LeBron James is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in NBA history. As the league’s all-time leading scorer and a 22-season veteran alongside Vince Carter, his impact on basketball is unmatched. However, LeBron has long been a fan of football and the NFL, even admitting that he seriously contemplated pursuing a professional football career during the 2011 NBA lockout.
Appearing on the New Heights podcast with former NFL player Jason Kelce and his brother, current Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, James recalled the time he came close to switching sports.
“The only time I’ve like really taken it like super duper serious was, I think it was 2011 when we had the NBA lockout,” LeBron shared. “I didn’t know when we were going to make the deal with the 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,” he continued. “That’s the only time I’ve actually seriously considered it. I’ve had serious dreams about this s— all the time, all the time”.
Lebron James of the Miami Heat throws a football at AT&T Stadium before a Sunday night game between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys in 2013. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
LeBron admits NFL outperformed the NBA on Christmas Day
On Christmas Day, the NFL and NBA went head-to-head in a battle for viewership supremacy. While LeBron previously stated that Christmas belongs to basketball, he admitted during his interview with the Kelce brothers that the NFL significantly outperformed the NBA in ratings.
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“I saw the f— numbers after the fact, you guys kicked our a—. From a viewership standpoint, y’all kicked their a—,” James said. “When you go out there and you got your little brother and he maybe gets beat up one time and you’re like, ‘Hey, we didn’t lose that fight. We’re here, we’re stayin’ here.’ That’s how I felt, I had to stand up for the NBA”.
James reveals that a college team tried to recruit him
James, who has often expressed admiration for the Ohio State Buckeyes, revealed that the team actively tried to recruit him to play football during his high school years.
“(Jim) Tressel knocked on the door plenty of times,” James revealed. “They wanted me to come up there and be a two-sport athlete”. LeBron also disclosed that Ohio State’s interest wasn’t just casual—they wanted him to play on both sides of the field.
“They knocked on the door and it’s like, ‘If you come down to Ohio State, we want you to play both sides,’” he continued. “I would have definitely thought about that”.
