Before he achieved NBA superstardom, landed a$90 million shoe deal from Nike, and other endorsement deals from
several fortune 500 companies, LeBron James was just a kid with a dream
of playing basketball. James and his teammates, Dru Joyce III, Romeo
Travis, Willie McGee and Sian Cotton, played together throughout grade
school and went on to capture the 2003 USA Today national high school
title as students at St. Vincent St. Mary in Akron, Ohio. Their journey
is documented in the new film, “More Than a Game.” Executive produced
by James, the film gives viewers an inside look at how five young black
boys persevered to make their dream a reality. –a.r. shaw
How was it starting out as young kids and gaining so much national attention?
It felt good to travel all over America to showcase our talent at a
young age. We enjoyed bringing our small city team and going into
tournaments against the big cities. We were just kids who loved the
game of basketball.
Why is it important for dreams to become reality?
All kids dream, but some kids don’t believe they can make a dream a
reality. We were five African American kids from the inner city and we
had a dream that started in the fifth grade. Our dream was to win a
high school national championship. We worked hard every year to make it
happen.
You
were the only player who actually made it to the NBA from your high
school team. How important was it for you to show the success of your
teammates off the court?
The film makes everyone aware of
that fact. I was the only one to make it to the NBA. But all of us got
full college scholarships. Dru Joyce III and Romeo Travis are playing
pro ball overseas, Willie McGee is getting a graduate degree from the
University of Akron and Sian Cotton is playing college football in
Canton, [Ohio]. The dreams are still there, but they’re doing it by
being better businessmen.
