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Will Success Ruin LeBron James' Good Rep?
Aired June 26, 2003 - 13:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We were saying that LeBron James, who's 18-years-old -- and even before he's drafted he's being cast as the possible savior of the NBA. In addition to that, there's the deal that he signed with Nike for more than 90 million bucks, Larry just mentioned that. And a lot of pressure for a man-sized kid who's still in his teens.
Joining us now to talk more about that from Dallas, Texas, sports psychologist Robert Neff. Good to see you, Robert.
ROBERT NEFF, SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST: Nice to see you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, so talk to me about this. How do you put this in perspective? How do you take an 18-year-old who's going to be making so much money, going to be in the spotlight, keep him humble, keep him sane?
NEFF: I think that there's got to be -- the No. 1 focus has got to be his support structure. I mean, he's got to have a team of people around him that understand the game at the highest level, who understand the kind of pressure and understand what he's going to have to go through on a day in/day out basis.
PHILLIPS: All right, we're going bring Larry Smith back in here and talk about this some more. You probably have some questions for Rob.
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Something, too, I think -- don't you think his selection of the people he puts around him will also be key? He signed Aaron Goodwin (ph) who's a veteran agent who's had the likes of Jason Kidd and Gary Payton under his care. He signed him very early on, as soon as he made the announcement -- within weeks he made that announcement.
Don't you think that having somebody like Aaron Goodwin in his corner will only help making this transition?
NEFF: I think it's absolutely essential. There's no way he can do it by himself. I think that a kid this age -- you mentioned about the main reason why one might want to go to college is to make money. I would say that having been in college for, what, 12 years I guess in my life that a big reason is to basically learn about life, learn about how to manage money, learn about how to deal with people, learn about yourself. You know all these kinds of things.
So he's going to miss those things. he's going to have to get those somewhere else. And hopefully he'll get those through his support structure.
PHILLIPS: Sifting through all those people, too, that just want to be your friend because you got big bucks and you're a big NBA star when you're 18. It's like, wow, look at all this attention that I have.
SMITH: Yes, but that happens when you're at any age, though, really, I think.
PHILLIPS: Maybe for you.
SMITH: Yeah, people hanging all the time. I got to change my cell phone number every two months.
We think about, also, what makes it in your mind, in terms of a sports psychologist perspective, what makes LeBron James different from, say a like Randy Moss who bounced around three different colleges before he went to the NFL and some would say, maybe still hasn't matured?
NEFF: Well, I mean, I guess we have that to see. We don't know whether LeBron James is going really be the kind of success that everybody thinks he's going to be.
But I think that the kid -- I mean he's a physical specimen. i mean what is he? He's 6'8", 240. That's obviously essential for him to be able walk into a physical league and -- maybe not dominate right away, but pretty quickly, at least hold his own.
So I think he's got the confidence, though. This guy loves to be in the lime light, to really put on a show for people. And those two things, I think, if he's got the right kind of, you know, people around him, guiding him the right way, I think that's a pretty powerful statement that he can make.
PHILLIPS: Robert Neff, sports psychologist, Brook Haven College. Thank you so much. Larry, thank you for sticking around and talking LeBron.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 26, 2003 - 13:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We were saying that LeBron James, who's 18-years-old -- and even before he's drafted he's being cast as the possible savior of the NBA. In addition to that, there's the deal that he signed with Nike for more than 90 million bucks, Larry just mentioned that. And a lot of pressure for a man-sized kid who's still in his teens.
Joining us now to talk more about that from Dallas, Texas, sports psychologist Robert Neff. Good to see you, Robert.
ROBERT NEFF, SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST: Nice to see you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, so talk to me about this. How do you put this in perspective? How do you take an 18-year-old who's going to be making so much money, going to be in the spotlight, keep him humble, keep him sane?
NEFF: I think that there's got to be -- the No. 1 focus has got to be his support structure. I mean, he's got to have a team of people around him that understand the game at the highest level, who understand the kind of pressure and understand what he's going to have to go through on a day in/day out basis.
PHILLIPS: All right, we're going bring Larry Smith back in here and talk about this some more. You probably have some questions for Rob.
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Something, too, I think -- don't you think his selection of the people he puts around him will also be key? He signed Aaron Goodwin (ph) who's a veteran agent who's had the likes of Jason Kidd and Gary Payton under his care. He signed him very early on, as soon as he made the announcement -- within weeks he made that announcement.
Don't you think that having somebody like Aaron Goodwin in his corner will only help making this transition?
NEFF: I think it's absolutely essential. There's no way he can do it by himself. I think that a kid this age -- you mentioned about the main reason why one might want to go to college is to make money. I would say that having been in college for, what, 12 years I guess in my life that a big reason is to basically learn about life, learn about how to manage money, learn about how to deal with people, learn about yourself. You know all these kinds of things.
So he's going to miss those things. he's going to have to get those somewhere else. And hopefully he'll get those through his support structure.
PHILLIPS: Sifting through all those people, too, that just want to be your friend because you got big bucks and you're a big NBA star when you're 18. It's like, wow, look at all this attention that I have.
SMITH: Yes, but that happens when you're at any age, though, really, I think.
PHILLIPS: Maybe for you.
SMITH: Yeah, people hanging all the time. I got to change my cell phone number every two months.
We think about, also, what makes it in your mind, in terms of a sports psychologist perspective, what makes LeBron James different from, say a like Randy Moss who bounced around three different colleges before he went to the NFL and some would say, maybe still hasn't matured?
NEFF: Well, I mean, I guess we have that to see. We don't know whether LeBron James is going really be the kind of success that everybody thinks he's going to be.
But I think that the kid -- I mean he's a physical specimen. i mean what is he? He's 6'8", 240. That's obviously essential for him to be able walk into a physical league and -- maybe not dominate right away, but pretty quickly, at least hold his own.
So I think he's got the confidence, though. This guy loves to be in the lime light, to really put on a show for people. And those two things, I think, if he's got the right kind of, you know, people around him, guiding him the right way, I think that's a pretty powerful statement that he can make.
PHILLIPS: Robert Neff, sports psychologist, Brook Haven College. Thank you so much. Larry, thank you for sticking around and talking LeBron.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
