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LeBron James was selected first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft. This week, the future Hall of Famer admitted that he doesn’t “think that was an accident.”
Of course, as any true basketball fan knows, there have been rumblings about the NBA Draft lottery being fixed for decades. The rumors have been swirling ever since the New York Knicks miraculously earned the right to draft Patrick Ewing way back in 1985.
Those rumors were stoked even further in 2008 when the Chicago Bulls were lucky enough to get the number one overall pick, in a year when Chicago native Derrick Rose just happened to be available. Some people even thought Victor Wembanyama being drafted by the San Antonio Spurs was fixed. So there was definitely speculation about how convenient it was that Akron native LeBron James was going to be drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers that the whole thing was rigged.
This week, during an interview on The Pat McAfee Show, LeBron James added to that speculation, saying, “I knew there was a responsibility for sure. Like, listen man, during the ball drop, you know, during the lottery drop, Cleveland got the number one pick. That’s just, I don’t think that was… what a coincidence?! Let’s keep LeBron home, you know? Patrick Ewing to the Knicks, you know? Derrick Rose to the Bulls.
“But I understand the assignment, guys. So I had to make sure that, you know, I had to do my part, I didn’t want to be a f— up. I just didn’t want to be a f— up, man. Like like I said earlier in the show, like, no one gets this opportunity, man. It’s zero to none and I couldn’t be a f— up. So that’s what came with it.”
LeBron James touched on numerous other subjects as well during his lengthy interview on The Pat McAfee Show, including some of his thoughts about the GOAT Michael Jordan and his weird beef with Stephen A. Smith.