Ban could be blessing for James

The Ohio High School Athletic Association ruled Friday that basketball phenom LeBron James was ineligible to play for the remainder of the season because he accepted free retro basketball jerseys from a clothing store. The ruling came four days after James, a senior at Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary, was cleared after receiving a $50,000 sports utility vehicle from his mother.

CNNSI.com caught up with Sports Illustrated's senior writer Grant Wahl, who has spent considerable time with James, to get his reaction to Friday's OSHA ruling on James.

CNNSI.com: What was your initial reaction to LeBron James’ eligibility being stripped by the Ohio High School Athletic Association?

Grant Wahl: I kind of shrug my shoulders. About a month ago, after spending some time with LeBron, I started feeling that it wouldn’t be a bad thing if he stopped playing high school basketball. High school basketball is not equipped to handle something like this. LeBron, hype-wise, is way bigger than anyone in college basketball. To expect that high school sports could handle something like all of this is foolhardy.

CNNSI.com: How do you think James will handle this situation?

Wahl: I think he’ll be upset. He’s probably really upset right now. He didn’t’ win a state title last year, and I know he wanted to go out by winning a state title. He may feel like he let down his team and his friends. There probably is also some resentment on LeBron’s and his team’s part toward the Ohio High School Athletic Association because they felt like this was some kind of a witch hunt. They felt like the OHSA would find a way to suspend LeBron anyway they could.

CNNSI.com: How could James get in trouble for receiving retro jerseys and not a Hummer H2?

Wahl: It’s so weird. It’s like getting Al Capone on tax evasion. It shows what a mockery this system has become as it relates to LeBron. I’m still bothered by the fact that the public outcry has been so disproportionately toward LeBron, but there has been none toward his school, which has made hundreds of thousands of dollars off him and the tournament promoters, who have made hundreds of thousands of dollars off him. And the public could probably even take issue with us [the media] for creating part of this. But the interest is there. It’s a story, so we should cover it. He should have been on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but it has an impact as well.

CNNSI.com: Will he appeal this decision?

Wahl: Yes, that’s what I hear, but I have no idea how that would go. It depends on whether they want to take it to court. It seems to me that the OHSA has followed the letter of the rules at every step of the way, though. That’s why he was not suspended for the Hummer, but he was for this.

CNNSI.com: Can he give the jerseys back and re-gain eligibility?

Wahl: I really don’t know. I have a hard time believing that it could happen, but maybe.

CNNSI.com: Who is affected most by this decision?

Wahl: I’d say his team, which was No. 1 in the nation. Even without LeBron, it’s still a good team with a couple of Division I college players, but it is nowhere near the No. 1 team in the nation.

CNNSI.com: Will this affect his pro career?

Wahl: No, not at all. If anything, this will keep him from getting injured between now and the draft.

CNNSI.com: Will he get to play in the McDonald’s All-American game?

Wahl: He might get to. Tyson Chandler played two years ago, and he has been ruled ineligible at that point. My guess is that LeBron will get to play. It’s being held in Cleveland for a reason.

 

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