The Cleveland Cavs are hoping that their recent trade for Peyton Watson will get them back in the championship mix for the first time since LeBron James left town. James famously had two stints with the Cavs, the first of which resulted in several deep playoff runs but no rings before he took his talents to South Beach.
One of James’ teammates during those years was point guard Delonte West, who recently revealed the unusual way in which James went about recruiting him to Cleveland.
“We were playing Cleveland, out in Seattle, the first month of the season, and I was cooking them. I remember we were sitting at the foul line, and LeBron James, he was like, man, I followed you in college…
“He was like, man, you want to come play with Cleveland? I thought he was just doing a veteran trick… I thought he was just trying to get me out of my game by getting familiarity. But he was serious. He asked me to come play with Cleveland,” said West, per Fullcourtpass on X, formerly Twitter, via Derrick J Trapten on YouTube.
West had some big moments during his time with the Cavs, knocking down clutch jump shots at times and also supplementing James with some secondary playmaking of his own, before continuing his NBA career elsewhere.
Meanwhile, James is still getting it done all these years later, recently snubbing the Cavs in free agency in order to join the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Cavs still fancy themselves contenders in the Eastern Conference and will hope to prove that beginning on October 22 when they kick off their new season against James and the 76ers on the road.