THIS EARL IS A DUKE OF EXAMPLE.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

The face of this NBA draft is LeBron James, the high school kid whose raw talent has pro basketball and advertisers kissing his $90 million feet.

But let's hope the heart of this NBA draft is young men like the one who's wearing workout gear as he chats over a salad lunch in a restaurant not far from his personal trainer's gym in Westwood Village.

``I'm a living example of everything I say,'' said Earl Watson, the Memphis Grizzlies guard from UCLA who can talk all day about the benefits of perseverance, hard work, college experience, listening to your elders and giving back to your community.

Earl Watson was far from a No. 1 pick being measured for stardom - or his own line of sneakers - when he entered the 2001 draft. He was a No. 40 pick, the second-round choice of the Seattle SuperSonics. He was no sure thing to make that stumbling team.

Handed nothing but a chance to learn and polish whatever skills he'd acquired in four years under Bruins coach Steve Lavin, he grabbed the role of understudy to Sonics point guard Gary Payton and impressed people around the league with his play and leadership off the bench.

One of those people was Grizzlies president Jerry West, who signed Watson for three years and $4 million and watched him earn steadily expanding minutes last season, highlighted by a 21-point, eight-rebound, six-assist game against the New Jersey Nets in one of his two chances to start.

``My role has grown every year,'' Watson said Wednesday afternoon, ``and I expect it to grow this year. I'm far from being content.''

It shows in the 24-year-old's offseason routine, which includes workouts six days a week with trainer Todd Pearson since Watson returned to Los Angeles on Thursday from his hometown of Kansas City.

And it shows in his in-season habit of getting to Grizzlies practice sessions early, working up a sweat before teammates hit the floor.

Watson talks proudly of the day toward the end of last season when Grizzlies coach Hubie Brown told him, ``Earl, take a break! Do it for me!''

It's an ethic that Watson plans to preach to the 8- to 17-year-old kids attending the basketball camp he'll headline next week at Taft High in Woodland Hills.

``I'm the type of guy who likes to focus my whole summer on getting ready for next season, but I thought this was a good chance to give back to Los Angeles,'' Watson said. ``I grew up in Kansas City. But I became a man in L.A. People here did a lot to support me. It was something that a lot of college (recruiters) said wouldn't happen.''

When Watson was a kid, flipping the switches for the scoreboard clock at Kansas City summer pro league games, he was encouraged in his basketball dreams by Danny Manning.

He hopes to have the same effect on the kids at the Team Prime Time Basketball Camp Featuring Earl Watson next Monday to Thursday. (Sign-ups: [phone]. Enrollment costs $250.)

``He embodies what our program is about - hard work and doing things the right way,'' said Peter Straus, executive director of Team Prime Time, a not-for-profit organization whose after-school basketball programs will benefit from the camp proceeds. ``It's an honor to have him associated with it.''

Watson can speak from experience about the value of not getting discouraged.

``You're going to have obstacles, in sports and in life,'' he said. ``I've been around a lot of great people, and they succeed because they're mentally tough.''

Watson can speak from experience about listening to those great people.

Payton, despite his brash exterior, was ``the ultimate professional, the ultimate competitor. His confidence rubbed off on me,'' Watson said. Lavin, maligned and ultimately replaced by Ben Howland, set an example with his resiliency, turning a negative-minded kid from a rough part of Kansas City into ``a positive person,'' Watson said. West has proven to be a John Wooden-like inspiration because ``he's the only guy who hates losing more than me,'' Watson said.

Watson can speak from experience about the value of college. He could tell it not only to the campers but to a lot of today's NBA draftees. Including LeBron James, the 18-year-old who will be taken by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the No. 1 pick.

``I'm glad I took the route I took,'' said Watson, who played the full four seasons at UCLA, setting school records for career starts (129) and steals (235) and making All-Pac-10 as a senior. ``Without UCLA, I don't think I'd be mentally prepared for the NBA. The spotlight and the media made me tougher. I think that's why I've surprised a lot of people.''

The Kansas native knew he wasn't in Westwood anymore during his first NBA training camp, when he saw veteran players, many of them with families, getting cut and traded.

``The NBA is a profession and it's highly stressful. You're expected to be a perfectionist,'' said Watson, who averaged 5.5 points last season. ``What would I tell the guys in the draft? Be ready to work. Take it seriously. Leave the partying alone.''

LeBron James has it made before he begins.

Everybody else is going to have to work for it.

For them, Earl Watson is setting the example.