To keep up with LeBron James - former star of Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, last year's No. 1 pick of the NBA draft, beneficiary of a $90 million endorsement contract and Rookie of the Year with the Cleveland Cavaliers - doesn't exactly require a search party. His fame might explain the unprecedented rush of high school talent going pro, with the league receiving notice of plans to enter next month's NBA draft from 13 players.
To keep up with James Lang - the fifth and last player the league drafted out of high school - is a challenge in his current job with the Oklahoma Storm of the United States Basketball League. Lang, former star of Birmingham's Central Park Christian High, was last year's No. 48 pick of the New Orleans Hornets. In midseason, he was picked up briefly by the National Basketball Development League's Asheville (N.C.) Altitude.
Whatever trappings of stardom have come to Lang through his leap into pro basketball, they don't extend to voicemail at the motel in Enid, Okla., where the Storm stays when the team is not criss-crossing the country to venues ranging from Brooklyn to Dodge City to keep the players' hoop dreams alive.
"I hope they're making the right decision," Lang said of this year's crop of high school entries, ranging from potential top pick Dwight Howard of Atlanta to Tacoma, Wash., unknown Maurice Shaw. "Everyone's doubting you, and that's going to be hard. You just have to use that as a motivation."
In Enid, the operator at the hotel housing Lang answers, "Motel 6," followed by "reservations," the latter a fitting term to describe the discourse regarding high school players skipping college basketball to earn professional money.
Players like Lang stand in contrast to the success achieved by Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady and Jermaine O'Neal, all of whom jumped past college basketball and are now considered among the top 10 players in the NBA.
It would be kind to call on-court beginnings modest for the other three high schoolers drafted in last year's first round. Boston's Kendrick Perkins, Minnesota's Ndudi Ebi and Portland's Travis Outlaw combined to appear in 35 games, indicating that not everyone had the impact that James did, and making executives such as Ernie Grunfeld, general manager of the Washington Wizards, hope for change.
"I think everyone should get the college experience, for the maturity - not just physically, but also emotionally," said Grunfeld, whose roster includes Kwame Brown, a high school star who joined the Wizards as the league's top pick in 2001.
