After making it to the NBA Finals for eight consecutive seasons, LeBron James has missed out on two of the last three. Of course, he managed to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy last year as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, but this season, James was sent home in the first round of the NBA playoffs after losing to the Phoenix Suns.
If there is any sort of silver lining for James, it’s that he was sent home by a team led by his close friend, Chris Paul. And during an appearance on the Arsenio Hall-hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday night, James made clear he’s rooting for Paul to finally become an NBA champion.
“I am, I am,” James said when Hall asked him if he’s tuning into the Finals. “I have a horse in the race and he goes by the name of Chris Paul. So I’ve been watching, that is my brother and we’ve known each other since my junior year of high school, his sophomore year.”
James went on to say that he’s known Paul since they were in eighth grade, then told the story of how Paul was in the hospital alongside James when the Lakers’ star’s son, Bryce Maximus, was born.
“It happened to be during the NBA Finals then,” James said. “So he’s the godfather of Bryce, and Bryce came out the night before, and then I proceeded to get my ass kicked by the Spurs the next day.”
Hall then tried to get James in some trouble with the Tampering Police by bringing up the infamous voided trade that would have gotten Paul sent to the Lakers and asking James if they’d like to play together, although James said that he’d “of course” like to suit up alongside his friend some day. But for now, James has his eyes on Space Jam: A New Legacy, while Paul and the Suns will look to take care of business in Game 4 against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.
