Excerpt from an AP article:

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich doesn’t believe James emerged from nowhere. While scouting the Sonics for this series, he saw video of James outplaying Rockets center Yao Ming.

"People just haven’t noticed him,” Popovich said. “We watched some Houston tape from back in March. He was great in the games we saw against Houston. It hasn’t been an all-of-a-sudden thing. He’s been doing great for a while.”

James is a curiosity in the NBA’s microscopic world, where savvy general managers know statistics for junior high stars. He never played organized basketball until attending Florida A&M.

James grew up in a family of 10 children, engaging his adolescent mind by fixing broken televisions and stereos instead of baskets and balls. As a pro player, though, he’s being tutored by Sonics standout Ray Allen.

“He’s at the point where he’s starting to play good basketball and he wants people to respect him. I told him, ‘The more you win, the more we all get respected’,” said Allen, who sits next to James in the locker room.

--He only started playing basketball in college--can you say late bloomer? He's actually still learning the game, he's going to be good in NY.

[Edited by - roblackman on 07/14/2005 20:41:34]

there's no indication that all of the sudden, he's going to be "good" BUT we all hope he will.

Check out James' sweet rides:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/photogalleries/sports547/1.html

Here is the story:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sonics/2002186408_sonicars22.html