Stephenson latest in line of stars at Brooklyn power

	High-rising sophomore guard Lance Stephenson is the latest prodigy to come out of Brooykln's Lincoln High. AP

NEW YORK -- Along the assembly line of time, the basketball greats from the Coney Island section of Brooklyn have left their footprints in the Island's sand.

First there was Stephon Marbury, sharing his elder brothers' training regiment of 6 a.m. summer workouts on the nearby beach and the sprints up the stairwells in the family's building. Eight years later, Sebastian Telfair, Marbury's cousin and fellow prodigy from the same public housing projects, blazed his own trail when he became the first guard to make the jump from high school basketball to the NBA in 2004.

Now, more than a decade since Marbury set the archetype, there is a 16-year-old sophomore strolling through the same metal detectors as Telfair and playing on the same hardwood court as Marbury at Abraham Lincoln High School. Just a sophomore, Lance Stephenson stands 6-foot-4, already learning to balance the mien of a man and the mind of an adolescent while a documentary film crew trails behind to track his every dribble as if he were on a presidential campaign trail through puberty.

"I'm honored that these people would choose me out of all the other great players out there to document my growth," Stephenson says. "They didn't have to choose me. I just act like myself in front of the camera."

Much like the hot dogs sold out of Coney Island's world renowned Nathan's, you may not want to know the ways and means by which Brooklyn's finest guards are manufactured. What Stephenson will see someday when the film is finished and he is playing professional basketball, whether it be in the NBA or the NBDL, is the innards of the basketball industry that is New York City's Public School Athletic League. From going through the media grinder of attention to absorbing the verbal poundings of Lincoln coach Tiny Morton, the full course of his development is not something the average person could easily stomach.

"It helps that I am from the same neighborhood," says Morton, who has won city titles as a player, assistant coach and head coach at Lincoln. "When you have a player like Lance, you know you have to push them to make him fulfill his potential. Not everybody could take that pounding day in and day out. I'm not backing down from him. I go right back at him, point for point."

Ranked as the No. 1 player in his class as a sixth grader, Stephenson started to make a name for himself as a 12-year-old competing on the hallowed ground of Harlem's Rucker Park. Currently unchallenged as New York basketball's precocious prince -- he's the No. 4-ranked player in the nation in the Class of 2009 by Rivals.com -- the next big thing in a long line of next big things is a prodigy of his environment.

"When we were approached about the documentary I talked it over with my wife and Lance. I told the producers that we're pretty simple," Lance Stephenson Sr. says. "There's not much to us, but they insisted. I told Lance that this is not make a circus or a freak show out of him. If he ever feels overwhelmed he can put the cameras away. I think we were interested in how a camera could make a story of our simple life. He can grow into a role as an ambassador for basketball because of this."

Forever being linked to Marbury and Telfair because of their Lincoln lineage, drive-by evaluators have labeled Stephenson as New York City's next great point guard. The only problem with this description is that Stephenson, who doctors say will grow to 6-9, fancies himself a shooting guard while playing different roles, whether it be slaloming through defensive pressure with his favorite move, the inside-out dribble that allows him to accentuate his athleticism. Though chiseled in his upper body, his gait resembles that of a gazelle still growing into its legs.

"He's definitely not a point guard," says Telfair. "I've seen him play over the years, and he will be a slasher who can handle the ball."

What is he then?

"He's a points guard," says high school talent guru Tom Konchalski, who evaluated both Marbury and Telfair as high schoolers. "I think that many people love the theme of Lincoln point guards and they see Lance's success and mistakenly associate him with the point position."

Knowing that his life is played out in a fish bowl, Stephenson has been able to avoid being swept under by the wave of attention. When he talks of the opportunities afforded him to travel and see different areas, he mentions a need for restraint. "You have to just go to your game. You can't be going out and getting in trouble," Stephenson says. When he talks of school, he says, "There are people who help us learn what a teacher wants and how we can improve ourselves."