Years before entering the NBA, LeBron James had already become well-known in the basketball community because of his prominence in the sport. Before his junior year in 2001, he was featured in the 54th issue of SLAM Magazine, which was unprecedented given his relatively young age.

In the interview, James was asked if he would consider joining the 2002 NBA Draft after finishing his junior year and offered an intriguing response.

“It all depends,” he answered. “I need to get a lot more information from everybody, and sit down with my family and make that decision. If it happens, it happens.”

Bron almost made a new rule

It’s safe to say that James has more than lived up to the hype. He has shattered several NBA records and is looking to break some more as he continues to play at a high level more than twenty years after getting drafted.

Interestingly, LeBron did try to creep into the 2002 draft. He lobbied for a rule change to allow players to enter the league despite not reaching 18. Unfortunately, the NBA didn’t allow it, pushing him to finish his senior year in high school and preventing him from being the first 17-year-old to suit up in the Association.

It wasn’t all bad for the Ohio native, though, because he was good friends with his teammates, some of whom happened to be his childhood friends, including Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, and Willie McGee. James has even maintained his relationship with them to this day.

LeBron James poses with his real-life friends and high school teammate Dru Joyce III (Lil Dru), Sian Cotton, Willie McGee and Romeo Travis at the premiere for Peacock movie "Shooting Stars." pic.twitter.com/1Msxy88jCM

— Variety (@Variety) June 1, 2023

What if Bron was a 2002 draftee

Many fans have wondered how things would have turned out if the NBA had allowed James to apply for the draft a year earlier. That class also had a generational prospect in Yao Ming, who went first overall.

Would LeBron have supplanted the big man as the No. 1 pick and the Houston Rockets’ franchise cornerstone?

In hindsight, the answer is a no-brainer. But no one knew then that James would eventually challenge for the GOAT title and that Yao would have an injury-plagued career and be out of the league less than 10 years after he was drafted.

In a possible twist of fate, had Bron been let in a year earlier and the Rockets passed on him, the Chicago Bulls could have selected him with the second pick and found their next Michael Jordan while “His Airness” was playing in his last campaign in the Association for the Washington Wizards.

What was sure is that the Cleveland Cavaliers draftee earned high praise from some league executives when he was in high school. Danny Ainge even declared that the only player he wouldn’t trade away for a 15-year-old Bron was Kobe Bryant.

So, James would have likely been a top-five pick in the relatively thin 2002 draft.