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LeBron James Reveals Where He Would Play NCAA Basketball if He Joined College

Published 04/03/2022, 9:36 PM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

LeBron James is one of the premier athletes in the NBA. Ever since entering the league at the age of just 18, the King has made his mark. However, he got time to be on his side since he had the choice not to attend college. Entering the league straight after high school, James remains one of the last players to have that opportunity. But in a recent interview, James revealed where he would have liked to go to college if it was not for Ohio State.

Since stepping in on the basketball court, LeBron had all the hype going his way. The Lakers superstar was the talk of the town after he impressed playing for St. Vincent St. Mary high school. The 4-time league MVP was deemed as the ‘Chosen One’. With all the pressure mounting on, James chose to skip college and went straight into the NBA draft. Likewise, the King went number 1 overall to his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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While he surely made the right decision at the time, James revealed his two college options if he chose to take that route.

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LeBron James would go to the big names

While watching the NCAA tournament game, the question about LeBron attending college came out. However, he was put in a tricky spot as the option to attend Ohio State was off the table. Hence, James gave out his two next options which no one saw coming. LeBron said he would either go for Duke or North Carolina if given the option.

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He said: “In a different world I probably would have gone between, and this is going to ruffle a lot of feathers, it would’ve been between Duke and North Carolina.”

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USA Today via Reuters

James would have quickly become one of the biggest college stars if he chose to play for Duke or North Carolina. As a high schooler, LeBron was the best athlete putting up 31 points in his senior year. Entering a big league college such as Duke or North Carolina, James would have got the opportunity to play under some great coaches. However, what would this mean for his NBA timeline?

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While James entered the league at 18, he has been able to keep the consistency up for 19 years. Hence, if James did attend college, he would not have a lot of his records. Notably, LeBron would not be second on the All-Time scoring list with 3 fewer years under his belt. In addition, James would have had a different start to his journey under a different organization. If the King did attend college, do you think he would have come out as an even better player? Let us know in the comments below.

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Written by:

Anuj Talwalkar

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Anuj Talwalkar is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He is a student studying at NM College in Mumbai, aspiring to pursue sports management to follow his love for sports. Anuj started following the NBA last year, and he loves to combine his passion for writing with his understanding of basketball.
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Edited by:

Ajinkya Aswale