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"Everyone has that vision" – LeBron James dreamed of being teammates with Michael Jordan
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- "Everyone has that vision" – LeBron James dreamed of being teammates with Michael Jordan
Way before the so-called super teams were a thing in the NBA, LeBron James had already expressed his interest in teaming up with other superstars.
In fact, James was so candid about his thoughts on the subject that he even admitted to dreaming about playing alongside the one and only Michael Jordan .
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James discussed this topic at the time when people were constantly comparing him to MJ. Despite that, LeBron believed there shouldn't be an issue with what he said as he was certain that he wasn't the only player in the league who has thought about such things.
"In a fantasy world, there are a lot of guys in the NBA you would love to see, who could you be on the same team and see how you match up with the rest of the NBA," James once said in 2009. "Not just myself, everybody in the league has visualized playing with somebody, even guys who are not in the league anymore."
"I visualized playing alongside Michael Jordan when I was a kid. Everyone has that vision," he continued.
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LeBron eventually teamed up with his fellow superstars
A year after James made that comment about teaming up with Jordan, he went on national TV and shocked the NBA community with The Decision.
As it turned out, The King had plans to make his dreams come to reality.
There was no way for James to become teammates with a retired Jordan but he took his talents to South Beach and joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat .
Miami wasn't James' last stop. Four years later, after winning two NBA titles with the Heat, James reunited with the Cleveland Cavaliers . This time, he played alongside another pair of All-Stars in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love .
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In 2021, James did it again with the Los Angeles Lakers . That season, he formed a veteran super team with Carmelo Anthony , Russell Westbrook and Dwight Howard .
In the process, James earned a reputation for recruiting superstars to join him. To this day, he is still being heavily criticized for it.
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Jordan never dreamed about what LeBron dreamed about him
Truth be told, there was really nothing wrong with James' decision to team up with other elite players in the league. In fact, many understood and respected LeBron's belief that bolstering a squad is the key to winning NBA titles.
However, that's just not how Jordan approached competition during his time. Shortly after James left the Cavs for the Heat, MJ was quizzed to comment on the subject.
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As per the six-time champion, he was in no way questioning James or anybody in the league. Instead, Jordan just made it clear to everybody that he would've never teamed up with any of his rivals to win a championship.
"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team.' But that's... things are different," MJ once said. "I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."
All told, it's now clear as day that LeBron may have imagined playing with Jordan on the same team, but apparently, the feeling wasn't mutual.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 25, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
