LeBron James is one of the most famous athletes in the world and has been since day 1 of his NBA career, which led to a WWE appearance quickly.
The King was on the cover of Sports Illustrated while still in high school, anointed “The Chosen One†and the No.1 pick in the NBA draft at the age of just 18 in 2003. Simply put, he was destined for stardom from a very young age, which of course he has fulfilled in the time since.
Shortly into his NBA career, Lebron appeared in the crowd on the November 3rd, 2003 episode of Raw, which took place in Cleveland, Ohio.
Raw was in Cleveland, LeBron had just joined the Cavaliers
Of course, LeBron had been drafted to the Cleveland Cavaliers, his home NBA team given he grew up down the road in Akron. As has been seen down the years, local sports stars and celebrities are often in attendance when WWE rolls into their town.
WWE normally makes a note of this, and given most of these elite stars are in the front row, it’s hard to miss them anyway.
In Lebron’s case, he was the hottest new sports star in NBA and WWE made a note to showcase him on Raw. In a clip voiced over by the legendary Gene Okerlund, the King was shown taking pictures with his flip phone, which was all the craze way back in 2003.
He captured a prized picture of Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was in the ring raising hell – one GOAT capturing another GOAT doing what they do.
Take a look at the young King snapping The Texas Rattlesnake below (clip shared on Twitter by @WrestleClips)
VIDEO: LeBron James shows up on WWE TV
Stone Cold was honoured by it, while LeBron is a WWE fan
Recently, Austin said he was honoured by James taking snaps of him, given he was the new face of basketball at the time.
LeBron James
In the years that have since passed, LeBron himself has shown himself to be a wrestling fan with him gifting his Miami Heat team mates individual title belts in 2003 and being spotted wearing an Undertaker t-shirt.
Could LeBron appear at WrestleMania this year?
It seems highly unlikely but given WrestleMania 39 is in Hollywood and LeBron is a Los Angeles Laker, could the King make an appearance on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
See more: 10 celebrities to have a WWE match
An in-ring appearance or backstage segment would see him follow in the footsteps of Karl Malone and Shaquille O’Neal as an NBA legend to truly enter the world of WWE.