He made the cover of Sports Illustrated as a junior, was featured on national television, and signed more than $100 million in promotional contracts before the end of his senior year. He became the no-doubt-about-it No. 1 pick in the NBA draft right after high school graduation.

Why the big fuss over LeBron James?

The odds were against him from the start. Born in poverty to a 16-year-old single mom, without a stable home for the first decade of his life, LeBron could have become just one more scarred product of a rough childhood in the projects.

Instead, he became the darling of the sports world—and he plays the part well.

Sportswriter David Lee Morgan, Jr. covered the phenomenon for the Akron Beacon Journal and had frequent access to LeBron and his family, coaches, teammates and best friends. He witnessed firsthand the exceptional plays on the basketball court. But he also saw LeBron develop the surprising poise with which he handled the pressure, the scrutiny and criticism, that arrived with the early onset of fame—as a circus-like atmosphere descended on this talented kid and his small parochial school in Akron, Ohio.

In this book, Morgan gives an inside look at the rise of basketball’s hottest prospect, poised at the brink of superstardom. It’s a story for any fan who wants to get to know LeBron better, and for anyone curious about how a high-school basketball phenom is made.