When the Cavaliers won the 2003 NBA draft lottery, they made it no secret that they were picking LeBron James with the first overall pick. The forward was billed as a transcendent talent and when he lived up to his billing in his debut season, his teammate Mateen Cleaves could only label his arrival as divine intervention.
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During an appearance on the All The Smoke podcast, the retired guard reminisced about James’ incredible rookie season. Cleaves claimed he was in awe of the young forward and had trouble believing he was playing in high school the year prior. His exceptional performances convinced his veteran teammate that he was a gift from God. He said,
“I gave him the nickname ‘Heaven-Sent’. Like, God said you, you know what I mean? You don’t get that good early, right out of the gate, 18 coming out of High School. I was like nah, he can’t be that good.”
During averaged 20.9 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.5 rebounds and took home the Rookie of the Year award. While he was magnificent on the court, the forward’s exploits in practice left Cleaves astonished. He revealed that watching the 18-year-old day in and day out convinced him that he was “the real deal.”
While he came in with plenty of hype, James had to earn his stripes. He had to prove to his teammates that he was, as Cleaves put it, the real deal. During an appearance on The Old Man and the Three podcast, Paul Silas, the Cavaliers’ head coach during the forward’s rookie and sophomore seasons, revealed that the veterans on the roster did not buy into the hype. He said,
“Their egos wouldn’t allow it. 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.”
This quote from Paul Silas about LeBron’s rookie year is wild.
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However, his teammates’ alleged lack of interest in being accommodating did not hinder him on the court.
LeBron James’ arrival changed the trajectory of the Cavaliers
In his rookie season, the 18-year-old helped the team more than double its win total. They finished the 2002-03 season with 17 victories and improved to 35 in James’ debut campaign. Silas believes the forward deserves all the credit for their stunning turnaround. He said,
“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.”
In his sophomore season, they improved to 42-40, their first season with a winning record in six years. The Cavaliers continued to improve with each passing campaign and made it to their first NBA Finals in 2007. James racked up individual accolades but couldn’t lead the Cavaliers to the title.
He infamously left the team in 2010 to join the Heat and earned the ire of his hometown. However, he returned four years later and led the team to that elusive championship win in 2016.
He left the team again in 2018, but unlike his first exit, there was little to no animosity between him and the Cavaliers fans, as they serenaded him with cheers in his final game with the franchise in the 2018 NBA Finals.
