I remember chatting with Leon Powe at The Q last spring, during the '08 playoffs, and when I asked him about teaming up with LeBron James on some AAU teams during their teenage years, his patented Celtic scowl turned into one huge grin. He, LeBron and Kendrick Perkins were just three of the notable names, when AAU teams could "recruit" whomever they wanted. And who didn't want the superstar from Akron.

Leon recalled a time during a camp prior to their junior year, so we're talking about the summer of '01, when Leon was a high flying dunker from Oakland Tech and considered one of the top juniors in the nation. He asked a counselor how good was this James kid from Ohio and he was told he's pretty good. After Leon saw him in one game, he said, this guy IS good. Then, he watched him again, and thought, man, "he is REAL GOOD", and right there knew King James was going to take away his chance of becoming the best of the '03 class.

Today, Leon reminisced about those days, as he looks forward to being on LeBron's side again. One memory that came to mind from a summer camp, which attracted all the best high schoolers in the country, including Brooklyn's Lenny Cooke, who was New York's supposed future star, to follow the many who preceded him. The hype machine had convinced everyone that Cook would demolish everyone, including this phenom, known as King James. Leon remembers everyone asking LeBron how he was going to possibly stop Lenny Cooke and Leon noticed LBJ was saying very little, just taking it all in, thinking I'll show you. And when the game began, it was no contest, Leon recalled, he says LeBron scored 24 points before Cook even managed to score! Leon himself had a good game with 24 points and a handful of boards, but he knew that very day, LeBron James would become something special.

Now, Leon will get to watch those LBJ routines in practice every day. And if the newest Cav can come back from knee surgery the way he knows he has before, it will be like those ABCD summer camps all over again. The class of '03 lives on!