No one had more attention or faced more pressure coming out of high school than LeBron James. The new Los Angeles Lakers star was anointed ‘The Chosen One’ by Sports Illustrated before he ever stepped foot on an NBA floor.
The pressure on him was unlike anything someone had ever experienced before. However some would disagree with that, and one who would is former Lakers point guard Gary Payton.
An Oakland, Calif., legend, Payton is set to be enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The person inducting him will be his fellow Oakland native and the man he mentored at a young age, Jason Kidd.