Shooting Stars

LeBron James plays for the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. His superstardom is hard to overstate: at seventeen he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated; at nineteen he became the youngest rookie of the year in NBA history; at twenty-three he was named the third highest paid athlete in the world (including endorsements), after Tiger Woods and David Beckham. In 2006-7 he led the Cavaliers to their first NBA finals ever and finished second place in the vote for the league's most valuable player. In 2007-8 he became the youngest player in NBA history to score 10,000 points and topped the league in scoring. He was a key member of the U.S. men's basketball team that won a Gold Medal in the 2008 Olympics. The Cavaliers finished the 2008-9 season with the best record in the NBA. They lost the Eastern Conference finals to the Orlando Magic, in which James scored 40 or more points in three of six games. He was also named the league's most valuable player by a landslide. He is only the third man (and the first African American man) to appear on the cover of Vogue. He has hosted Saturday Night Live, graced Oprah's stage, and appeared on the cover of Fortune.