Any NBA fan who has followed LeBron James' career knows that it was his time in high school that set him on a path to become "the Chosen One." But not many people know the intimate details from behind the scenes, as James and four of his best friends grew to become one of the best high school basketball team's the nation has ever seen.

In Bron's new book, 'Shooting Stars,' which he wrote with noted author Buzz Bissinger, King James offers details about how he met his childhood friends and the work they put in to win multiple high school state championships.

The young team was already gaining notoriety around the community, and people knew that whatever high school they went to, they would be making championship runs every year. Most people thought the crew would end up going to Buchtel High School, a predominately black school where basketball was a deep tradition. There was a problem, though. One of James' teammates and best friends, Little Dru Joyce, didn't want to go to Buchtel. ...


"During 'open gyms' at Buchtel in eighth grade, which were basically informal tryouts, Little Dru sensed that the coaching staff saw no immediate future in him -- too short, too scrawny, too little of everything," James writes. "Buchtel was stacked for the coming year, and there was no way Little Dru would make varsity. He would have to start on the junior-varsity team, then methodically work his way up, and Little Dru didn't want to go that route."



The friends then decided to go to St. Vincent-St. Mary high school, a private, predominately white Catholic school that guaranteed Little Dru a spot on the varsity team. The decision didn't go over to well for the people following the boys.

"The four of us may have been brothers to one another, but to many in Akron's black community, we were now traitors who had sold out to the white establishment," James details.

But the guys moved on, and in the book, James talks about the historic championship runs, the media swirling around the players and their post-high school careers. 'Shooting Stars,' which hit shelves this week, is actually a precursor to the documentary 'More Than a Game,' which follows James and his former teammates during their rise. The film hits theaters on Oct. 2. For now, check out the trailer above.

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Quibian Salazar-Moreno covers the sports world for Black Voices. He's a freelance journalist based in Denver who also covers the video game industry, iPhone games world, the music industry and a bunch of other things. Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/q_salazar