LAF PRESENTS THE STEP BACK - The Chosen One (feat. Sonny Vaccaro)

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Meadowlark Media

Sports

4.7 • 32.4K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2026

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the season premiere, Dan, Amin, and Izzy go back to the Sports Illustrated cover that turned a teenager into an industry, re-reading the prophecy with the very people who helped craft it. Plus: a resplendent Sonny Vaccaro joins us to re-live his failed $100 million offer to bring The Kid from Akron to Adidas. All that AND real talk about LeBron's untold origin story. Homework for this episode: • "Ahead of His Class" by Grant Wahl (Sports Illustrated, 2002) https://vault.si.com/vault/2002/02/18/ahead-of-his-class-ohio-high-school-junior-lebron-james-is-so-good-that-hes-already-being-mentioned-as-the-heir-to-air-jordan Homework for the next week's episode: • "The Decision" (ESPN, 2010) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afpgnb_9bA4 From our guest: • "Legends and Soles: The Memoir of an American Original" by Sonny Vaccaro with Armen Keteyian https://www.harpercollins.com/products/legends-and-soles-sonny-vaccaroarmen-keteyian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Dan, what is this relic that you're holding in your hands? Describe what you're holding.
0:05.1	I'm looking right now at Pudge Rodriguez's statue that he used to have on his front lawn of himself.
0:10.1	It's ridiculous. But it's an artifact, an heirloom from a different time when people would read.
0:14.8	I don't even know where you'd get this now. But it's LeBron cover. And it is crazy to think that this was all preordained, that everyone knew this was going to happen by putting a 17-year-old on the cover.
0:26.6	Dan, I'm going to help you get into that frame of mind. So it's February 2002. This part might not help me. The Patriots had just won the Super Bowl.
0:34.7	That could be at any time. It could be at any time in this century. On top of the billboard charts, Jarlal and Ashanti, always on time. Yep. Right behind them, Nickelback. Nice. Nickelback, how you were... So a long time ago. Been a long time ago. Different time. Do you, Dan, now that I've painted the picture, do you remember where you were or your thoughts when you saw that initially?
0:56.6	Okay, I'm looking at this now.
0:58.3	I'm looking at the headline now.
1:00.4	And you tell me what I'm supposed to think when this is a headline on a story about a 17-year-old that's in a national magazine.
1:07.4	Ohio High School Jr.
1:10.8	LeBron James is so good that he's already being mentioned
1:13.4	as the heir to air Jordan.
1:15.4	Get the fuck out of here.
1:17.3	You can't write that headline
1:19.4	about a 17 year old and take it seriously?
1:22.7	I'm tired of this man being celebrated.
1:25.5	For what?
1:26.3	This is the step back.
1:28.1	Thanks drive steps back.
1:29.4	Puts up a three.
1:30.7	And LeBron James from downtown.
1:34.0	The Cleveland Cavaliers select LeBron James.
	...

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