Los Angeles Lakers star player LeBron James is one of the most charismatic personalities to ever set foot on the basketball court. During his 21 years in the NBA, he has switched between four different teams and spent a considerable amount of time with various other players, many of whom have spoken out on what the athlete is like behind the scenes. The stories they share are always filled with some sort of revelation, just the one that recently made the rounds of the NBA world.

Former Miami Heat players Mario Chalmers and Carlos Arroyo recently sat down for an interview with Playmaker. Since each of them had been LeBron James’ teammate at some point in their life, they were the perfect people to spill the beans on what the 4x NBA champion was like behind the scenes. They had a lot of perks and benefits of having him by their side, especially Chalmers, who enjoyed taking advantage of his presence the most – with food, that is!

“Once LeBron came, we finally had a meal plan where we would have food downstairs and in the hotel reception where we just go get our food and go right back to the room, go to sleep” Chalmers recalled. Arroyo did not spend as much time with James as Chalmers. Despite that, he was aware of just how much the NBA star took care of his teammates and how he used to be pretty generous in providing gifts to people he knew.

Even though both of the former players agreed on the generous nature of their one-time teammate, they also agreed that there was one thing that he would never provide as gifts to his teammates: the basketball shoes bearing his name.

LeBron James and his love for his shoes

LeBron James doesn’t like to share his shoes, especially the ones with his name on them. “He’s not giving those up” said Chalmers while letting out a laugh. The two-time NBA champion recalled that he had to specifically request King James to get just one pair of James’ to replace his other pair of playing shoes. Rather strict, isn’t he?

Well, of course. He has built a rather lucrative business empire through his Nike shoes. Believing that his sneakers are the representation of a certain standard of class, the NBA star reportedly does not allow just anyone to wear of pair of them in his presence.

During an interview with GQ back in 2015, James discussed how he used to see Michael Jordan’s opponents wearing a pair of Air Jordans in his presence and think “MJ got a mental edge over these guys”. Since he believed that he was a member of the ‘MJ class’ now, LeBron put forward his strategy in dealing with players who would wear the shoes bearing his name.

“If I see a guy wearing my shoes, if he’s not like a real good brother of mine – because you know I’ve got some guys that are Team LeBron and that’s what we do–but if you’re just a guy and you go to Foot Locker or somewhere and you just get a pair of LeBron’s and you want to wear them on a Tuesday night against me? I’m gonna bust you’re a*s. Straight up” said James.

The revelation by Mario Chalmers helped us to understand that even the most generous people have certain boundaries and that one should definitely be careful when dealing with LeBron and his shoes.

READ MORE: “I Was So Depressed”: Fallen NFL Icon Discloses How LeBron James Gave Him a Fighting Chance