Quote:AKRON, Ohio -- LeBron James drove his Hummer toward the basket, made a hard left near the baseline, spun around some cheerleaders and brought it to a screeching stop.


Under the bench.


LeBron James doesn't seem worried about the attention his Hummer, which is definitely bigger than the toy one he played with before the game Tuesday night, is generating.



While his teammates warmed up two hours before a game Tuesday night, James, whose recent acquisition of a luxury sports utility vehicle has led to a state investigation into his eligibility, toyed with the controversy spiraling around him.


Sitting on the floor at midcourt, the nation's top high school basketball player, smiled as he steered a remote control Hummer around the floor of Akron's James A. Rhodes Arena.


''OK,'' he said. ''Here's my real Hummer.''


When a basketball nearly crushed his four-wheeled camouflaged gadget, James yelled, ''Hey, you almost hit my truck.''


Guess he's not too worried about things.


On Monday, the Ohio High School Athletic Association began an investigation into how James, the expected No. 1 choice in the NBA draft this year, acquired a 2003 Hummer H2 vehicle.


State officials are concerned that James, a senior, might have violated his amateur status by accepting an improper gift.


Clair Muscaro, commissioner of the OHSAA, said Tuesday the inquiry was continuing and that he was still in the process of gathering information.

James certainly had his game in overdrive Tuesday night, scoring a school-record 50 points to lead the nation's No. 1-ranked team to a 92-56 rout of Mentor.


Beside breaking his own school record for points, James made a school record 11 3-pointers before sitting out the final 6:27 just a few seconds after draining his final 3.

"'Bron was in a zone,'' said his coach, Dru Joyce. "It doesn't happen to often, and his teammates recognized it and got him the ball. Hopefully, he saved some of that for the next game.''


''I was in the zone,'' said James, whose lone flaw could be his outside shooting. ''I felt like I was at practice. When I'm in the zone there's nothing anybody can do. I don't need to show anybody anything. I got the whole package.''


James, who finished 19-for-25 from the field, didn't answer any questions regarding the Hummer or the state's investigation during his postgame interview.

“ I was in the zone. I felt like I was at practice. When I'm in the zone there's nothing anybody can do. I don't need to show anybody anything. I got the whole package. ”
— LeBron James, after scoring a school record 50 points and hitting a school record 11 3-pointers Tuesday night.

Dru Joyce was asked if he's worried James might have violated his eligibility.


''I'm not concerned,'' Joyce said. ''That's out of our hands anyway.''


Muscaro said he had been in contact with St. Vincent-St. Mary officials and that the school was in the process of sending him documentation.


The OHSAA has asked the school to provide written evidence about how the SUV was bought and financed. If it is shown to be an improper gift from an outside source, James could forfeit his amateur status and his school would have to forfeit its games from the time the 6-foot-8 sensation acquired the extravagant vehicle.


James, a senior, reportedly got the Hummer -- with a base retail price of $50,000 -- as an 18th birthday gift from his mother, Gloria, who has told school officials she obtained a bank loan to finance the vehicle.


Gloria James has refused to comment on the situation.


One of the OHSAA's bylaws says an athlete forfeits his or her amateur status by ''capitalizing on athletic fame by receiving money or gifts of monetary value.''


''We have parents buying cars for their kids all the time,'' Muscaro said. ''We just need to know that everything was done properly and within the rules.''


Muscaro said he hopes to have the case resolved by the end of the week.


James' case is believed to be unprecedented in Ohio, which has made enforcing any rules more difficult, OHSAA spokesman Bob Goldring said.


''It's been a challenge,'' he said. ''This is new ground for us.''


James' SUV is reportedly outfitted with three televisions, has seatbacks embroidered with ''King James'', and hookups for computer games.


License plate tags on the platinum-colored Hummer show it was purchased at 310 Motoring Automobile Specialists of Los Angeles, which caters to a celebrity clientele.


On its Web site, <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.310motoring.com">http://www.310motoring.com</a><!-- w --> the dealership boasts to have among its customers actor Denzel Washington, singers Jennifer Lopez and Janet Jackson, NBA superstars Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Gary Payton and NFL stars Ray Lewis, Keyshawn Johnson and Warren Sapp.

Quote:do you feel it is ok for an amatuer to take gifts?

Quote:Like they even pay attention when they do attend school, they just coast through.

Quote:It's ok since Lebron hasn't been an amatuer since he picked up a ball.

I agree with lupica.

If countless people can make money off him by putting his face on espn, sports magazines, sneaker promotions, newspapers, etc. Why can't the kid accept a gift for his talent?

Amatuer is just a coprorate sports term for 'explot them because we can'.

Quote:An athlete who has never accepted money, or who accepts money under restrictions specified by a regulatory body, for participating in a competition.

Quote:Acctually student/athlete might just be the toughest job on the planet. Yes they are given some leeway, but they still have to make their grades if they want to play. The days of winking and passing an athlete are far less common than they used to be.

Quote:I'm not sayin they do nothing but it's much easier for them.