflected on how important Sleep Train Arena will forever be to him.
“When I – I don’t know if it’s a movie made of me or my book gets started (about) my NBA career getting started, this will be the first place it starts, here at Sleep Train…or Arco Arena. This will always be the beginning of it.”
