LeBron James, NBA's all-time leading scorer, continues to make St. Vincent-St. Mary, Akron proud

Those who knew James during his childhood react to the Los Angeles Lakers star passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Feb. 7 to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer

AKRON, Ohio – LeBron James has gone from high atop a hill in Akron to high atop the NBA's all-time scoring mountain.

The 2003 graduate of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School knocked down a fadeaway 18-foot jumper near the end of the third quarter Tuesday night against Oklahoma City, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 38,387 points to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

The pursuit of the record that stood for 39 years began in those four years at STVM, where he played for head coach Keith Dambrot as a freshman and sophomore and then for Dru Joyce II as a junior and senior.

One thing those who knew him at STVM have said is they knew LeBron was going to be special. 

While you can’t ever predict when a player is a teenager that they might break one of sports’ most hallowed records, it also didn’t surprise them that LeBron would ultimately pass Abdul-Jabbar.

“I don’t know how you could expect this,” Dambrot, now the head coach at Duquesne University, said. “But it doesn’t surprise me after watching him progress year after year and knowing what he has inside of him as far as character, brains and physical ability.”

Joyce knew from the time he took over the STVM basketball program when Dambrot left to take the head coaching position at the University of Akron that he was coaching a kid who would play in the NBA. But even he couldn’t have predicted what his former player has accomplished.

“I knew he was going to be a pro,” Joyce said. “You could just see it by the time his junior year, we could see he would definitely play in the NBA and have a great career but to see what he has done, the longevity is way beyond my wildest dreams.

“But it doesn’t surprise me because he is committed to the work and when you are committed to the work and there are no shortcuts, those great things happen.”

STVM head athletic trainer Brian Knight, who joined the Fighting Irish staff during LeBron’s sophomore season, echoed the sentiments of Dambrot and Joyce.

“It’s unbelievable to see a kid at 14 or 15 years old and you’re like ‘wow he’s special,’” Knight said. “And then you fast forward in your career and you’re still at the same high school and the same guy is still in the NBA and is putting up amazing numbers. You can’t look (ahead) and even imagine that.”

There are few people who know the hard work and dedication to the game LeBron has put in as Knight does. That’s one of the reasons he believes the NBA superstar — picked first overall in the NBA Draft out of high school in 2003 — has been able to play at this level for as long as he has.

“Just seeing him go through high school and what he has done has always been the same,” Knight said. “It has always been about putting in the work, keeping his body healthy, staying out of trouble and just putting his nose down. It has always been about the game for him.”

For LeBron’s friends like Willie McGee, Sian Cotton, Romeo Travis, Dru Joyce III, Frankie Walker and Brandon Weems, LeBron’s pursuit of the record means another trip to see LeBron do something special and a chance to create even more memories. The group landed in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

“It’s been a blessing to experience this with my friends,” McGee, who works for the LeBron James Family Foundation as a We Are Family coach, said. “It has sparked up conversation. We have talked about taking a trip to New York for the (2003 NBA) draft and it took us all the way back there and all the times we have had an opportunity to be together to witness LeBron do something great.

McGee first met LeBron when they were kids at Summit Lake while LeBron and Walker were shooting around. Walker’s father was the coach and they asked McGee to join them. Even from those days playing in the age 8-10 league, McGee could see LeBron was going to be great.

“My first team ever, I played with him,” McGee said. “He was different from the beginning.”

But did McGee ever think LeBron would take it this far? Like their high school coaches Dambrot and Joyce, McGee wouldn’t have predicted it but isn’t surprised either.

“You never think that the person who can do this is someone you were best friends with and grew up with,” McGee said. “But if you were around him every day and watched him progress, it’s not surprising at all.”

LeBron isn’t just a scorer. Never has been, even in his high school days. He has always been the player who makes the right basketball play, whether that be a shot for himself or getting a teammate an open look. His willingness as a passer allowed him to move into fourth all-time in assists in NBA history just last week.

“At first, I thought he would be more Magic (Johnson) than Michael (Jordan), but he has morphed into a combination of both,” Dambrot said.

When it comes to the debate of the greatest basketball player of all time, Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan, a 1981 graduate of STVM, believes the debate between James and Jordan is over.

“In my mind, he will always be the greatest of all time, period,” Horrigan said.

LeBron’s two high school coaches also addressed the years-long discussion.

“There is always a debate about the greatest ever,” Dambrot said. “I would argue he is the greatest at everything.”

What Dambrot means by that is while LeBron might not be the greatest shooter ever, he is a good shooter. He also can grab rebounds when needed and could lead the league in assists if that’s what the situation called for, as he did in the 2019-20 season.

“There are not many players that can do that,” Dambrot said. “And that’s my argument (for LeBron).”

Joyce recalled a conversation he had with a young LeBron on the topic.

“He said to me a long time ago, ‘Coach Dru, I want to be the GOAT,’” Joyce said. “That’s what he has done.”

Joyce not only applauds the work LeBron has put in, but also the way he has gone about doing it.

“I understand the work to play at that level with the best players in the world for 20 years,” Joyce said. “To do it as gracefully and professionally as he has done it speaks volumes.”

Grace and professionalism are common themes when talking to those at STVM about one of their favorite sons.

“You couldn’t be prouder of the person he is, how he represents the city and what he has been able to accomplish on one of the largest stages in the world,” Horrigan said. “On top of all that talent, he has worked as hard as anybody.

“Sometimes you have to pinch yourself and say it’s a little bit surreal. This is a guy that can go anywhere in the world and is such a recognized person. And he is from Akron. It is something we are extremely proud of not only as a city but as a person, as a dad. He’s just a great person.”

Akron Ward 2 Councilman Phil Lombardo is also a graduate of STVM and is proud of the way LeBron has conducted himself, as well as the way he always remembers that he is ‘just a kid from Akron,’ as LeBron would say.

“Off the court, you just hear positive messages from him and positive things he does for Akron,” Lombardo said. “He never forgets his hometown and that’s awesome.”

STVM girls basketball coach Carley Whitney, a 2007 graduate, remembers watching LeBron play in high school and likes to replay some of those moments in her mind from time to time. But to Whitney, the one thing that always stands out is when LeBron is announced to the crowd in the starting lineup, whether it was when he played for the Cavaliers, the Miami Heat or now with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“I think the coolest thing of all is that whenever they announce him in the starting lineup, they always say ‘from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.’ You can’t unhear that, it’s so special,” Whitney said. “It makes you feel proud. It’s not just for us, it’s for Akron too. It is something we can all come together on because he does so much good stuff for Akron. It makes you feel really proud.”

For Dambrot, the LeBron you see now is the same LeBron he saw as a 14-year-old freshman in the gym that now adorns the name of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

“I don’t think he has changed much,” Dambrot said. “He has never thought he was better than anyone else and never acted like it, even though he was. He had great relationships with his teammates and everyone who played with him loved playing with him.”

When asked what it feels like to have coached the leading scorer in NBA history, Joyce, paused for a moment.

“That’s kind of wild and hard to believe, I am excited for LeBron,” Joyce said. “I am so proud of him, and I’ll be excited to say I coached the all-time leading scorer in the best basketball league in the world.”