LeBron James met Donovan McNabb, ordered a cheesesteak in South Philly, and stayed at a hotel just a few blocks from City Hall when he visited Philadelphia for the first time. But James — then a high school senior — had no interest in trekking to the Liberty Bell.
“LeBron was giving me a lot of flak about it,” said Jeremy Treatman, who organized the showcase at the Palestra in December 2002 that brought James to Philly. “I said, ‘I cannot in good faith let you come to Philadelphia and not go to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.’ I remember him saying, ‘I don’t want to see no damn bell.’”
James returned to Philadelphia on Friday as an all-time great, signing a two-year contract with the Sixers that should cap his NBA career in the city he toured as a teenager. He arrived here in 2002 as a 17-year-old who just wanted to play basketball six months before turning pro.
James was such a draw — Sports Illustrated labeled him “The Chosen One” earlier that year — that Treatman sold out the Palestra without advertising the game between James’ St. Vincent-St. Mary High of Akron, Ohio, and Philly’s Strawberry Mansion.
James was an attraction like the Liberty Bell.
“I had an office at 1420 Walnut St. and people were just coming off the street and coming up the elevator and buying tickets left and right,” said Treatman, who started organizing high school basketball games three years earlier. “It was great. Once or twice or three times in my lifetime, I could imagine a moment like that.”
Treatman heard about James a year earlier and went to Akron to see him play. Treatman had been an assistant at Lower Merion when Kobe Bryant was a high schooler. He called Gregg Downer, the Lower Merion coach, and said he was watching another Bryant.
“I said, ‘I think I just saw someone as good if not better than Kobe, and I can’t believe what I’m saying,’” Treatman said.
He contacted St. Vincent-St. Mary with a proposal to host a series of games the next season. Treatman sent a fax to James’ coach with the plan: Madison Square Garden, Ohio State, University of Dayton, the Palestra, and the University of North Carolina.
“He called the next day and said, ‘You can get us to play at the Palestra?’ I said, ‘Absolutely,’” Treatman said. “He called back three hours later and said, ‘I’ve always wanted to play at the Palestra. We’re in.’ I was like, ‘Holy s—. This is really happening.’ They all happened, except for Madison Square Garden. I chickened out on that one. They wanted $90,000, and I certainly didn’t have that money back then. But I should’ve borrowed it. I should’ve.”
Chester, St. Joseph’s Prep, and Cardinal Dougherty would have given James’ squad a better game. But none of those teams had Maureece Rice, who was nearing Wilt Chamberlain’s Philadelphia high school scoring record. Treatman knew that Rice, who was nicknamed “The Score Lord,” playing James would be an event.
The team from the Public League was happy to get picked to play James.
“You have to understand something: We’re from the Strawberry Mansion section of North Philadelphia,” said Marc Starling, then a Mansion assistant. “That’s big time to be able to play someone so great in your city. We felt very honored. Now, I’m so glad he picked the Sixers. I’m an older guy, and I haven’t been this excited about a player coming to Philadelphia since the Sixers got Dr. J. You believe that?”
The event included other games, as Kyle Lowry’s Dougherty squad and a Penn Charter team featuring future NFL quarterback Matt Ryan served as opening acts for James vs. Rice.
“This place held 8,117, and somehow 9,000 people got in,” Treatman said. “I know I was at fault for letting at least 100 extra media people come in. I remember Howard Eskin was late, and I gave him a ticket. World Wide Wes [basketball power broker William Wesley] and Allen Iverson came late, and we got them in. There were no seats. There was this crazy aura to see this guy who people were hearing could be the greatest player of all time. So everyone wanted to see him.”
The game was a 85-47 blowout, as Strawberry Mansion could not keep pace with James’ squad, which was the No. 1 team in the country with three Division I players.
“The most important thing I remember about that game was just how humble they were and their sportsmanship,” Starling said. “They were a national team. We were a local team. The score showed the difference, but their attitude was great. They had a lot of respect for Maureece. It’s like it was yesterday. It’s a blessing to see LeBron’s growth from there to now.”
The many fans were restless as James’ squad pulled away. Treatman remembered James’ mother starting to push back against the Philly fans. Finally, the crowd got what it wanted. With seven minutes left, James pointed to Rice and told everyone else to get out of the way.
“They played one-on-one for about a four-minute stretch in a team basketball game,” Treatman said. “It was the most brilliant thing I’ve ever seen. LeBron was brilliant. He said, ‘This is what the fans came to see. The game’s out of hand. Let’s have some fun here.’ That was pretty remarkable. I remember saying, ‘LeBron is so smart. Like a marketing genius.’”
James knocked down a three in front of Rice. And then Rice brought the ball down the court as the crowd stood. He hit a crossover dribble as James slipped on the court as if he was on skates. The crowd roared, and some fans came onto the court.
“I had him set up, crossed one way, and he went the other way,” Rice said in 2011 before James played at the Palestra during the NBA lockout. “Next thing you know, he fell, and the crowd just went bananas. LeBron was the No. 1 player, and the things he does now, it’s something no one will forget.”
Forget that Rice’s ensuing three-pointer didn’t even touch the rim and that James’ squad won by 38. The crossover — and the reaction of the crowd — became an iconic moment in Philly hoops.
“It’s sort of like when Allen Iverson crossed over [Michael] Jordan as a rookie,” Starling said. “It was showing the world that Maureece Rice was very good, too. He was an exceptional basketball player. It was like being a father and seeing your son do something so great and show the world what you already knew he could do. That’s how I felt when I saw him make his move. I had been coaching him since the seventh grade and that was one of the proudest moments. He didn’t hit the shot, but he showed the world what he was about.”
The game aired live on cable and James was interviewed afterward by Gregg Murphy, now a Phillies radio broadcaster.
“The atmosphere was really great,” James told him. “All of these people came to watch these two teams play. It was great for the community and for our school, for Akron, Ohio. I like stuff like this. It was pretty fun.”
James asked his coach to tell Treatman they weren’t going to the Liberty Bell. But the coach said he had to go. He wanted the trip to be more than just basketball. They met with McNabb and Andy Reid at the Eagles’ practice facility, ate cheesesteaks at Pat’s, and then went to Independence Hall.
“The guide at Independence Hall started talking about the history of slaves and the history of Black people in Philadelphia,” Treatman said. “All of a sudden, LeBron and his teammates started asking question after question after question. They really enjoyed the education. That was my whole point. You’re coming to Philadelphia, and this is the birthplace of America. You have to learn what happened here.”
Treatman dropped the team off at the airport the day after the game and said farewell to the kid who would become a great.
“He came up and shook my hand and said, ‘Thanks for taking us to the Liberty Bell,’” Treatman said. “‘That was the most meaningful moment of the weekend for me.’ That was 24 years ago. It’s kind of incredible and surreal that it’s happening now. I hope it’s a great final chapter and he becomes the first guy to win a championship with four different teams.”
