LeBron James is viewed as one of the best basketball players to ever play the sport, and in an alternate universe, he would have played college basketball for one of the most stories programs in history.
While he was a guest on The Bird & Taurasi Show on ESPN2 for the NCAA women’s national championship game Sunday, James let it be known what teams he would have played for if he went the college route. However, as a noted Ohio State fan, he was given the stipulation that he couldn’t pick the Buckeyes.
“In a different world, I probably would have gone between—and this is gonna ruffle a lot of feathers—it would’ve been between Duke and North Carolina.”
It’s fair to say no player had more hype than James did coming out of high school nearly 20 years ago. But back in 2003 when it was still allowed, he elected to skip college to go straight into the NBA.
The future Hall of Famer has personal connections to both storied rivals. He grew up idolizing Michael Jordan, who won a national championship for the Tar Heels back in 1982. And of course, he has a relationship with coach Mike Krzyzewski. The newly retired former Duke coach manned the sidelines for Team USA when James won a gold medal at the Olympics in both 2008 and 2012.
Unfortunately, we’ll never know where he would have gone or what he could have accomplished with either storied program. But LeBron taking his talents to Chapel Hill or Durham would’ve been a sight to behold.
