- LeBron James wanted to join the NBA in 2002 when he was just 17 years old
- The NBA would not change its draft rules to allow LeBron to join at 17
- If LeBron entered the league in 2002, he might have been drafted by the Chicago Bulls or the Golden State Warriors
LeBron James is the face of the NBA and has basically been so since he entered the league back in the 2003-04 season. LeBron famously began his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, which was sort of a homecoming story since he grew up in Akron, Ohio.
What many people don’t know is that if LeBron had his way, he would have been drafted a year before he actually was, and it wouldn’t have been to the Cavs. So, why didn’t LeBron get drafted in 2002?
The NBA had a strict rule at the time that stated you needed to be at least 18 to play in the NBA. Of course, this was changed back in 2005, when the CBA changed the minimum age to 19.
After the CBA was updated again in 2011, the age requirement stayed at 19, but there were a few more requirements added in for NBA prospects. Not only did the player have to be 19, but they had to be at least one year removed from graduating high school unless defined as an international player.
Back in 2002, LeBron tried to get the NBA to change its draft rules to allow 17-year-olds to play in the league. The King has also walked back that claim, stating he wanted to stay in high school with his friends.
Still, there is enough evidence that suggests he really did want the NBA to allow him to be drafted at age 17.
“The rule’s not fair, but that’s life,” LeBron said in an interview back in 2002. “I’ll stay another year because my friends are here. The only thing I think is bad, they let that 17-year-old golfer [Ty Tryon] on the PGA Tour. You’ve got tennis players competing professionally when they’re 14. Why not basketball players?”
Of course, LeBron wouldn’t succeed at getting the NBA to change its draft rules. This was despite him threatening to sue the NBA.
LeBron, of course, has gone on and had a successful career, winning four NBA championships, including one with the Cavs in 2016.
But what would have happened if LeBron entered the NBA in 2002 as a 17-year-old? Jay Bilas, former NBA player, and analyst, believed LeBron could have played in the league at just 17.
Throwback to that time LeBron wanted to sue the NBA to let him join after his Junior Year but the CBA was written in a way that wouldn't allow it.
Projected lottery pick if not the #1 pick as a 17-year-old Junior in High School.
Jay Bilas "I think he could compete in the NBA,… pic.twitter.com/LEQYYrp4xk
— NBAStatGuy (@NBAStatGuy_) August 10, 2023
“I think he could compete in the NBA, and compete favorably if he were to go right now,” Bilas said. “He’s certainly as good as some of the (younger players) that are in the league right now.”
This was high praise from Bilas, and knowing what we do now about King James, yes, we believe he would’ve been just fine entering the NBA in 2002 at age 17. Let’s focus now on that “what-if” about LeBron entering a year before he did.
How would LeBron’s career have panned out? Which team would have drafted him? Would LeBron have been selected number one?
LeBron James’ Career, Starting As A 17 Year Old
When the 2002 NBA Draft order was announced, the Houston Rockets earned the rights for the first overall pick. Let’s say LeBron was able to change the NBA’s rule on the age requirement of being drafted.
Would the Rockets have drafted LeBron? Let’s look at Houston’s roster. The Texan team had some solid players on the roster, like Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley.
Francis was a point guard, and Mobley was the team’s starting shooting guard. If we dive deeper into Houston’s roster, we’ll see their best small forward was veteran Glen Rice.
As a rookie, LeBron played in the shooting guard position for the Cleveland Cavaliers. So, we don’t think Houston would place him there since Mobley was a solid shooting guard at the time.
LeBron’s position would change to small forward in his second year, and it would be his primary position for most of his career. Rice was a nice player during his prime, but he was 35 to start the 2002-03 season, and Houston might have been willing to slide LeBron into Rice’s spot.
Still, we don’t believe the Rockets would have selected LeBron at all. At this time, the NBA game was slow, and big men were the most prize possession of every team.
Yao Ming, the player the Rockets did select first overall, would likely still be Houston’s pick. Of course, Yao would struggle with injuries that would end his career after just eight years.
Still, Yao was a good player, and there’s no doubt that the Houston Rockets would have passed on a 17-year-old LeBron James and selected the big man from China. Sorry, LeBron, your rocket won’t be lifting off in Houston.
The team that held the second pick in the 2002 NBA Draft was the Chicago Bulls. Now this is an interesting team choice for LeBron.
For one, there’s the connection of LeBron battling Michale Jordan for the G.O.A.T. debate. These two players’ names are bonded together forever.
How crazy would it have been to see the Air Apparent, LeBron James, wearing a Chicago Bulls uniform, playing in the famed United Center? The Bulls chose Jay Williams out of Duke, who looked to be a solid point guard.
Of course, Williams would be involved in a terrible motorcycle accident in 2003. This accident would end his NBA career, only playing one season in the league.
Even if Williams never suffered through the terrible motorcyclist accident, it’s likely the Bulls would not have passed on the 17-year-old phenom from Akron. In the 2001-02 season, the Bulls had a solid small forward in Jalen Rose, so it’s not likely they’d replace Rose with a 17-year-old high schooler.
Chicago also had a young Jamal Crawford, who, if given the playing time, could have been the point guard the Bulls wanted. The one area Chicago was lacking at was the shooting guard position.
Fred Hoiberg and Trenton Hassell were the two shooting guards on the roster. The two combined to average 6.5 points per game during the 2002-03 season.
There’s no doubt that LeBron, even at 17, could average more than 6.5 points per game for the Bulls. As an 18-year-old, he averaged 20.9 points per game for the Cavs, so it’s clearly possible.
The Bulls were also still trying to rebound after their franchise lost Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and the remainder of their championship roster from the 1997-98 season. Chicago adding a young LeBron James would have been epic.
By the time the 2006-07 season came around, the Chicago Bulls had won 49 games and had solid players on the roster. They had Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, and even veteran defensive specialist Ben Wallace.
The 2006-07 season was the year when LeBron reached his first career NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. If you put LeBron on that 2006-07 Bulls team, Chicago may have put up a better fight against the Spurs in the Finals.
LeBron would have had arguably better teammates around him that season if he was in Chicago, and he also would have had an extra season of experience under his belt. Yes, a Chicago Bulls squad led by LeBron James would have been a site to see.
If LeBron played on the Bulls, would King James have won a title without leaving for Miami? Maybe. Of course, if LeBron joined the Bulls, Chicago would not have drafted Derrick Rose in 2008.
The Bulls wouldn’t have needed him with LeBron, though. Also, there’s a chance Dwyane Wade would have teamed up with LeBron in Chicago.
For one, Wade is from Chicago, and he always wanted to play for the Bulls and would in the 2016-17 season. Wade and LeBron almost joined the Bulls in 2010, but the fact Rose was on the team, they didn’t believe his style matched theirs.
If this had happened, and Bosh joined them in Chicago as well, then the Bulls would most certainly have won a few more titles. But of course, LeBron had to wait until 18 to join the league and was snagged by the Cavaliers.
There is a chance the Bulls would have passed on LeBron since he was just 17, and Jay Williams had a lot of upside. If this had happened, LeBron most likely would have been drafted by the team with the third pick in the NBA Draft.
That team was the Golden State Warriors. Yes, the Warriors, the team of the last decade, could have had their rival, LeBron James, on the roster.
At the time of the 2002 NBA Draft, the Warriors had a young Gilbert Arenas on the roster. They also had Antawn Jamison at small forward and Jason Richardson at shooting guard.
Still, the potential LeBron had, even at just 17 years old, was greater than what Golden State had. They would have drafted for the future.
Of course, drafting LeBron would have changed Golden State’s fortunes, and even if they had not won an NBA championship with LeBron, they would easily have been better than without him.
This means the chances of Golden State drafting Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green is slim to none. They may have drafted one of the three mentioned players, but not all of them.
Still, we can ponder the thought of LeBron being drafted by the Warriors, and Golden State somehow manages to get Curry, Thompson, and Green. Can you imagine that squad in action?
As good as Golden State was with Kevin Durant mixed in with the Warriors Big 3, adding LeBron would likely have been better. LeBron could have played point guard, as he did in the 2019-2020 season for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Can you imagine LeBron bringing the ball up as Curry and Thompson run off screens, getting open behind the arc? That’s a scary situation, and if it had occurred, that Warriors team would be known as the greatest of all time, no questions asked.
LeBron would not get drafted at 17. He would not play for the Warriors, but instead, face off against them in four straight NBA Finals. King James would record a 1-3 record vs. Golden State, but that one victory was worth waiting until 18 to enter the league.
LeBron leading the Cavs back from down 3-1 in the 2016 NBA Finals while becoming the first player to lead everyone in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks, is legendary. For the series, LeBron averaged 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.6 steals and 2.3 blocks per game.
It’s safe to say, LeBron waiting until 18 was a good thing, especially for the Cavs’ fans and the NBA as a whole. Still, it’s fun to wonder how LeBron and the NBA would have looked if King James entered the league in 2002 as a 17-year-old.
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