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James is NBA Rookie of the Year; Anthony second

By TOM WITHERS, AP Sports Writer
April 20, 2004

CLEVELAND (AP) -- LeBron James won the NBA Rookie of the Year award Tuesday, capping a remarkable season in which he revived the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The 19-year-old guard more than lived up to unprecedented hype in jumping straight from high school to the pros, becoming the youngest player to receive the award.

James, last year's No. 1 overall draft pick, beat out Denver's Carmelo Anthony, his close friend. Anthony, also 19, played one season of college basketball, leading Syracuse to the NCAA championship.

At a news conference at Gund Arena, James thanked Anthony.

``I really felt like it was going to be a close race,'' James said. ``He had a phenomenal season also.''

James received 508 points, including 78 of a possible 118 first-place votes, to become the first Cleveland rookie honored.

Anthony finished with 430 points -- with the other 40 first-place votes -- in balloting by sports writers and broadcasters. Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat was third with 117 points.

Players received 5 points for a first-place vote, 3 for second and 1 for third. Chicago's Kirk Hinrich, Toronto's Chris Bosh and Dallas' Marquis Daniels also got votes.

James was to receive his trophy Tuesday night at the NBA Store in New York.

The Associated Press reported Saturday, citing a source, that James would win the award.

Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns won last season's award, becoming the first player to do so after turning pro directly from high school.

James came straight out of high school, too. But that's where the similarities end.

No player entered the league with as much fanfare as James, and no player was expected to do as much. And the Akron native delivered.

He averaged 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists, joining Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only NBA rookies to average at least 20-5-5.

``He proved to all of us that he is up for a challenge. He exceeded all of our expectations and just kept raising the bar,'' Cavaliers owner Gordon Gund said.

Anthony had similar numbers (21 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists) and led the Nuggets to the playoffs a year after they went 17-65.

The Cavaliers had the same record last season. With James, they went 35-47 and finished ninth in the Eastern Conference, one spot out of the playoffs.

``He put us on his back,'' forward Carlos Boozer said last week. ``At the beginning, people were almost hoping he'd fail. He didn't. Not only that, he did everything with a smile.''

James helped the Cavs' average home attendance jump from 11,497 to 18,288 -- the highest increase in history for a team that didn't move into a new building.

First, they get defensive player right, now ROY. All that's left is to hand Garnett the MVP, and Randolf the most improved.

I know LeBron and Melo have similar stats, but the simple fact is anyone who really knows hoops can see LeBron is just a better player. There's just something about him that nobody else has. Now all the Cavs need to do is get a little more help on that squad and the Cavs will be a force in the East.