Mr. Basketball. King James. The Chosen One. NBA Rookie of the Year 2004. NBA All Star 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009. All Star Game MVP 2006, 2008. NBA Scoring Champion 2008. Gold Medal Winner 2008 Olympics. NBA MVP 2009.

They’re all honors bestowed upon LeBron James, the unbelievably talented young superstar of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

And that's only a fraction of the awards he's won and the titles he holds. And it doesn’t include any of the dozens of records he’s broken -- and continues to break.

It’s safe to say LeBron James is the greatest basketball player in the NBA. Probably in the world. Possibly beyond that. I think even Kobe would agree.

But basketball has been much more than a game for LeBron. It's been his coming of age story, played out in front of the entire country ever since he was a junior at St. Vincent-St.Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. This year his story was chronicled in the book Shooting Stars which he co-wrote with Buzz Bissenger, and in the movie More Than A Game written by Kristopher Belman. The movie has plenty of amazing footage taken by Belman himself. It turns out that when he was a college student, Belman thought James’ high school basketball team was pretty good so he decided to film it. That turned out to be more than a little fortuitous. Both the book and the movie have been given excellent reviews by critics. (And both have my personal recommendations.)

LeBron James grabbed the attention of the sports world when, barely 17 years old, he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. That's an honor usually reserved for outstanding college and professional athletes. SI dubbed the teenage basketball phenom "The Chosen One" and the name stuck. In no time, he was the talk of professional basketball.

James again made huge headlines when he signed a contract with Nike in 2003. He was fresh out of high school, only 18 years old. He hadn't been drafted by an NBA team yet (though there was no doubt he would be) nor had he played in a single college, semi-pro or professional level basketball game. Even so, before he ever put on an NBA uniform, he signed an endorsement contract with Nike, the worldwide sports giant.

For 90 million dollars.

Ninety million dollars though he was only 18 years old and hadn't played one minute of professional basketball yet.

And he was worth it.

That's how good LeBron James is.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were lucky enough, thanks mainly to being plenty bad enough, to get the first pick in the 2003 NBA draft. Of course they chose Ohio's 3-time Mr. Basketball, the 6' 8", 240 pound, muscular man-child from Akron, LeBron James.

His impact on the Cavaliers, as well as the rest of the NBA, was immediate and strong. No one had seen anything like him. He wasn't Magic Johnson. He wasn't Michael Jordan. He wasn't Kobe Bryant. And he didn't want to be. He was LeBron James -- and he turned the NBA on its head. Quickly the Cavs went from worst to first. Quickly LeBron grew from a teenager to a man with two young sons. And just as quickly he went from a star to a superstar.

This year the Cleveland Cavaliers have an NBA Championship set firmly in their sites. With James’ free agency looming in July of 2010, many feel this season is almost do-or-die for the Cavs if they expect James to sign with them again.

"One Goal" is the team's motto. "No Excuses" is the team's credo.

Can LeBron James lead the Cavs to the first championship a Cleveland team has seen since 1964?

God, I hope so. As a sports fan, it's hell dealing with the perennial Cleveland Curse -- the worst, most gut-wrenching curse in all of professional sports.

Baseball, football, basketball...they all fall victim to The Curse in some heartbreaking manner time after time. Just when you think maybe it finally died, it reincarnates and laughs at you. (I've heard it.)

Cleveland sports fans are Charlie Brown and the Cleveland Curse is Lucy Van Pelt. No matter what she says, we know Lucy is going to pull the football away before we can kick it. She does it every time. So we’ve had enough. We don’t trust Lucy anymore. We’re not falling for it this time, Lucy.

And then we do.

And then she does.

We’ve become sports sadists. But now we have LeBron. If anyone can break the Cleveland Curse, it’s him. So we’re believing again.

Besides, I could really use a new t-shirt. I want one that says "2009-2010 NBA Champions" on it along with "Cleveland Cavaliers".

Please make it happen, LeBron. Please let it happen, Sports-Gods-Who-Hate-Cleveland.

Basketball is more than a game for us too.

P.S. LeBron will re-sign with the Cavs. So it is written, so it shall be done.