<|endoftext|> we played a couple games and I was like, 'Man, he's really good.' After four or more games went by, I said, 'Coach Marc, I need to talk to you for a second.'
"Coach Marc said, 'What's up big fellah?' I was like, 'This dude isn't in my class is he?' Marc said, 'Big fellah, I am afraid so.' "
Powe said he and James became friends quickly and hung out during his following Bay Area trips. Powe said he would take him to play pickup basketball and eat at restaurants in San Francisco and Oakland. James' silly side also entertained Powe.
"He was real funny," Powe said. "One time we were in a layup line for a game and he was eating an ice cream cone in one hand and dribbling with the other."
Andrews and Olivier made a trip to Akron to watch James play during his sophomore year at Saint Vincent-Saint Mary High School and stayed at Dambrot's home. Andrews and Olivier said they met James' mother Gloria and James' other close friends.
"That was when the bond got tight," Andrews said. "That was when Glo said, 'These dudes are cool.' That solidified our relationship with the kid being a Soldier."
James' first major tournament for the Soldiers was during the Pump N Run Tournament in Los Angeles in March 2001. Andrews said James grew to 6-7 and was "jumping out the gym." Olivier said James' problem at that time was he was silly and didn't play hard all the time. But after James got fouled real hard in one game, Olivier said he started to dominate and the Soldiers won the tournament.
"That's when the world started seeing LeBron James," Andrews said.
Said Olivier: "LeBron put on a show."
By that time, James' popularity was growing fast nationally. Aware Nike was also growing interested in James, Andrews said he and Adidas representative Chris Rivers tried several times to try to convince Vaccaro to come watch him play.
"Sonny told me, 'I'm not going to [expletive] Akron,' " Andrews said. "Me and Chris Rivers eventually convinced – the key word, 'convinced' – Sonny to see this kid."
Andrews, Rivers and Vaccaro decided to have the Soldiers put together an unpublicized two-game showcase at the University of San Francisco in May 2001. Andrews said Adidas paid for James and his family. Dambrot and another Saint Vincent-Saint Mary coach, Dru Joyce to come to the Bay Area. Vaccaro and his wife, Pam, also made the trip, as well as other Adidas basketball representatives.
"That was the weekend that changed everything," Andrews said.
The James crew and Vaccaro stayed at the Oakland Downtown Marriott, which also has a facility on the premise that hosts the Warriors' offices and practice court. The night before James played in front of Vaccaro, Andrews said he and Rivers visited him in his hotel room. Rivers also surprised James with his own personalized Adidas shoe that read "LBJ #23" on the back.
Andrews believes that was the first personalized shoe ever made for a high school basketball player.
"Chris says, 'Let us show you how we roll,' " Andrews said. "He took one shoe and tossed it to the kid. LeBron caught it and said, 'Oh my God.' He was ecstatic. It had his initial and number on it. He couldn't believe it.
"Chris said, 'I will give you the other shoe if we all agree you're with the Adidas family.' He said, 'I'm with the family. I'm with the family. I want to play in these tomorrow.' So we gave in and gave him the other shoe."
Vaccaro watched from the stands the next day as James took the court. But in the first game, James did not play well or look motivated. He also looked uncomfortable in his Adidas shorts.
LeBron James and Jaidan Olivier. (Special to Yahoo Sports)
"You could tell by his body language that Sonny was disappointed," Andrews said.
Sensing James was ruining a potentially lucrative opportunity, Dambrot took him outside the gym and gave him some choice words. James came back and dominated the next game.
"The first game he was fooling with his shorts, wasn't playing really hard and wasn't playing really good," Dambrot said. "I just remember going into the hallway and saying, 'LeBron, look, I am not going to tell you what to do. That's a pretty powerful guy watching and you are out there [expletive] around. You need to play a little bit.'
"He said, 'Coach, my shorts are bothering me.' I told him, '