Shooting Stars
Written by LeBron James and Buzz Bissinger
Narrated by Moe Irvin
3.5/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
The Shooting Stars were a bunch of kids-LeBron James and his best friends-from Akron, Ohio, who first met on a youth basketball team of the same name when they were ten and eleven years old. United by their love of the game and their yearning for companionship, they quickly forged a bond that would carry them through thick and thin (a lot of thin) and, at last, to a national championship in their senior year of high school.
They were a motley group who faced challenges all too typical of inner-city America. LeBron grew up without a father and had moved with his mother more than a dozen times by the age of ten. Willie McGee, the quiet one, had left both his parents behind in Chicago to be raised by his older brother in Akron. Dru Joyce was outspoken, and his dad was ever present; he would end up coaching all five of the boys in high school. Sian Cotton, who also played football, was the happy-go-lucky enforcer, while Romeo Travis was unhappy, bitter, even surly, until he finally opened himself up to the bond his teammates offered him.
In the summer after seventh grade, the Shooting Stars tasted glory when they qualified for a national championship tournament in Memphis. But they lost their focus and had to go home early. They promised one another they would stay together and do whatever it took to win a national title.
They had no idea how hard it would be to fulfill that promise. In the years that followed, they would endure jealousy, hostility, exploitation, resentment from the black community (because they went to a "white" high school), and the consequences of their own overconfidence. Not least, they would all have to wrestle with LeBron's outsize success, which brought too much attention and even a whiff of scandal their way. But together these five boys became men, and together they claimed the prize they had fought for all those years-a national championship.
Shooting Stars is a stirring depiction of the challenges that face America's youth today and a gorgeous evocation of the transcendent impact of teamwork.
Editor's Note
NBA All-Stars…
While Team LeBron will be facing Team Steph in the NBA All-Stars game this year, this book is the story of the original Team LeBron, the Shooting Stars. See how LeBron conquered the struggles of growing up in the inner-city to become a super star.
LeBron James
LeBron James is widely considered to be the best basketball player in the world and one of the greatest players of all time. James has won four NBA championships, two Olympic gold medals, and four league MVP titles. James grew up in Akron, Ohio, where he continues to create generational change through his LeBron James Family Foundation that focuses its efforts on helping youth achieve a better future through education. In 2018, his foundation opened the I PROMISE School, designed to help underprivileged students and their entire families succeed in school and beyond.
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Reviews for Shooting Stars
17 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5insight into a champions life of friendship love and determination
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Beginnings In this narrative in first person, Lebron James talks about the formation of his high school basketball team and the challenges it faces in order to climb the ladder all the way to the top. The bonds that exists between the players, the style of play that the team developed and its growth as a team are exposed with details. In the book one can also know Lebron’s point of view about some challenges that he faced (e.g., the controversy about the car he received from his mother). Good reading.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The only thing weirder than Lebron James' need to revisit his high school days is George Lucas need to revisit the Clone Wars.It is a little disconcerting and a tad creepy that a guy with a chance to be the best NBA player ever needs to rehash his high school days and stroke his (even in his own book) unlikable buddies. Maybe Bron just wants Dru, Sian, Romeo and Willie to walk the red carpet but share in his fame, but sheesh.More on that later.But the writing is weak too. The cliff hanger idea is used over and over, "The ball was in the air....I wanted it to go in...." at least three times. There is needless detail like running scores, including every single hoop from one game. "4-2 Romeo with a layup, 4-4, I get a steal and a dunk 6-4..." God Lebron or Buzz or whoever wrote it make it stop! Skip to the end where the ball stays in the air and it feels good, but will it go in?!!!Back to his team-mates. The two main characters Dru Joyce and Sian Cotton come across as spoiled brats, despite Lebron's stroking. Dru in particular seems a real little prick, disrespecting his father, coaches, team-mates, etc. What Lebron believes or pretends to believe is as amazing as any highlight from Sports Center. A rival High School coach recruited his disgruntled friend (the ever prickly Joyce) because he liked his game and the fact he was Lebron James' best friend was not part of it. What a great guy that high school coach was. When Lebron's mom got a loan for his three television Hummer when he was still in High School even though she couldn't make her rent payments unaided Lebron thought it was "maybe" a bit much. When his friend Romeo who Lebron describes as angry, abusive, and a "rude asshole" is kicked out of school it was because a teacher "over reacted" to an innocent comment.But, Lebron remains a likable guy. It really is amazing he survived the media crush and lived up to the hype. The most interesting parts of the book are how he and his friends handled and mishandled their celebrity. And for the record I don't begrudge him the Hummer, even in high school people were making a lot of money off him. But these passages are too few and the "Little Dru hit a three" parts are far too many. It is a bit too modest that he talks about crowds coming to see his team. Lebron they were coming to see you. The rest of the fab five, not so much.