LeBron James was must-see TV from the moment he made his NBA debut on Oct. 29, 2003. While fans immediately gravitated towards “The King,” his own teammates were not fond of all the hype.
Former three-time NBA champion Paul Silas was the head coach of the Cavaliers from 2003-2005. He saw how James was treated behind the scenes.
Believe it or not, James’ teammates were unwilling to embrace the Akron native’s greatness.
“Their egos wouldn’t allow it,” Silas said. “I kept telling them, ‘You have a chance to help one of the game’s future stars,’ but they wouldn’t embrace him. If it bothered LeBron, he never let on.
“We won 35 games that year because of him. He’s had some outstanding seasons since then, but that first one may have been the most impressive because of how he excelled in spite of the jealousy on his own team.”
This quote from Paul Silas about LeBron’s rookie year is wild.
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As a rookie, James averaged 20.9 points, 5.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game. Clearly, the lack of support from his teammates didn’t discourage him.
It’d be fascinating to hear what James’ former teammates have to say now that they’ve seen him blossom into one of the greatest athletes of all time.