The 2003 McDonald's All-American Boys Game was an All-star

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

game played on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, home of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. The game's rosters featured the best and most highly recruited high school boys graduating in 2003. The game was the 26th annual version of the McDonald's All-American Game first played in 1978.

2003 game

The game was telecast live by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

Luol Deng Luol Ajou Deng (born 16 April 1985) is a British former professional basketball player. He was a two-time NBA All-Star and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2012. Born in what is now South Sudan, Deng fled the country with his ...

, Olu Famutimi and

David Padgett David Christopher Padgett (born February 13, 1985) is an American former basketball coach and player. As a college basketball player, he had played for the Kansas Jayhawks before transferring and finishing his career at Louisville. High school ...

did not play due to injuries.

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...

, who played wearing number 32 instead of his usual 23, since that number was retired in honor of Michael Jordan, was named the game's MVP after finishing with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. James was the East team leading scorer, while

Shannon Brown Shannon Brown (born November 29, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. He attended Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois, was named Illinois Mr. Basketball in 2003, and played college basketball for Michigan State ...

led the West team with 23 points.

Chris Paul Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985), nicknamed "CP3" and “The Point God”, is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Paul is widely regarded as one o ...

finished with a game-high 10 assists. Of the players who participated in this game, 5 declared for the

2003 NBA Draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

and were selected: LeBron James (1st overall pick),

Travis Outlaw Travis Marquez “Bonesaw” Outlaw (born September 18, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. High school career Outlaw attended Starkville High School, where he played for the Starkville Yellowjackets high school basketbal ...

(1st round, 23rd overall), Ndudi Ebi (1st round, 26th overall),

Kendrick Perkins Kendrick Le'Dale "Perk" Perkins (born November 10, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst for ESPN. He entered the NBA directly out of high school and played for the Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder ...

(1st round, 27th overall) and James Lang (2nd round, 48th overall).

East roster

West roster

Coaches

The East team was coached by: * Head Coach Ron Hecklinski of Anderson High School (

Anderson, Indiana Anderson, named after Chief William Anderson, is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Madison County. Anderson ...

) * Asst Coach Joe Nadaline of Anderson High School (

) * Asst Coach Doug Mitchell of North Central High School (

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

) The West team was coached by: * Head Coach Gary Ernst of Mountain View High School ( Mesa, Arizona) * Asst Coach Dennis McGowan of Mountain View High School ( Mesa, Arizona) * Asst Coach Jason Palmer of Mountain View High School ( Mesa, Arizona)

References

External links

McDonald's All-American on the web
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald's 2002–03 in American basketball 2003 2003 in sports in Ohio Basketball in Cleveland