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The King James Version

With the NBA's brightest star leading the way, sports and entertainment synched up in '07

LEBRON JAMES had that warm fuzzy feeling, the kind he probably gets when he's knocking down jumpers or talking to his pal Warren Buffett, during the week he spent preparing to host the season premiere of Saturday Night Live in September. "They make you feel like you're one of them," James said of his temporary teammates in the SNL cast. They should have, because a) the first rule of showbiz is that the star must be comfortable, and b) he logged as much time before the cameras as some of them did this year.

His Nike LeBrons ads, which happened to be damn funny. The ESPYS, which didn't. Letterman, Kimmel—even the American League playoffs. (Lose the Yankees cap, bro.) LeBron was all over the media map in 2007, blurring a line between sports and entertainment that, let's face it, barely exists anymore. It says something that his least exciting screen time came during the NBA Finals: Our sports stars haven't made it until they're on IMDB.com and SI.com. But James was just one of many straddling two worlds in '07, a year worth watching again....

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Read L. Jon Wertheim on a film about NFL draft prospects, and weigh in on the year's best in movies, books and TV.

3rd ANNUAL The Year in Sports Media

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CHRIS CARLSON/AP

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DANA EDELSON/© NBC UNIVERSAL, INC.

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PHIL MCCARTEN/REUTERS

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DANA EDELSON/NBC/AP

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RON JAFFE/© 2007 AMERICAN BROADCASTING COMPANY

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CHRIS HORNBECKER

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DANA EDELSON/© NBC UNIVERSAL, INC.

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JOHN PAUL FILO/©2007 CBS BROADCASTING INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES; PHOTO COMPOSITE BY SI IMAGING