ABC One-Hour Drama to Star Lebron James

Lebron James mission to become a star is right on track. ESPN The Magazine reported that Lebron James partnered with O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson and ABC for a one-hour drama based on James’ experiences as a high school hoops phenom. The series, described as “Friday Night Lights-meets-Entourage,” will follow an inner-city 15 year-old prep star who is transplanted to a small town school and forced to come of age while dealing with media pressure, unscrupulous moneymen and the jealousy of his peers.

If the network approves the pilot script, expected in few weeks, production could start in the Spring of 09 for a fall 09 premire.

“It’s a grounded character study of teenage life in small town America, but it’s also an exploration of the American Dream and the wish-fulfillment aspect of what his life has become,” said Matt Alvarez, President of CubeVision, who pitched the concept and is also an executive producer on the show. “As a teenager, LeBron was dubbed as one of the great ones. Dropping an album as a kid with NWA, Cube could relate to that. They both know what it’s like to have success at a young age, and dealing with everything that comes with those expectations.”

Another documentary “More than a Game” is expected to be released in the fall of 09 and “is positioned to vie for Oscar attention in the documentary category.” according to the magazine.

Cavs Are “Mo” Better

The three bedrock foundation blocks for the Cavs in recent years have been defense, rebounding and LeBron James’ brilliance. The Cavs currently lead the league in point differential while ranking second in defensive field goal percentage and third in rebounding differential. James is playing a career-low 35.7 mpg because the Cavs have been blowing out so many opponents but he is authoring another superb all-around season: 27.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 6.3 apg, 2.0 spg, 1.2 bpg. He is averaging career-highs in blocked shots, field goal percentage (.497) and free throw percentage (.796) while committing a career-low 2.3 turnovers per game.

James played at a very high level last season, too, but the Cavs were subpar defensively and on the glass for most of the year, due to roster instability stemming from holdouts, injuries and trades. It is important to remember that Cleveland’s roster has been almost completely reshaped since the opening game of the 2007-08 season. In addition, Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao—a starter and key reserve respectively for the Cavs during the 2007 NBA Finals—did not play in the early part of last season due to contract disputes. They both eventually returned to the fold but Varejao later suffered some injuries that knocked him out of action; all told, the Cavs went just 17-17 in the games that he missed, compared to a 28-20 record when he played. In 2008-09, Varejao is averaging career-highs in scoring (9.2 ppg) and field goal percentage (.576) while posting the second best rebounding average (6.8 rpg) of his career. He, Zydrunas Ilgauskas (before his recent injury) and Ben Wallace comprise a formidable frontcourt three headed monster, with each player averaging between 23 and 26 mpg.

Just having the frontcourt healthy and playing well—thereby solidifying Cleveland’s defense and rebounding—would have been enough to help the Cavs get off to a better start than last season. What has elevated the Cavs’ record to its current level is the addition of Mo Williams, a point guard who can create shots for himself and his teammates—a type of player that many people have said for years was sorely lacking on Cleveland’s roster (other than James, of course, but it is good to have two creators to put more pressure on the opposing team’s defense).

Mark Twain popularized the phrase “lies, damned lies and statistics.” The boxscore numbers say that Williams is averaging fewer points and assists than he did last season while shooting worse from the field and the three point line. The reality is that Williams’ speed, shooting touch and passing skills have helped the Cavs leap from 24th in scoring last season to fifth in scoring this year. He was not known as a defensive player in Milwaukee but Williams has completely bought into Coach Mike Brown’s emphasis on defense and has done an excellent job pressuring opposing point guards. Playing for a championship level team often requires sacrificing some individual statistical glory—just compare the statistics of Boston’s “Big Three” before and after they became Celtics. Williams is second on the Cavs in scoring (15.6 ppg) and assists (4.2 apg) and he is providing exactly what the team needs from the point guard position.

NBA issues anti-tampering regulation reminder

NBA issues anti-tampering regulation reminder

The NBA decided to take action to stop teams from talking about the 2010 free agency. Recently, the NBA issued a reminder to all 30 teams about the NBA’s anti-tampering regulation, mainly because of the 2010, Lebron James free agency talks.

From the memo:

“If a member of your organization is asked by the media about a potential free agent prior to the July 1 following the last season covered by the player’s contract, or about any other person under contract with another NBA team, the only proper response is to decline comment.”

“Penalties for tampering include suspension of the offending person, prohibition of the offending team from hiring the person being tampered with, forfeiture of draft picks, and individual and/or team fines of up to $5 million.”

James tops list for Eastern Conference Forwards

LeBron James appears to be headed for his fifth consecutive All-Star starting assignment. In the first batch of fan voting released Thursday, James leads all Eastern Conference forwards with 643,786 votes. He was about 150,000 ahead of the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett. Orlando’s Dwight Howard leads all East players with just under 776,000 votes.

James’ overall vote totals are down a bit this season and the reason is Yi Jianlian, who is getting strong support from his native China via online balloting. He is third in votes with more than 356,000.

I would like to see Mo or Z move up the list.  I noticed big Ben has received more votes than Z.  Interesting.

Cleveland.Com

Zydrunas Ilgauskas Injury Update

Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas suffered a left ankle sprain with 9:39 remaining in the fourth quarter in Wednesday’s game in Philadelphia. He did not return to the game. He was examined by Dr. Richard Parker at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health today. X-rays were negative and a moderate left ankle sprain is confirmed.

He is listed as OUT for Friday’s game versus Philadelphia.

Ilgauskas injures ankle in victory over 76ers

Zydrunas Ilgauskas came limping out of the shower, his left ankle looking like an over-ripe tomato thanks to lots of swelling. He came down on Donyell Marshall’s foot in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a sprain, and I have sprained my ankle before,” he said. “That’s what I get for trying to jump. At least I didn’t break any bones.”

The 7-foot-3 center who is the Cavs’ all-time leading rebounder then shrugged. He thinks he will be OK, but is not sure how long he’ll be out. He will be examined by team doctors today.

“This is the foot where I had the reconstructive surgery, so I want to be careful,” said Ilgauskas, who has had five operations on both feet.

Cleveland.Com

Daniel Gibson will miss two weeks

Daniel Gibson will miss two weeks for a sprained left toe he suffered last night in Cleveland’s win over Toronto.

Gibson was examined by Dr. Jim Sferra at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health, which included X-rays and an MRI. He will rest for two weeks, then be re-evaluated.

Gibson is averaging 24 minutes per game, averaging 9.4 points overall. Most of Gibson’s time came at point guard behind Mo Williams.

The player who could see more action is Sasha Pavlovic at backup shooting guard. Wally Szczerbiak also could see a little more time in the backcourt.

Wizards Send Antonio Daniels to Hornets

The Washington Wizards, Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Hornets have agreed to a three-team trade that will bring two new guards to the Gilbert Arenas-less Wizards.The Wizards will receive New Orleans’ Mike James and Memphis’ Javaris Crittenton in the exchange, with the Hornets acquiring Washington’s Antonio Daniels and the Grizzlies coming away with a future first-round pick. New Orleans also received a conditional second-round pick from Memphis.

Source: ESPN.com