The whole event now exists as a time machine to an era when baggy shorts were in vogue and “Zoom generation” referred only to a style of Nikes. Magic Johnson had been enlisted for the opening montage of the broadcast. James’ arrival had coincided with the evolution of the Rookie Challenge from a Saturday matinee event into a primetime extravaganza. “They didn’t have the rookie game when Michael Jordan came out and a lot of the other greats, but they do now.” “The first time we’ve had such a glittering headliner as a rookie,” TNT announcer Dick Stockton boomed on the broadcast. The chin that would one day sprout tufts of gray could, for now, only produce the shadow of a goatee. Any frustration over being passed over for the main event 48 hours later was temporarily on hold. On that February Friday night back in 2004, James’ eyes sparkled below a white headband as he scanned his Staples Center surroundings. “It was sort of awkward that these guys are playing in this Rookie-Sophomore game when they probably should have been in the varsity game,” said Mike Dunleavy Jr., then a second-year guard with Golden State.
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