During his rookie year in the NBA, a teenage LeBron James handled unprecedented attention and endless microphones with poise and aplomb. Except for that one time.
When he was bypassed for the 2004 All-Star Game in Los Angeles -- partially because of rookie hazing, partially because of the Cleveland Cavaliers' losing record -- James took it personally and lashed out to the point where he showed a rare moment of immaturity.
"I don't come second," James snapped when asked if he was holding out hope to be an injury replacement that year. "I'm an only child and I never want to be picked second."
Only James knows exactly why he rejected multiple overtures from the league and sponsors to take part in the slam dunk contest that year -- the event's title sponsor, Sprite, was one of James' main partners -- but the snub almost certainly played a role.
"Still kinda irks me a little bit," James said with a smile last week.
This weekend will be James' 17th consecutive All-Star start, the longest such streak in history. Over the years, All-Star Weekends have become exhausting for James, as he has balanced a schedule loaded with charity work, sponsor demands, social events, player's union responsibilities and some basketball.
For years, his annual black-tie "2 Kings" dinner with Jay-Z was one of the biggest events of the weekend. In 2015 at All-Star Weekend in New York, his schedule was so tight that he shot a car commercial down the street from Madison Square Garden in two takes for a grand total of 90 seconds, then jumped back into a van to be taken to his next commitment. Shortly after Adam Silver became NBA commissioner in 2014, James lobbied him to extend the break so the players who took part in the weekend could find some time for rest.
Despite all that, the snub back in his rookie year has been a long-standing reminder of the honor that being a leading All-Star carries. James would rather be busy and tired than left out, which is why he approaches every All-Star Game with a sense of responsibility.
Even this disrupted season, when James called the idea of an All-Star Game "a slap in the face" after a nearly nonexistent offseason with mentally exhausting quarantine rules, he never wavered on going to Atlanta to play his role in the NBA's salvaged showcase event.
This is the fourth time James has earned captain status and picked his team, the only player to have the honor in both conferences. That role, in addition to 10 trips to the Finals and five summers on Team USA, has given James a unique personal history with almost every All-Star on the roster.
Stephen Curry: Played against him in four consecutive Finals.
Kevin Durant: Had played against him in three Finals, won a gold medal with him in London, and they trained together in offseasons earlier in Durant's career.
Kyrie Irving: Won a title with him in Cleveland and they've gone through a complicated relationship since.
Anthony Davis: Teammates with matching 2020 championship rings after playing on Team USA together in London.
Chris Paul: One of James' closest friends in the league, they played on two gold-medal Olympic teams and worked together as president and vice president of the players' union during the last round of collective bargaining. The duo was also aboard one of the most famous boat rides in NBA history.
Paul George: In addition to numerous All-Star teams, played against him in three consecutive playoff series when James was in Miami and George in Indiana.
Kawhi Leonard: Played against each other in back-to-back Finals in 2013 and 2014, each winning one and each winning the Finals MVP.
James Harden: Won a gold medal together at the 2012 Olympics after playing against each other in the Finals that year.
Ben Simmons: Both represented by Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, which has fostered a strong relationship between the two.
Bradley Beal: Longtime competitor of James in the Eastern Conference, especially for a few years when the Wizards saw themselves as adversaries for James' Cavs.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown: Has played against both, Tatum once and Brown twice, in the Eastern Conference finals in James' final two years in Cleveland.
Damian Lillard: James beat him and the Trail Blazers in the first round of last year's playoffs, James' first postseason series win in the Western Conference.
Donovan Mitchell: When James announced he was taking his talents to South Beach in 2010, a young Mitchell was in attendance for The Decision in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Luka Doncic: James revealed recently he tried to get Nike to re-sign Doncic as the face of a potential "LeBron Brand" before Doncic inked a deal with Nike's Jordan Brand.
Nikola Jokic: James beat him and the Nuggets in last year's Western Conference finals, joining a long list of fellow All-Stars who have gone down to James in the postseason.
Give James a few more years and this list will grow. It's not unreasonable to expect epic playoff meetings with Zion Williamson, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid or Giannis Antetokounmpo later this season.
Kobe Bryant, who made 18 All-Star teams and competed relentlessly on his way to winning a record four All-Star MVPs -- that trophy is now named in his honor -- was the face of All-Star Weekend for a generation. James has inherited that position.
Even in this slimmed-down and squeezed-in version, which James has branded by saying, "I'll be there physically, but not mentally," his presence is towering. James has no peer right now when it comes to star power, which is a long-term worry for the league. But there's also solace in the fact that an entire subsequent generation of stars has direct ties to his influence, which only continues to expand.