“Huge Issue”:15YO LeBron James at Michael Jordan’s Pick-Up Game was NBA-Ready, Recalls Lakers Legend

LeBron James calls Michael Jordan his “angel inspiration.” On the other hand, the basketball world is split in two parts because of the GOAT debate. As the two belong to two different eras, there are rarely any instances of LeBron and Jordan playing together on the same court. However, there is one, which has become a part of basketball folklore. While there is no footage from that iconic game, former Lakers player Metta Sandiford-Artest recalled that he was motivated after watching King James play at Jordan’s pickup game.

Artest recalled that even at such a young age, James played like a pro. Artest admitted that he was surprised to watch James’ excellence on the court. “He was already famous. He was bigger than all of us in the gym. So he’s coming into the gym, I’m like, ‘Cool, I want to see what he got.'” He was cooking like he was 15 or 16. Posting, getting to the basket and I’m like, ‘This is going to be a huge issue right,'” Artest said during his appearance on Podcast P with Paul George. 

While speaking about being motivated after watching James’ game, Artest claimed that the Akron, Ohio native was ready to make a pro league debut at the age of 15. He said, “He could have gone pro right then, yeah really 100%.”

In high school, James played at numerous Jordan camps. The 20x NBA All-Star attended Jordan’s summer camp as a rookie in Santa Barbara. Before that, he was also invited to participate in MJ’s pickup games. Artest was referring to one of those games. The Los Angeles Lakers star had the opportunity to play both alongside and opposite Jordan, and he couldn’t have been happier about it.

LeBron James was thrilled to play on the same court as Michael Jordan

The pickup game featured numerous pro players such as Jamal Crawford, Kenny Smith, Jerry Stackhouse, Paul Pierce, and many more, including Artest. The captains of the two teams were the Chicago Bulls legend, Jordan and Antoine Walker. While James recalled the two captains fiercely trash-talking, he stated that he had to wait a long time to get included in the game.

James, being the popular high school basketball player at the time, wasn’t used to sitting on the bench. “You know, for me to be on the court, sophomore in high school, with my favorite player of all time and it was like, this can’t be real man. If you pinch me, I was like, please, I hope I don’t wake up,” James admitted four years ago.

And when the veterans finally got tired, the then-teen James was able to show his dominance. Needless to mention, Jordan and the rest took notice. Jordan was already the greatest when James stepped onto the basketball scene at the age of 15. And even as a 16-year-old, King James wasn’t scared to play against pro players and made an impact.