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CHARITA GOSHAY: LeBron shoots and shoots and shoots for the top

Last Thursday night, the Detroit Pistons might have been better off had they

just pelted LeBron James with Kryptonite.

Instead, the Cleveland Cavaliers' phenom served up a nearly single-handed

thumping that hard-luck Cleveland sports fans will celebrate for years to

come.

There are times in life when a person simply won't be denied. Unfortunately

for Detroit, Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals was one of those

moments.

But amid the postgame superlatives and swooning, one detail didn't get as

much attention as it probably deserved. It was the fact that James arrived

at Detroit's Palace at Auburn Hills that day a full three hours before the

game to practice his shooting.

Shooting star

Just 22, James already grasps the notion that lasting talent must be

anchored in hard work. Many stars streak across the sky (see: Clarett,

Maurice). True luminescence comes from the lonely drudgery of running laps

at dawn, studying game film or three-hour shootarounds -- tasks that

frequently get overlooked in the sexy spectacle that has become professional

sports.

James demonstrated that real, lasting success requires effort, and there's

never been a way around it. It's how life separates the might-have-beens

from the sure bet, the good from the great.

Michael Jordan morphed into "Air Jordan" by becoming a gym rat. He often was the first person to show up on the court and the last person to leave it.

It was said that other professional golfers were stunned to learn that

Tiger Woods performs hundreds of sit-ups a day and can bench-press 300

pounds. What a concept: Approaching golf as though it were a sport rather

than a game. Now, some people are turned off by Woods' supreme confidence in his own abilities, but as St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Dizzy Dean once remarked, "It ain't bragging if you can do it."

Flame out

Despite their natural gifts, James, Jordan and Woods understand that when

you can do what you do better than anyone else, success is inevitable.

One of the dangers in having extraordinary talent can be in forgetting that

it demands constant care. In this sports-crazy community, we've seen

firsthand what happens when high-school athletes give more credence to a

booster's backslaps than their coach or family. Seduced by their own press

clippings, such athletes frequently flame out in college because they aren't

prepared and aren't willing or able to embrace the discipline required to

compete at a level where everyone was once a high-school star.

You see them as adults, haunting the sidelines of their former playing

fields where the world and opportunity once lay at their feet.

In the glare of a spotlight that so frequently consumes others, James has

remained remarkably unscathed. How many of us, as a 22-year-old millionaire sports god, would be so ... well, sane? Though James is financially set for life -- he hangs out with Warren Buffet, for Pete's sake -- he probably would trade a chunk of it for just one NBA championship. That's because money comes and goes. Rings last forever.

When James' day arrives, it won't be because of his net worth or because

he's a nice kid who deserves it. It will be because he has earned it.

Reach Canton Repository writer Charita Goshay at (330) 580-8313 or e-mail:

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