Back in June 2003, the NBA landscape changed forever when the Cleveland Cavaliers earned the rights to the No.1 overall pick and the rights to select LeBron James.
It was a match made in heaven for the club. James’ X bio says “EST. AKRON “ after all.
At the time, many saw it as destiny, but now years later, James was on ESPN’s Pat McAfee show questioning whether it was all just a coincidence.
“During the ball drop, you know during the lottery drop, Cleveland got the number one pick. That’s…I just don’t think that was just…what a coincidence,” James said on the Pat McAfee Show. “Let’s keep LeBron home. You know what, Patrick Ewing to the Knicks, you know Derrick Rose to the Bulls.
James, of course, would be selected to his home state team — Akron is 45 minutes from Cleveland – and the rest is history.
Warning: The following video contains NSFW language.
LeBron hints that the league may have rigged the 2003 lottery for the Cavs 😅
“Let’s keep LeBron home…Patrick Ewing to the Knicks, LeBron to the Cavs, Rose to the Bulls. I get it man.”
(🎥 @PatMcAfeeShow / h/t @Boness305 )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 26, 2025
“I understand the assignment guys. So I had to make sure that I had to do my part,” James said. “I didn’t want to be a f—k up; I just didn’t want to be a f—k up man. Like I said earlier in the show, it’s zero to none, and I couldn’t be a f—k up, so that’s what came with it.”
Entering that Lottery, CLE was 17-65 and had a 22.5% chance of winning.
The Derrick Rose draft however, has legimtate speculation as the Bulls only had a 1.7% chance of winning the lottery.
For ages social media pundits have speculated whether James going home to Cleveland was all just a coincidence. Now, James is the one throwing gasoline on the fire.
Who knows if these claims have any truth behind them, but it’s still captivating to go back and reflect on years later.
