Fresh from his gold medal run as part of the U.S. basketball team in the Beijing Olympics, NBA star LeBron James will visit the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend for the debut of "More Than A Game," a documentary chronicling his rise to stardom.
The film also shows how he and four childhood friends overcame long odds to win a national championship in high school.
"We set out with a goal as kids and we wanted to accomplish that someway, somehow by using basketball as a tool, not knowing that it was going to create other opportunities for us," James said, according to the Associated Press. "We didn't know it was going to create a brotherhood and trust. We grew from kids into young men."
"More Than A Game" mixes footage from James' stint at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in nearby Akron, along with one-on-one interviews by writer/director Kris Belman, home videos, and personal family photographs.
James is expected to be joined by friends and former teammates Dru Joyce III, Sian Cotton, Willie McGee and Romeo Travis for the Toronto premiere. Their journey began together as 8-year-old boys, winds through years crisscrossing the country playing in AAU tournaments and finishes in their senior season at St. Vincent-St. Mary, a year when James came under scrutiny for accepting a $50,000 sports-utility vehicle as a gift from his mother and his eligibility was briefly stripped by the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
At the time, Belman was a film student at Loyola Marymount looking to follow James and his friends' season as his final school project, a 10-minute documentary. But after gaining the trust of the players and coach Dru Joyce, Belman spent two months filming and eventually teamed with producer Harvey Mason Jr. to make the full-length feature. James hopes the film will inspire youngsters.
"We set out with a goal when we were 8 and we accomplished it when we were 18," he said. "It's a great story and I wanted to get it out to kids that have a dream, that they should continue to go after it, believe in it and live it if they want to accomplish something."
Sooooooo... being humble has totally gone out of Lebron's vocabulary. Soon after he cooly pointed out to everyone that he won the Most Valuable Player award, Lebron and his wife were spotted down in St. Tropez yesterday letting folks know that although he didn't win the big game, just check his stats and they'll speak for his abilities!
True, Lebron James can clean up well when he tries, but this is the best I've ever seen him look. Quite frankly, simply because it barely even looks like him. Lebron is on the February 09 issue of GQ Magazine.
Ralph Lauren Purple Label and the NBA star LeBron James have teamed up on a collaboration to benefit the LeBron James Family Foundation. The collaboration features a limited edition Ralph Lauren Purple Label x LeBron James basketball in Purple Labels signature colors black and purple with Ralph Lauren written across it. The ball also comes with a black and purple Ralph Lauren velvet duster bag and a nice box. Oh yea, did I forget to mention that the ball is autographed by LeBron James himself? All the money which is generated through sales will go straight to the LeBron James Family Foundation which seeks to inspire children to be physically fit, academically focused and environmentally aware, and to empower single-parent families to succeed. The basketball is limited to a total of 300 and each one is invidiually numbered. Available now at Ralphlauren.com for a retail price of $1000. Hit the jump to check out more shots of the basketball.
