Kevin Frazier

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Friday, January 31
Updated: April 22, 12:55 PM ET
 
No pain for LeBron, no gain for Ohio

By Kevin Frazier
Special to ESPN.com

The Ohio High School Athletic Association is unfairly assessing the situation with Lebron James. Players get gear all the time. And they're just now talking about it? Clearly, they're targeting James because he's the hot story of the moment. Everyone wants to mess with him. And that's just sad.

LeBron James
Ohio school officials won't be able to cash in on LeBron James' dunks anymore.
Right now, James must be hurt from this decision. I'm sure he wants to finish the season with his school and his teammates, so I would expect an appeal is imminent.

This is actually a good thing for James. Phil Knight is waiting. And now, he's free to sign a $20 million deal with Nike and go on with his life.

Taking away James' last few high school games will only make him bitter and keep him from coming back. So, they're biting the hand that will inevitably feed them. Remember, when Tracy McGrady signed his first NBA contract, he immediately donated $300,000 to Mount Zion Christian Academy, his high school in North Carolina. And earlier this season, we saw T-Mac go back to have his jersey retired. There were good feelings and he donated large sums of money.

James will hate Akron, but it's all good. He'll be fine.

On the other hand, the OHSAA lost their hot commodity over a petty matter. Way to go.

Kevin Frazier is the studio host of "NBA Shootaround" on Tuesdays and "NBA Friday" on ESPN.





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