LeBron James reveals he still dreams of playing in the NFL but admits he knows his true destiny is in the NBA, the sport he has become a four-time champion in with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers.
The 40-year-old power forward had two career paths before him when he was a teenager in Akron after finding talent as a receiver for St. Vincent-St. Mary, being named first team all-state and being signed to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Eventually, he chose the basketball route and skipped the NCAA entirely after averaging 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists in Ohio, being selected as the first pick in 2003 NBA Draft by the Cavaliers.
The rest, as they say, is history. Along with four NBA titles, four Finals MVPs, four league MVPs, 20 All-Star selections and three Olympic gold medals followed as he found himself quickly catapulted in the greatest of all-time debate alongside Michael Jordan.
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LeBron also outright holds the records for points scored (48,177) and most consecutive games scored (1763). He also ranks fourth for triple-doubles, fourth for assists, fifth for steals and second for made free throws and various other records and honors there are too many of to list.
Yet despite the success that has helped him become a billionaire, and the first active billionaire in NBA history, he revealed he still dreams of what might have been if he elected to play football instead.
“Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. I’ve had serious dreams about this s**t,” LeBron told Jason and Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. “All the time. All the time!
“The ball is never kicked off… It’s me in the warm-ups, it’s me coming out, running my routes, and then right when the game starts I f**king wake up. It lets me know I’m not supposed to be out there.”
LeBron reveals he almost quit the NBA for the NFL
Yet despite the dreams presenting an epiphany for the Laker that he was never truly a football player and validating his decision, he did point to one occasion when he almost changed the trajectory of sports history by quitting the NBA for the NFL.
The moment came during the 2011 NBA lockout when the players and owners feuded over the salary cap structure, among other things, for over five months between July and December that year.
“The only time I’ve taken it super-duper serious was [the] 2011 NBA lockout,” James added of a potential switch to the NFL. “I didn’t know when we were going to make the deal with our owners and get our league back going.
“So I actually thought about it a little bit back then. I was still young enough to get out there with y’all. That’s the only time I’ve seriously considered it.”
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