LeBron James said the Memphis Grizzlies' only shot at him was the 2003 NBA Draft lottery — and even then, he might've pulled an Eli Manning and refused to show up.
LeBron James didn't just take a shot at Memphis this week. He suggested the city never really had a chance at him to begin with.
On Thursday's episode of "Bob Does Sports," the YouTube show's crew put the question to James directly: was there ever a world where he ends up in Memphis? He didn't sugarcoat it.
"Their only chance was in 2003 if they would've won the lottery to get me," James said. "And I might've pulled an Eli Manning and not shown up."
Manning told the Chargers before the 2004 NFL Draft that he wouldn't play for them. San Diego took him at No. 1 anyway, then moved him to New York.
The 2003 lottery was closer than the history books make it feel. Cleveland and Denver were each sitting at 22.5%. Memphis was at 6.4%, and their pick only stayed in Memphis if it came up No. 1 — they'd traded it to Detroit six years earlier with almost no protection attached.
Memphis nearly pulled it off, finishing second in the lottery. That pick went to Detroit per the terms of the old deal. Cleveland got No. 1, selected James, and the rest is history.
James reflected on that night in a 2023 ESPN interview, saying Memphis wasn't even a thought.
"I never thought once about Memphis," he said at the time.
Whether he actually would have sat out is another matter entirely. At the time, Memphis wasn't a bad situation. Pau Gasol and Shane Battier were already there, and Jerry West — Hall of Fame credentials and all — was running the front office. Memphis went 50-32 the next year. Cleveland, meanwhile, didn't sniff the playoffs until 2006, when James more or less willed them into the postseason.
Maybe James wouldn't have actually walked. Hard to know. The point landed either way.
The current Memphis squad, sitting at 25-51 on the season, is deep into yet another rebuild after trading both Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. over the past calendar year.
Reports have also surfaced that owner Robert Pera originally bought the franchise in 2012 with the intention of eventually moving it to Las Vegas — though Pera has since said he has no plans to sell or relocate.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, for his part, said during All-Star weekend in February that relocation is not currently on the table.