Lebron: for love of the game

By Kurt Wagner

I pulled into Oracle Arena for last week's Golden State Warriors game against the Cleveland Cavaliers 90 minutes prior to tip-off. I arrived early, not because the Warriors are any good, but because with LeBron James, the show starts during warm-ups.

I had my digital camera at the ready when the Cavaliers trotted out of the tunnel for their shoot-around. LeBron could not have been more recognizable: his 6-foot-8, 250 pound frame was last out of the tunnel and first to start goofing around.

If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed LeBron was warming up for a friendly pick-up game at the local YMCA. Lay-up lines became runways for The King to launch himself into acrobatic dunks and attempted alley-oops. Each new song over the loud speaker came with a new dance move, the million-dollar smile never leaving LeBron's face.

By this time, the Warriors had made their way onto the court as well, not that anyone even noticed. The crowd was too busy watching LeBron throw up half-court jumpers while his teammates rebounded for him. When that became too easy, he began to loft underhanded half-court shots from the scorer's table. On the fourth try, The King banked one in, sending the crowd into an almost frenzied pre-game applause.

When I finally stopped focusing my attention on LeBron, I began to notice that his goofiness was contagious. The whole Cavs team was dancing. The whole team was dunking. Everyone wanted to get in on the half-court shots.

And it all started with The King. LeBron had a different, unique handshake with every one of his teammates. At one point, after a fake fist-fight with Shaquille O'Neal, LeBron crumbled to the floor while the rest of the team laughed at him.

The Cavaliers are the best team in their conference and LeBron is the best player in the NBA, yet he and the Cavaliers warmed up like a group of third graders at recess. LeBron was their leader, and The King had one rule: have fun.

But as the starting lineups were announced and The King took the court for tip-off, it quickly became evident that the goofiness was over. LeBron filled the stat sheet that night: 37 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds. The fans that showed up right at tip-off definitely got their money's worth.

And for those of us who showed up early, we got a little something extra. Because not only did we see LeBron light up the scoreboard, but we saw that in professional sports, some athletes still play for the love of the game.

Long live The King.