Being from Cleveland and a huge Cleveland Cavaliers fan, I figured I owed it to myself to read Shooting Stars, the book by the icon that is Cleveland Cavs basketball – Lebron James (co-written by Buzz Bissinger author of Friday Night Lights). In all fairness, I prefer college basketball to the pro game but I figured this would be a good read nonetheless. Unfortunately I was a bit let down.
Shooting Stars follows James and his buddies (The Fab Five) on their quest to win a national high school basketball championship. We follow them from grade school through their senior season at Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. Some of the games are glossed over which is completely fine. Others are broken down to possession by possession recaps of who scored and how. For someone who enjoys watching college basketball because the game is “more pure” than the pro game this was nice to see, but I have to admit that it got to be a bit much.
Lebron James is obviously the biggest star in this book. Hearing the back stories of the other guys was interesting but in the end became a bit boring to me. The last chapter where we were told how the guys are doing now was rather interesting. If you’re looking for any info about James as a Cavalier go get yourself another book cause there is essentially nothing here for you.
Shooting Stars – Final Thoughts
I will say that this is a quick rather enjoyable read, but it just wasn’t quite what I was expecting. It’s amazing to see what James has accomplished based on where he came from but unless you REALLY like high school basketball you’re probably going to get bogged down in the game details here.
