KING WILL RULE? JAMES' MEDIOCRE GAME IN FRONT OF SCOUTS ADDS TO INTRIGUE.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

Among the seniors at St. Vincent-St. Mary High in Akron, Ohio, he is Most Likely to Succeed. Among the young basketball players of America, he is Most Likely to Be the No. 1 Pick in the NBA Draft. Among the young athletes of the world, he is Most Likely to Pocket $20 Million to Wear One Brand of Sneakers Instead of Another.

LeBron James is supposed to be a sure thing.

But let me ask you something.

James, 18, and his high school team played at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday night in a game shown on ESPN2.

If he's really a can't-miss kid, then why is it that, by the count of event organizers, more than half of the NBA teams had their general managers or scouts there to check up on him?

``If he turns out to be one of the top picks, and your (team) owner asks you if you've seen him, you can't lie,'' one GM in attendance said in an attempt to say nothing at all under threat of league fines.

They were at Pauley on Saturday to check up on James not because he's a sure thing, but because there are no sure things in the teenage population, and if he has a flaw, they want to spot it now.

James gave them something to think about, not only the pros but anybody else in the sellout crowd at UCLA's 12,800-seat arena who came to judge for himself.

The can't-miss kid missed.

James finished with a game-high 21 points and was the man among boys for all 32 minutes of St. Vincent-St. Mary's 64-58 victory over Mater Dei High of Santa Ana.

But he also missed the first six times he displayed his beautiful shot, the variety of bricks, snicks and lip-outs drawing murmurs and then soft boos. He went on to miss 16 of his 24 shots - including all nine from 3-point range - while leading all of the players in rebounds with nine and assists with seven. And he was charged with half of St. Vincent-St. Mary's 14 turnovers.

He bickered with the officials after each of his three offensive fouls and proved combative after the game when reporters homed in on his poor shooting.

``I think I played well,'' James said, and he was spectacular now and then, particularly on a between-the-legs bounce pass in the first quarter. ``I did enough to help my team win. Besides not shooting the ball well. It was going in and out. I had an off night, but it was a win.

``I'm just playing my game. If NBA scouts or college scouts don't like my game ... I'm just out there having fun.''

St. Vincent-St. Mary head coach Dru Joyce stuck up for his star.

``Every night you're not going to shoot the ball great,'' Joyce said. ``There's other things. He still rebounded. He still defended.''

Yes, he defended when he felt like it, which was most of the time.

From before the start, it felt as if James' second ESPN live appearance was going to be something other than the perfect showcase.

The game was scheduled for 6:30 p.m., but the second of the two earlier games in the Dream Classic ended in double overtime at 6:35. ESPN pushed the start of its two-hour slot back to 7 p.m.

James and the rest of the Fighting Irish came out for warm-ups. The

6-foot-8, 240-pound forward threw the ball off the backboard, grabbed and dunked it one-handed and the crowd cheered. He missed a dunk and the crowd booed.

When you're the next Michael Jordan, you're judged by a high standard.

``They want to see a show,'' James said with a shrug, this being old hat to him already, this weirdness of high school kids playing arenas and basic cable.

He answers to King James. He has been known to wear sweat bands reading ``The Chosen One,'' which was Sports Illustrated's cover headline about him, and headbands with an NBA logo. His autograph goes for $42 on eBay, his school commanded a $20,000 appearance fee Saturday night, and his exploits are detailed daily on a Cleveland Plain Dealer Web page.

The Goodyear blimp flew over Pauley on Saturday, and the public-address announcer got hysterical and called James ``a young man who changed the game.''

He'd better play in an NBA game before we credit him with changing it.

Sometimes, people wonder about the propriety of teenagers being hyped this big on their way to pro basketball. Sometimes, other people say it's nothing that young tennis players, figure skaters and gymnasts haven't gone through. But it's not an exact comparison.

A kid in those individual sports has to win to move up. Only then does his or her coverage feed off itself. And he or she can achieve enough in a few years to quickly justify the hype.

It's more complicated for a young basketball player. At first his reputation relies on the opinions of scouts and coaches. And whether he's seen as successful depends a lot on how he fits with teammates - and other intangibles that certainly can't be measured at age 18.

Which is why it's going to be fun following this LeBron James story.

Not because he can't miss, but because, as he demonstrated Saturday in Westwood, he can.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) High school phenomenon LeBron James (23) drives past D.J. Strawberry of Mater Dei of Santa Ana on Saturday.

(2) LeBron James of St. Vincent-St. Mary High in Akron, Ohio, is introduced to a sold-out Pauley Pavilion before the game.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer