The legacy that LeBron James has is arguably one of the best in the history of the NBA. James’ performance and skillsets have earned him a position alongside legendary stars like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Notably, Bryant kept his name first, followed by Jordan’s and James’s to end the GOAT debate. Not only this, but even before he stepped on the NBA court, he was called the “Young Michael Jordan” by Ronald Slim Williams.
It comes as a surprise that Slim who is the older brother of Birdman gave such an introduction for James. That to when James was in high school. In a recent appearance, Lil Wayne reminisced about some iconic stories. Amidst, he revealed one which involved LeBron James. He stated, “One of the stories involves LeBron James. I had a show in Ohio. I was on tour, me and Ja. Slim, birdman’s older brother called me”.
The first time @LilTunechi met @KingJames 🐐 pic.twitter.com/nPWo2Ps6vR
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 24, 2023
Furthermore, Wayne said that Slim told him about a player who wanted to come to his show. While this itself was not a surprising thing the introduction surely was. In his own words, “He was like, ‘Wayne I got a player out there in Ohio, he wanna come to your show. He is gonna be the one. He was like ‘I’m telling you, Wayne, he is the young Michael Jordan‘”.
To which Wayne responded, “I’m like ‘What? He is just a high school player. He wanna come to my show? Can he even come to the show?”. The ‘Mirror’ singer revealed that he reminded himself that he was once in high school too. Interestingly, Lil Wayne started his career at the mere age of 12 when he was signed by none other than rapper Birdman. So on, denying a request from Birdman’s older brother likely seemed like a tough thing.
LeBron James’ arm was in a cast when he met Lil Wayne for the first time
Lil Wayne spoke to the NBA on TNT about the “Unforgettable Time”, when he met LeBron James for the first time during his Ohio tour. There were a couple of things that were surprising about their first meeting. From Slim’s way of introducing James with “He the Young Michael Jordan”, to James waiting downstairs for Wayne.
One of the specific things that Wayne remembered about that day was that Juelz Santana was present there. He noted that Santana came to meet him in his room, and it took him an extra hour and a half due to this. Wayne continued, “When I got downstairs, that man was still downstairs in a suburban. He had like 3 or 4 homies with him. I was like, ‘This the dude?'”.
Interestingly, Wayne expressed how surprised he was with James’ height as he said, “Matter of fact I was like this, ‘This the dude?'” LeBron James stands at 6′ 9″ and made his debut in the NBA at the age of 18 straight from high school. Furthermore, Wayne continued, “What I remember was his arm was in a cast. I saw they were protecting that, like, protecting it as in being seen”.
Wayne noted that this was the moment when he realized that James must be somebody. Additionally, he revealed that it was an unforgettable time for both of them. Evidently, Wayne and James’ friendship grew over the years and the rapper even gave a performance at James’ birthday.