one week to go before we play for real... preseason is important because it gets us ready for the games, but i've been anxious to get back out there and play meaningful games since we lost to the celtics in the playoffs last year.

i already know that keeping this as updated as i want to is gonna be tough, but i'll do my best. with that in mind, figured this would be a good time to answer some questions from my weplay friends that you've sent in.

-do you have an rituals or superstitions? -- william keenor, lakeland, illinois

yes i do... everyday on game days i take a nap. a lot of my friends say it's not really a nap because it's from 12-4PM. so it's more like going to sleep. so every game day I take what i call nap. and i get a little massage before games to try and loosen my legs up and get me ready.

-what's the inspiration behind the headband? - marcy, silver creek, colorado

you know, it's just something i do. maybe that's my superstition. every time i go on a basketball court... it's like my cape. you know batman throws his cape on and has superpowers... right now as I write this, you all got the bruce wayne side.

-if you weren't playing basketball what would you be doing? - tremaine, cincinnati, ohio

probably inspire kids to follow their dreams. i don't want to say that i'm "good with kids" because it makes it sound too corny... but I'm just comfortable and have fun around kids. so anything I can do to put smiles on their faces.

-what kind of advice would you give to kids trying to follow in your footsteps? - bernard jefferson, norman, oklahoma

if this is a dream of yours, playing professional basketball and having a career like myself... or any other sport for that matter, you have to be dedicated. everyday as a kid growing up, i had a group of friends and we all loved the same thing. we loved to play basketball and did it every single day. and I mean every single day throughout the year. we played in the summer time, we played in the wintertime outside. there was no way to keep us from playing a game of basketball.

looking back on it, we played so much in grade school, but it wasn't until high school that it started to become a reality that i could make a career of this. that's when i really got serious and really got in the gym perfecting some of the flaws. so don't worry about that until you're really ready for the next level.
bottom line is you have to work. this is not easy. a lot of people just see the game start, watch me jump around and do the things that I do on the court. but it's a lot of hard work to reach your goals.

my next goal is winning an nba championship. which means the hard work begins now.

after a long and crazy summer, we're back on again and wanted to say what's up in a free moment here.

first and foremost, i want to make sure everyone who can vote gets out and does so next month. we can't sit around and complain about things or say we need change and then not do anything about it. i've been telling people how important this election is, so whether you can vote or you get your parents to vote, change is coming. VOTE!

how here we are back in training camp now which is always a kick in the pants started last week. you know its close once we start playing preseason games, and our first one was on tuesday night (we lost, but it's exhibition and i didn't spend too much time out there on the floor).

its hard to believe that this is going to be my sixth season. but when i think about it, playing in the nba has been everything i expected and more. to be able to go out and represent my family and represent myself playing a game of basketball, which i love to do, at the highest level, it's been unbelievable. so i'm really looking forward to the season coming up.

we expect a lot of great things. as far as the team goes, we talk a lot. everyone just has to continue to get better as individuals. i think we're always going to be a team but as you get better as individuals, that automatically makes the team better. for me, i worked hard and played a lot of basketball, so i know i've improved this off-season. and i know my teammates have been in the gym and they're looking forward to the 08-09 season, too.

it's gonna be a great year.

whats good everybody... this is lebron checking in again and giving you the update.

been doing lots of traveling, getting in some important business and personal trips before training camp starts up again in a couple of weeks. can't believe summer's over - flew by so fast.

but it's been good to get to los angeles, new york and everywhere in between.i was actually over at the weplay offices a week or so ago and it was a good time, getting in the studio, doing some videos for them and just hanging out with the team. getting out to new places is always a good time, meeting the people, signing autographs...

a lot of athletes think signing autographs is a chore, but i don't see it that way. it's become something that's worldwide. no matter where you go, you know, people like autographs. i just think you have to pick and choose when you do them. there will be times or settings that's not the right place for it but then there are times when you have people come up to you where you are glad to do it for them.

its funny because I actually asked the whole olympic team that won the gold medal to sign my shoes that I wore during the gold medal game. on both my shoes. so that's something that I'm gonna put up in a case.and then there are some strange things people have been asked me to sign...

when people ask you to sign michael jordan jerseys, michael jordan shoes. come on, i'm not gonna sign a pair of mj shoes or carmelo anthony. buy my shoes and then i'll sign them.

be good and ill get at you again soon.

and we're back... the summer was always a time when i got to travel around and do fun stuff. as a kid, me and my friends, we did the aau thing and traveled across the country playing basketball against other teams and getting to see some cool places.

this summer though, I had the travel experience of a lifetime. beijing, china. man, was that a trip. it's been a couple of weeks since we've been back from the olympics, and of course been doing lots of traveling, to california for some marketing appearances, to toronto to promote a new documentary movie... but i haven't stopped thinking about winning that gold medal.

wow, what a feeling. to be able to make a commitment like that and then be able to accomplish it, that is a great feeling for me as an individual, for us as a team and for us as a country. nothing will top being able to represent my country. i don't take that lightly.

our team was made up of some of the best players in the world, but it was important for us not just as individuals. i think we all felt pressure of bringing the glory of basketball back to where it began, for the usa. and to be able to say that the united states of america is number one once again, it's a great feeling.

something else that i'm really involved with and committed to is another project i've been involved with this summer. it's called the 50 million pound challenge and it's something i'm passionate about it because it's about all of our health. yours, mine, everyone's. i do a lot of training and conditioning, but everyone should be doing that - staying active, keeping your weight down and staying fit should be a big part of everyone's life.

a lot of people look at me and say, "well you have to, because you're an NBA player, and you have to be fit." but we're talking about people being fit because it limits health hazards. this can be life or death, seriously. so if you're overweight as a young person, check out their website. there's so much you can do and should do to improve your health as you grow up.

til next time...

ni hao from china, everyone. so heres a quick update to let everyone know we appreciate their support and know you're all pulling for us. we've got our next game against greece tomorrow night, which is early in the morning thursday back home. right now, we're focused on one thing, and that's bringing home the gold.

before i log off, i wanted to answer a few questions that you guys wrote in over the past couple of weeks. forgive me because i didn't keep track of who sent them in, but you know who you are! this is your olympic moment.

"What types of things do you do to improve and get better as a basketball player?"

it's really just about practice and hard work. i just work on my game every day. i get in the weight room and lift. before i even get on the court i do an hour of training and conditioning. then i get on the court and i do a lot of shooting and drills. i just continue to get better and work on some of the weaknesses that i may have.

"When did you first realize that you were good?"

lol. that's a funny one. i think it first hit me that i was pretty good when i was in 8th grade playing what we call aau basketball. you go all over the united states to play basketball, and i started seeing myself dominating some of the tournaments we were playing in, so it was probably then.

"When did you think that playing in the NBA was something you could possibly do as your career?"

well, not in 8th grade, that's for sure. i still had to go to high school. i had to get to that point. high school was a different experience, a different monster for me, so not until high school, around the tenth grade when i realized i started dominating and dominating. that's when i thought i could make a career out of it.

that's it from me. time to catch some sleep, get ready for greece and get some revenge for the loss against them in the world championships back in 2006. this is our time.

good morning, weplayers. ok, so my break is over and we're all back together again for usa basketball training. we actually got together for a couple days earlier this month, but then came back home for a couple weeks and all met up again this past saturday - now we're together for a long time--july 19 all the way through september 4th.

right now i'm so focused on team usa that it's hard to focus on anything else. i know the nba playoffs ended more than a few weeks ago, but it's going to take me awhile to get focused on next season. i'm very concentrated on winning a gold medal with team usa so i'm probably not thinking about the nba until around october when i'm in training again for the season.

being on the olympic team, representing the country, wearing the red white and blue, is a serious responsibility. that means a lot and i wear that with pride. to be a part of team usa and wear the red white and blue once again i must honor and i really appreciate it, and i really thank jerry colangelo and the coaching staff for giving me the opportunity to be a part of it.

growing up, i never thought about being an olympian. when i was growing up, it was always about being an nba player. that was always my dream, but when i was selected in 2004, wow! i realized it was something different and it's a great experience. now that i've been a part of it for four years i wish i had dreamed about it, because it's such a great experience.

so this is my second chance to win a gold medal at the olympics. we're taking is very seriously and are committed to nothing short of bring home the gold. time for practice... lots of running today. wish us luck.

after a crazy week in akron for my king's academy, i'm happy to report that things went great and we all had a lot of fun. thanks to the more than 400 kids from all over the country who came out to play with us. i know when i was a kid, i went to some local camps, but nothing big like this.

so this was actually the third year of the camp with kids from ages 8 to 16, and there could definitely be some future NBAers in the lot. with some of the best coaches around, we try to teach fundamentals - how to play defense, how to pass, how to dribble, how to lay the ball off the glass and make it every time, you know, the fundamentals.

then after we work on those fundamentals. we try to incorporate that and let them play 5 on 5 games. If you just do drills all of camp, kids can get bored and their concentration level isn't that high. so we let them play 3 on 3 to start, try to incorporate some of the drills that we do, then they play 5 on 5 and that keeps them going because they're having fun while doing it.

more than anything, the one thing we do to try to keep it fun at the camp.

the camp is also fun for the kids and for me because at night, we play some pick-up games with the counselors, who are some of the best college players in the country. it's a good challenge for them and obviously a good way for me to stay in shape while we're here. and the games get pretty competitive.

now I know what you're thinking - it's my camp so i get all the calls, right? but i don't call too many fouls honestly. we go up and down and have fun, but we always take it really seriously because we're trying to get each other better. i'm trying to get these college kids better and hopefully they're challenging me also.

now it's usabasketball time, a camp of a very different sort, and every day counts. one month til china. til then, be good, ya'all.

what's going on, everyone? i'm checking in here with my first blog for weplay.com. i gotta be honest -- never got into the whole idea of blogging until recently, but i was just waiting for the right time to take my game to the next level. you know me... right place, right time.

i wanted to answer some of your questions to get things rolling.

first, from jared nobes - whats up, im in 8th grade and they had try-outs for the high school team. i got cut, do you have any advice or tips for me, and what did you do as a kid to get so good?

so jared, i think you need to go ask the coach first that cut you what you need to work on. once he tells you what you need to work on, then go from therewhich weaknesses you need to get better at, how you can help the team and get better to possibly be a part of itthe jv or the freshman team, whichever you got cut from.

hey lebron who did u want to win the finals. tyler greenland

to be honest, i didn't care. once we lost it didn't matter. it's definitely disappointing when you lose in the playoffs and you don't win at all because i expect to win every year. that's the kind of player i am. i hate to lose, and it doesn't soften the blow to see that the team you lost to ended up winning the championship. you never want to look at it that way.

people sometimes ask if i can be happy when see friends of mine win even though it's not the cavaliers. and i can. i was really excited when dwyane wade on the miami heat won three years ago. we talked throughout the whole playoffs, and i said since i'm not in the playoffs you better bring it home.

i can't believe it's been over a year since we were in the finals against tony parker and the spurs. Still not over the beating he gave us in that series, but i'm glad he's on my team here at weplay. though this is also my chance to get back at him... by getting more friends to link to me. you hear that, tp? this is my challenge to you -- who can get more friends and to have more people put me as their favorite athlete? it's ON... we'll see who's the king. lol.

ok one more question... hey lebron what video game system to u have? derrell

i have an xbox 360 and my favorite games to play would have to be nba 2k8, halo 3, rock band and whatever the latest madden football game is.

thanks for reading and sending questions. i'll be back soon for more.