“He don’t wanna be judged for making the wrong play. I don’t care about making the wrong play,” bitterly said the then-No.1 prospect, whose limelight LeBron James snatched once and for all. Before the young prodigy made it to the SI’s ‘Chosen One’ cover page, it was someone else who had the hoop nation’s attention. King James came out of nowhere and snatched it. Watching all this from a close quarter, King James’ former high school coach Keith Dambrot, who ‘voluntarily’ left him, narrated the wistful story from the past.

We aren’t holding back the name anymore. It’s Leonard ‘Lenny’ Cooke. Importantly, LeBron James wasn’t entirely responsible for his fallen career, as Cooke had made a few questionable decisions. Apart from skipping college to declare for the NBA draft, he has a pretty damp off-court record. ESPN’s draft tracker stated, “remains a risky pick, based on his unpredictable nature off the court.”

Nevertheless, it was the 2001 ABCD Camp that altered Cooke’s career, which was on its journey to become a decorated one. In the previous year, the then-No.1 prospect won the MVP award at the ABCD Camp. When he looked to repeat it, Cooke came across Bron for the first time. In a game against each other, James started a diminishing domino effect when he stole the ball from his hand and scored the game-winning bucket.

Speaking of a 16-year-old James’ performance in the camp, Keith Dambrot told Brian Windhorst and The Hoop Collective, “LeBron kind of tore up everybody when he felt like it and you know, he probably ruined Lenny Cooke’s career even because at that point he was the number one player in the country and LeBron wasn’t, that was right when I left.” While Coach Dambrot addressed the trigger of Cooke’s downfall, he segued into one of the controversial decisions of his coaching career involving the elephant in the room.

Did Coach Dambrot leave LeBron James voluntarily? Why?

Looking back at the superstar’s track record, anyone could have miscalculated before voluntarily leaving LeBron James. Well, that has been the case with Keith Dambrot, as he said, “I’m not too smart. I’m the only one that’s dumb enough to leave LeBron James and go to Duquesne, where the last 9 coaches have been fired.” 

LeBron stans, who watched the screen adaptation of the superstar’s high school life ‘Shooting Stars’ would know the scene where Dambrot left the superstar to coach Duquesne University. It indeed happened and Dambrot went on to coach the college team for 26 years and retired this year. He was influential in taking the team to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1977.

Speaking of Dambrot’s decision, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, who was present on the panel, dropped an interesting trivia. He added, “You’re the only coach who ever left LeBron voluntarily. A lot of others have not had the option.” In response, Dambrot, with a smile on his face, sarcastically said, ” That’s probably true. I should be thankful for that,” leading the live audience to burst into laughter.

It’s certainly a regretful decision to leave the superstar abruptly, who then goes on to become one of the greatest ballers of all time. What do you make of the bittersweet anecdote? Let us know in the comments.

Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.