LeBron James was still early in his first run with Cleveland when he began thinking about the players who could help the team. The Cavaliers had already reached the NBA Finals, but the roster around their young star still had room to change.
One of those possible additions was playing on the other side of the court. Years later, Delonte West has offered a new look at how that relationship began, and the timing makes the story even more interesting
LeBron James Had Already Picked His Next Teammate
West recalled the moment during a recent interview on Derrick J. Trapten’s YouTube channel. He remembered facing Cleveland in Seattle early in the 2007-08 season when James brought up his college career and made an unexpected pitch.
We were playing Cleveland out in Seattle, the first month of the season, and I was cooking him. James was like, ‘Man, I followed you in college. You remember that time I came to Philly at the Palestra to watch you play?’ He was like, ‘Man, you want to come play with Cleveland?’
“He was serious. He asked me to, believe that, man, he asked me to come play with him during the game. So they traded me. They did a trade during the trade deadline to go to Cleveland,” said West.
That conversation came months before Cleveland acquired West at the trade deadline. On February 21, 2008, the Cavaliers got West and Wally Szczerbiak from Seattle in a three-team trade with Chicago that also brought Ben Wallace and Joe Smith to Cleveland.
West quickly became part of Cleveland’s starting lineup. He started all 26 games he played for the Cavaliers after the trade and averaged 10.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists.
LeBron James Had A Reason To Know West
West was not an unknown player when James approached him. He had been one of the top guards in college basketball at Saint Joseph’s, where he averaged 18.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists during the 2003-04 season.
West had also already spent three NBA seasons with Boston before joining Seattle. His experience gave Cleveland another proven guard next to its young superstar.
The Cavaliers still had to make the trade themselves. West’s account does not mean James controlled the front office or personally completed the deal. It does show that James was already paying close attention to which players could help him win.
That idea later became part of the “LeGM” nickname. The term combines James’ first name with “GM” and refers to the perception that he has had an unusually strong voice in his teams’ roster moves, even though he has never officially been a general manager.
West’s story gives that “LeGM” reputation an early example. James was already taking an interest in the kind of players he wanted around him, even before that label became part of the basketball conversation.
West never won a title with the Cavaliers, but he became an important part of the team during James’ first run there. His arrival gave Cleveland another reliable guard and helped the franchise remain competitive during the next two seasons.
Long before “LeGM” became part of the LeBron James conversation, West’s story offered a glimpse of something fans would hear much more about later. A young James had an idea for a player he wanted beside him, and he made sure that player heard it directly from him.